This year’s conference will take place in the Sir Charles Wilson Building at the University of Glasgow, 1 University Avenue, G12 8QQ.

Any Community Councillor in Scotland is eligible to apply to attend.  CCllrs from member CCs will take precedence if more requests are received than places available.

An online booking form will be provided here shortly.

Everyone is acutely aware that the provision of high quality high speed (or in some cases even limited) broadband has a high priority, especially in in rural areas, but it has to compete with many other priorities. This event provides a golden opportunity for Community Council representatives to understand and make better sense of this subject – from simplified technical aspects to the economic implications. At this event delegates will have access to experts in all fields of broadband, as well as hearing about successful projects, and meeting vendors and specialists in partnership building, project implementation and assessment of economic benefits.

Speakers at the event include Professor Michael Fourman – author of the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Digital Scotland interim consultation report (the final report is scheduled to be launched later this year) and Malcolm Corbett – CEO INCA. A keynote address will also be given by BT’s Brendan Dick – MD BT Regions, and we are delighted to have Andy Carter from Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK – the organisation tasked by the Government with implementing the minimum service level commitment) as well as experts from continental Europe (from major European NextGen access equipment and systems providers) and presentations from sustainable rural broadband projects.

Delegates include directors and senior managers from local authorities, councils, community groups and specialist vendors as well as organisations such as SCDI, Communications Consumer Panel, The University of Edinburgh, Scottish Enterprise, University of Edinburgh School of Informatics, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Scottish Borders Council and Consumer Focus Scotland, as well as our sponsors – Scotland IS and The Royal Society of Edinburgh – and BT, and Draka and Corning (both major European NextGen access equipment and systems providers). By joining them, you’ll be in very knowledgeable company.

The event will include a small exhibition area and a number of workshop sessions offering discussions and insight into topics such as fibre to the home and business, partnership building, and improved modelling of Next Generation Networks costs.

The Roadshow is run by INCA and jointly hosted by the Royal Society of Edinburgh and ScotlandIS. For a detailed overview, please visit http://www.inca.coop/events/nextgen-roadshow-scotland.

We still have a small amount of funding to enable Community Council representatives to attend this event free of charge – these places are limited. If you wish to secure one of the free places, please e-mail andrew@gfievents.co.uk to receive the appropriate registration information. Lunch and refreshments are provided but as these complimentary places are limited (the normal price for this event is £50), please register your interest without delay.

The SG will be collecting and analysing evidence for the review throughout the summer.  The ASCC would be very pleased to hear from community councils and the local communities they serve with their views of how the changes that were made to the planning system has impacted on them and are there areas which are of particular concern or areas of the regulations which they feel have been positive and have worked well.

SG Planning staff expects to report the results to Ministers later this year.  They would be very pleased to hear about your experiences of any aspect of the development management process, good or bad, or case study examples you might want to put forward.

There is quite a tight timescale for this so any comments would be appreciated by Friday 16 September.   Simply enter your comments using the form below.

cforms contact form by delicious:days

In a case that invaded the lives of the six defending Comm Cllrs for almost two years, the pursuer another Largs CCllr, James Perman, lost his case and was denied an appeal.
Sheriff Watson, who presided over the hearing, made a number of legal notes and rulings that should be known by every Community Councillor in Scotland. James Perman v Murdoch et al (Largs CC) Sheriff & Sheriff Principal Judgements (.pdf, 5.6mb).

Welcoming the judgements, ASCC National President CCllr Vincent Waters said:

“This is a relief to the six Community Councillors of Largs who have lived in constant tension since writs were first put through their doors. Community Councillors should never have to perform their role as elected representatives in fear of being sued merely for acting properly.

CCllr Ian Murdoch and his colleagues deserve the sympathy and good wishes of every Community Councillor in our nation. They have spent thousands of pounds defending themselves from an action from a fellow CCllr who the Sherriff said “appears to have proceeded against the defenders with a degree of vindictiveness”.

It is clear that the legal structure of Community Councils need to change, to protect Community Councillors from their current position of total personal liability and to ensure the people’s elected representatives are not silenced by fear of legal reprisal. The ASCC will be in talks with all political parties about how this can be achieved.”

