In 2021 the SALC Board undertook a review of how subscriptions were calculated because there was no proportionate relationship between the membership fee local councils were paying and the number of electors resulting in no adjustment for growth.  Therefore parishes that have seen increases in electorate numbers since SALC last reviewed its fees have not seen their subscription change accordingly.    The Board wanted to address this in-balance and align the calculation with the approach introduced by NALC in 2016.

No.  The issue identified, and which the SALC Board is endeavouring to cure, was that the allocation of councils to bands of electorate had resulted in significant differences in fees as electorate numbers changed.  The proposed changes address these anomalies and ensures that councils with the same number of electors pay the same fees.

The price per elector should not be the same for all councils.  NALC uses a straight-line relationship, but SALC considers that membership benefits to a council do not continue proportionately as the number of electors increase, and this has been a long-standing consideration for SALC.  The working group plotted the fees against electorate numbers to illustrate the anomalies and the current proposals rectify this.

The NALC AGM considered a recommendation by National Assembly on 3rd October 2023 to increase the affiliation fee. 

After a vote, 68 voting in favour, 3 against and 4 abstentions, it was resolved affiliation fees for 2024/25 at 7.94 per elector being capped at £2,037 for larger councils as recommended.

Up to the period ending 31st March 2016, SALC calculated membership fees on a banding basis which included the NALC subscription.  For the period beginning 1st April 2016 NALC increased their membership fee by 17.86% which resulted in the proportion of subscription that SALC would retain significantly falling unless all the bands were increased by 17.86%.   It was decided that a larger overall increase was not an option and SALC agreed to increase their proportion of the subscription by 2.5% only.  

Unfortunately the maths is quite complicated and below is the original formula used in 2020/21 is as follows:

for larger councils (over 3k electorate)  " electorate number less 3000 x 0.0086963 + 801" = £

for smaller councils (under 3k electorate)  "electorate number  ^ 0.65 x 4.437" = £  (please note the symbol ^ means "to the power of")

EG Anytown Parish Council electorate number = 1311 ^ 0.65 x 4.437 = £471.55 (plus NALC subscription)
Another Town Council electorate number = 3525 less 3000 x 0.0086963 + 801 = £805.57 (plus NALC subscription)

for (all) parish meetings - from 1st April 2023 the SALC fee was fixed fee at £30 plus the NALC fee and this remains the same from 1st April 2024.

As SALC have increased its fee by 3% and so the above formula has had to be updated so as to allow the compound interest to the added.  As a result we do not recommend using the formula now it is published for information purposes only.  Any queries regarding membership fees should be directed to finance@suffolk-alc.gov.uk so we can assist your council on an individual basis.

The working party were attempting to fix inconsistencies for several parishes which are being charged significantly less than those of an equivalent size which is unfair.   A modelling exercise undertaken by the working group demonstrates the issue visually below.

You can see this in more detail for smaller councils in the graph below and this information supported the recommendation to the SALC Board that the anomaly required addressing.

To demonstrate this further - below is a final graph (excluding larger councils) that overlays the revised formula designed to fix the anomaly, solves the inconsistencies and brings all councils into line.

The approach and formula mean that SALC will not see an increase in subscription income as a result of the change covering the current financial year (2022-23) and next financial year (2023-24).   This approach was agreed by the SALC Board to mitigate the impact and to further demonstrate that the purpose of the review was to re-balance not increase income for SALC.

A working group from members of the SALC Board along with the Finance Manager undertook the review and made recommendations to the SALC Board in October 2021.  

Introduction of this new formula was delayed until 1st April 2023 and all members were put on notice about the change in 2022.  SALC have also frozen overall % increases for the period 2022-23 and 2023-24 and offering councils who are having to pay an additional one off cost the option to pay over a period of time.  

In addition, the SALC Board agreed in November 2022 that any increase in fees using the new formula would be capped at 10% for 2023-24 any further adjustments for councils who were expecting increases of over 10% will be deferred and reviewed prior to the 2024-25 financial year.  Councils impacted have been informed.  The shortfall will be met by SALC reserves.

Of 358 parish councils in membership 186 councils will be required to pay an additional one off sum for 2022/3 made up as follows:

• 52 will see an increase of less than 4%

• 14 will see an increase of between 4 and 5%  

• 41 will see an increase of between 5 and 10%

The remaining 79 will see an increase of over 10%.

As a result of SALC capping those impacted to lessen the burden and taking the shortfall from general reserves, from 1st April 2024 the majority of councils will be aligned and the timeline for moving them across year on year is as follows:

• by 2025/6 a further 3 councils will be aligned

• by 2026/7 the final 4 councils will be aligned

• in addition special arrangements for a small number will be agreed where alignment is likely to take a little longer.

This will complete the exercise.

No, because one of the key objectives of this exercise was to identify and find a way to address the anomalies and the new formula produces a consistent method to calculate fees based on the size of the electorate, which is consistent with the NALC approach.  

Over the last four years SALC has significantly increased the added value to its membership offer and it recognises that annually councils evaluate the cost -v- the benefit being part of SALC brings because of the impact on the public purse.  To help councils understand what value SALC offers to local councils we have produced this quick factsheet download the benefits of SALC membership factsheet using this link.     We have also designed a summary page that provide some headline information - use this link to that dedicated page. 

SALC has to wait for the district council to provide electorate numbers before any final figures can be calculated.  This is requested at the end of January every year and received around the middle of February.    SALC can then calculate the final figures and prepare standard invoices in their finance system.  The invoice will just show the total due but it includes the affiliation fee SALC has to collect and pay to NALC on your behalf.  Invoices are distributed by our financial system in early April and payment is required within 30 days.  

As SALC has to collect and pay the NALC affiliation fee it is important all subscription fees are received within 30 days of receipt of the invoice.  This is the standard terms for all our invoices, eg: training, payroll, internal audit.

If a council fails to pay within that time we have a debt recovery policy which can be found here.   We know there are numerous unplanned circumstances that can lead to non-payment of invoices and our policy takes account of that.  We will always take these matters into consideration especially where there are changes in personnel or banking issues. 

We have had a communication in place since December 2021 when we first advised all member councils by email that we were reviewing the fee structure.  Since that time we have had articles in our Local Councillor Magazine, included it in our updates at area forums, circulated the notes of those area forums to all councils and included it in our Annual Report and at our AGM in July 2022.  We are in direct contact with those councils affected to encourage them to speak with us about how we can help with the transition, this will include an offer of payment plans if that is helpful.    See our full communication plan below.

We are continuing to keep this page up to date including the timeline below.  This gives councils full transparency in the approach we have taken to address the problems with our previous charging regime.