“A very good 2nd Conference: thank you to all involved in running it.”
“I really enjoyed it and hope that we are able to attend again next year.”
“Great conference – really so glad I was able to attend”
“Talking with other persons such as clerks and council members was very helpful”
The Somerset Parishes Conference 2025 took place on Friday 3rd October at The Canalside conference centre, North Petherton (near Bridgwater). The event provided a valuable opportunity for SALC member council councillors and officers to meet and learn from each other and to enthusiastically engage face-to-face with our Somerset partner organisations.
The day included a range of interactive workshops, a marketplace exhibition featuring sixteen leading suppliers, and guest speakers including our special guest, Janet Montgomery, High Sheriff for Somerset whose speech is available on the SALC website, here.
Our thanks to the event sponsors, Cloudy IT, Parish Online, and Somerset Council, along with all the exhibitors who made it possible for us to put on the event with free lunch for member councillors and officers.
Our thanks also go to the Somerset Council link officer team for their organisational support enabling the smooth running of the event.
All attendees have been sent a survey inviting feedback. If you have not yet submitted your completed survey, we will be grateful to receive it by Friday 7th November.
Attendee feedback received to date:
Your feedback is valued and will help us to make the 2026 conference even better. If you have misplaced your feedback link, please let us know at info@somerset-alc.org.uk
Somerset Council provided an update last Wednesday, 29th October, to the Scrutiny Committee – Corporate and Resources, on progress towards devolution of assets and services to Somerset’s city, town, and parish councils.
With initial focus triaging down from the largest market towns, the unitary council has now completed over 60 individual asset transfers. Work has moved on to include progressing smaller scale expressions of interest (EOIs) from parishes. Nine of these are currently progressing and Somerset Council hopes to commence work on the next six EOIs on the list by the end of December. Progressing larger-scale and smaller-scale EOIs in parallel should enable best use of the team’s time and programme resources.
If your council has submitted an EOI you might be budgeting within the coming precept for asset transfers from 2026/27. However, when your EOI reaches the top of the list, even if your council cannot take on the asset due to budgets already set, the local devolution lead has stated that they will move at your pace.
Following recruitment during the summer, Somerset Council’s new local devolution lead is working to increase updates to city, town, and parish councils. There will be an update on devolution at the next City, Town and Parish Council Working Group at 10:30 am on Wednesday 19 November. A written briefing will also be shared by Somerset officers after that meeting for anyone who is unable to attend.
Any questions for the Somerset Council devolution programme team can be emailed to devolution@somerset.gov.uk
SALC has identified four sector-specialist firms of solicitors available to support your council through the devolution process. Please get in touch at info@somerset-alc.org.uk if you would like the contact details. The legal process should now be smoothed via the introduction of a new standardised heads of terms by Somerset Council.
Our monthly Chairs’ Forum is growing, with a regular list of approximately twenty chairs of city, town, and parish councils of various sizes joining us for informal discussion of issues prioritised by you.
Please consider joining us if you are a chair of your council, or suggest that the chair of your council joins in to exchange ideas and updates with fellow chairs across Somerset.
Ewan, SALC’s Chief Executive, also convenes a monthly group of clerks from our larger market towns.
It has been suggested that an additional group, focused on councillors working to develop Somerset’s smaller councils might be beneficial – please get in touch if you would be interested in joining such an informal working and ideas group – info@somerset-alc.org.uk
Ewan is looking forward to seeing you on a Teams call soon, if not in person.
Affiliation fee invoices will go out towards the beginning of the new financial year in 2026. SALC’s board of directors will shortly meet to consider the fee structure to ensure a balance of contributions from councils with different activities and sizes.
Although the fees have not yet been set, a budget figure of 3.5% increase in line with CPI would be realistic.
As custodians of vast amounts of personal data, councils have a legal and ethical responsibility to manage that information in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018). Compliance is a long standing legal requirement (as shown in model standing order 21)— but it is also central to maintaining public trust, preventing data breaches, and ensuring transparency in local council operations.
Parish councils are data controllers and data processors and although they do not have a legal duty to appoint a data protection officer (DPO), they are still bound by data protection laws. This means that councils should identify who will oversee compliance, advise on data protection impact assessments, and act as a point of contact for the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Strong governance structures should define roles, responsibilities, and reporting lines for data management.
Since the announcement that the AGAR’s new Assertion 10 will test a council’s data management practices, SALC has received enquiries about what policy document the council should have in place to ensure it is UK GDPR and Data Protection Act compliant.
1. What data do you hold?
The first step is to identify all the personal data held by the council. Once a council knows what data it holds, it can map that information to show how the council processes personal data from the moment it’s received, through to deletion or destruction. Mapping can be used to create a more formal record that demonstrates accountability and helps identify risks or unnecessary data retention. Members can download a suitable spreadsheet from the SALC website knowledge hub.
We hear from small councils that don’t operate any services and therefore question if they process any data. Every council, without exception, processes personal data, whether that’s the personal details of staff, information about councillors, or the details of residents who make contact. If the council holds any information that can be used to identify a living person directly or indirectly, then that’s personal data – it might be held on a computer file, or it might be an old address book that’s no longer used and exists in the clerk’s kitchen drawer (data protection hack – if you don’t need it, bin it!).
2. The Privacy Policy
Assertion 10 requires that all data collection and processing must adhere to privacy policy that sets out data handling, storage, and sharing; this is an internal council document. NALC is working on the creation of template resources for members, which we will share once available. However, it’s important to understand that there is no one-size-fits-all template for data protection and any policy template MUST be adapted to reflect the activity within your unique council.
Everyone in the council is responsible for complying with information rights laws, and a well thought through and enforced policy can protect the council if anyone acts outside of it to misuse data or create a data breach. However, to be confident that the policy reflects the needs and operations of your council, you must first have first audited and mapped the data (as per point 1 above).
3. The Privacy Statement
Once the council knows what data it processes and a fitting policy has been agreed, the council will be able to write an accurate privacy statement that keeps individuals informed about how their data is used. This clear, accessible document must be made publicly available in an obvious location, such as on the footer of the council’s website.
Data protection is an ongoing task – a data audit, privacy policy, and privacy notice can’t be written once and forgotten. The data you hold and the law in this area is always changing, and these council documents will require regular review to ensure they reflect the current situation, law, and practices.
Starting out with the above 3 steps can put the council on the right track in meeting compliance, reducing risk, and strengthening public confidence in the handling of personal data.
If your council needs data protection training, see the SALC website training page for dates and links to sector expert advisers.