Place: Glasgow City Chambers

Place: Scottish Borders Council Chambers, Newtown St. Boswells

Place: Howden Park Centre, Livingston

Download Meeting Flyer (121kb)

Welcome to our new web site. We hope it works to support you and your Community Council, and we welcome your feedback.

Nowadays Community Council work can worry us, in case someone brings a claim against us as CCs and CCllrs.  To protect us as Councillors and as individuals, ASCC has arranged a discounted insurance scheme to cover core CC business for CCs and CCllrs.

Please note that ASCC receives a small fee for arranging insurance – it is included within the premium we quote.

What’s covered?

Basic cover requires your CC to be a member of ASCC. The membership year runs from April 1st. Insurance runs to April 30th each. So, you can renew your membership and your insurance at once.

Cover is for the core activities of the Community Council and its Councillors; activities based on the statutory purposes of CCs, such as CC meetings, public meetings, newsletters, articles in newspapers and on the internet, minutes, and so on.

The basic scheme does not cover additional activities (such as fund-raising galas, litter clearing sessions, Christmas lighting ceremonies, dances, and so on); nor does it cover property. But if your CC is in the insurance scheme, these things can be added.

The basic insurance scheme includes -

1. Public Liability cover
Relating to your legal liability to pay damages for accidental detriment to property, injury to persons or death, arising from your negligence. Limit of Indemnity: £5 million. Excess: £100 each and every loss.

2. Libel & Slander (Defamation) cover
Relating to your legal liability to pay damages for defamation (libels appearing in publications and slanders in oral utterances). Limit of Indemnity: £250,000. Excess: £1000 or 10% of claim, for each and every claim, whichever is the lower.

3. Personal Accident cover
Relating to death or injury sustained by Community Councillors as a result of accidents or assault. Capital sum: £25,000. Weekly sum: £100.

Premium:
The ASCC membership subscription remains £15 per annum. We intend to keep it at this level as long as we can. The basic insurance scheme premium is set by Zurich Insurance, and for the 2010-2011 insurance year, it is again £52.00. The total for ASCC membership and basic insurance is therefore a mere £67.00 for the 2010 – 2011 year.

Additional cover:
If your CC owns property or arranges events, you may need extra insurance cover. This would be in addition to basic insurance scheme cover and would require a form and an additional premium. We can also arrange employer’s liability cover, fidelity guarantee and other forms of cover if needed. The premiums are calculated on an individual basis, and many need our Underwriter to do this.  This can take up to three weeks.  So please be sure you give ASCC as much notice as possible of your additional insurance cover requirements.

Additional property cover
CC property such as notice boards, computers, Christmas lights, and so on can be covered under an “all risks” arrangement (which covers accidental damage, theft, vandalism, and so on). There will be an excess – typically £100 per claim – and an addition premium. For property cover, the property cover form must be completed and returned to ASCC; we may contact you for clarification, and we then pass the information on for premium calculation. We will notify you of the premium as soon as we are able. This may take as long as three weeks. If your CC accepts, cover will be in place as soon as we receive your payment.

Where property is owned / managed jointly by a Community Council and another organisation, we will normally need a copy of the other organisation’s constitution; and we may occasionally be unable to provide cover. Also, please note that we cannot cover heritable property (land and so on) within the scheme.

Additional Event cover
The basic scheme does not cover events beyond core CC activity. If your CC intends to put on events such as fund-raising galas, litter clearing sessions, Christmas lighting ceremonies, dances, and so on, you will probably need your Public Liability cover extended to cover you for the event. Often this is a requirement for renting a public hall from a local authority, for example. The additional premium for an event depends on the size of the event and the type of activities involved. For larger, more complicated and more risky events, our Underwriter needs to calculate the premium, which can take up to three weeks. For many events though we are able to provide a premium more quickly. Please give us as much notice as you can – do so by completing and sending in the event cover form. We will notify you of the premium as soon as we are able, and your CC can decide whether to take the
cover. Cover will be in place once ASCC has received your premium payment.

Please note that events put on by other groups in your area cannot be covered under the Community Councils scheme. However where a CC runs an event jointly with another organisation, cover may be possible. We may need to see the constitutions of partner organisations.

Claims:
If the worst happens and your CC needs to make a claim. Please contact ASCC as soon as possible. We will note the claim, and put you in touch with the correct department at Zurich Insurance.

Questions:
If you have any questions about insurance, please contact us on insurance@ascc.org.uk.