Our Story
About us
Founded in 1972, the SLCC has gone from strength to strength, starting with just 50 members and now representing clerks to over 5,000 councils in England and Wales.
As the professional body for local council clerks and senior council employees, we ensure that our members are equipped with the necessary knowledge, training and skills to thrive within their role and best support their council and community.
Many councils understand the benefit of having a clerk who is trained, fully briefed on current issues within the sector and able to access accurate advice quickly. As such, 90% of our members’ councils pay for their clerks’ annual subscription, as encouraged by the Local Government Act 1972 s 143 (1) (b), ‘a local Authority may pay reasonable subscriptions, whether annually or otherwise, to the funds of any association of officers or members of local authorities which was so formed.’
Whether you seek expert advice, to develop your professional career or simply build relationships with your fellow clerks, we can offer you the support and recognition you deserve.
Chief Executive
Rob Smith was appointed SLCC’s Chief Executive in January 2017. He had previously held senior management roles in both public and private sectors in Britain and North America. He joined the SLCC from Great Western Railway where he was General Manager of the Eastern region. Prior to that Rob spent 12 years at Transport for London where he was a key member of the 2012 Olympic Games’ transport delivery team and was General Manager of the Victoria line during the delivery of the final phase of the line upgrade. Rob’s senior management career began in the North American cruise industry where he worked for a more than a decade for Carnival Corporation based in Miami, Florida.
As a senior leader, Rob, who holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration, has an impressive track record of leading cultural and organisational change in a wide variety of business contexts. Rob works under the direction of a Board of elected Directors and he leads a team of Heads of Service.
Chairman
Michael King has been Town Clerk of Barnard Castle in County Durham and a member of the SLCC since 2012. He was elected Vice Chair of the Board at its first meeting in 2017 and served in that role for two years, before being elected Chair in January 2019.
He graduated from Newcastle University in 1987 with a BSc (Hons) in the Science of Engineering Materials and has worked in research, public policy and managerial positions in the public and private sectors. Michael holds an MBA and is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute.
Michael is an experienced strategic and service manager with specialist skills in corporate governance and administration, strategic management, and performance improvement. Prior to becoming a town clerk, he worked in upper tier authorities, the NHS and public sector consultancy. He has also served on the boards of a number of companies and charities including chairing two Multi-Academy Trusts between 2011 and 2018.
President 2019/20
Linda Larter is the Chief Executive / Town Clerk to Sevenoaks Town Council and a Fellow of the SLCC Professional Development Scheme (PDS).
Linda has been a clerk since 1990, working for councils with population ranging from 250 to 80,000 plus. These varied size councils have provided the experience of working as the only member of staff and in positions managing a large team.
In 2000 Linda was nominated by the Millennium Commission for an MBE for raising funds and completion of a Community Centre.
Linda studied through to degree level with the then Cheltenham and Gloucester College which she considers an invaluable experience providing her with the confidence to take on more ambitious ideas and developments for the councils she worked for.
After completing the degree Linda was Chairman of the former Local Policy Graduate Association, in this position she campaigned for the Local Policy qualification to be accepted within the Quality Council scheme.
Linda has been involved with NALC over many years, sitting on committees and attending talks with government ministers and civil servants to lobby for our sector, not least the need for stability in relation to ongoing consideration of precept capping. Linda’s theme for her year will be to promote the profession of clerks. Most clerks do not have the support departments that officers have in other sectors of local government and yet again and again they are delivering more diverse services in a professional manner, regardless of their size of council.
Linda has been married for 38 years to Andrew (most know him as Chippy) and have two sons. For many years she was heavily involved in charity work and some of the campaigns that she was most proud of was for the removal of postcode lottery for cancer referrals and obtaining commitment from government for these to be within two weeks, also for Herceptin to be available for all. Linda was a member of the APPG for Cancer and one of the achievements was for bowel cancer screenings to be lowered to age of 55. Linda was also involved in helping young people obtaining funding via the Princes Trust.
Linda’s email address is [email protected]
The President's Charities
Breast Cancer Now
Formed by the merger of Breast Cancer Care and Breast Cancer Now. A charity that’s steered by world-class research and powered by life-changing care for anyone affected by breast cancer.
Mencap
Mencap is the leading voice of learning disability. Everything they do is about valuing and supporting people with a learning disability, and their families and carers. Their vision is a world where people with a learning disability are valued equally, listened to and included.
Presidential Sponsors
Meet the team
Our team has a wealth of experience and are committed to providing outstanding customer service. Our Head Office is located in Taunton, Somerset with the team positioned across England and Wales.
The Local Government Sector
Local government touches the lives of everybody, every single day. It is responsible for a varied and wide range of local services vital for people, businesses and communities.
The structure of local government varies from area to area, and region to region but many parts of England have 3 tiers of local government.
Important dates in SLCC history
1972The beginning of SLCC
The SLCC was founded during a lunchtime breakout session at a National Association of Local Councils (NALC) Conference in the basement of Westminster Hall on Saturday 2nd November 1972. Originally, there were just under 50 members working as a ‘self-support’ group.
1973December – 510 members
An update on the Membership figures at the time, membership of the SLCC stands at 510.
19751st National Conference
The first National Conference was held in Scarborough
1989A new look
SLCC introduced a new logo on membership magazine which was then called ‘The Journal’
2001National Executive Councils’ Investment
In 2001, the National Executive Council’s decision to appoint professional officers and to invest in new services resulted in the SLCC growing rapidly and membership increase to the point where members now serve over 5,000 councils.
2015Increase in member services
As member services increased it was determined that about 5% of those activities were deemed to be “trade union” activities, principally (a) providing employment advice to members in dispute with their councils and supporting them at internal hearings; and (b) from time to time working with the National Association of Local Councils and One Voice Wales to agree the model contract of employment or other national terms and conditions. Because SLCC provided these services, the Certification Officer included SLCC on the schedule to the List of Trade Unions as a body which the Certification Officer considered to be a trade union. SLCC was accordingly obliged to comply with the legislation on trade unions, including the need for its National Executive Council and its Chief Executive to be elected by ballot of all members.
However, SLCC was never affiliated to the TUC, nor did it have any political affiliations or take part in the annual pay bargaining for local government employees. Whilst SLCC had received renewed legal advice that it was lawful for councils to pay the subscriptions to a professional body which was also a trade union, its National Executive Council (NEC) has been considering for some time the potential risk to the SLCC’s financial future should some councils decide or be persuaded not to pay such subscriptions in the future.
2016January – Creation of a separate trade union
By January 2016 it had also become clear that the need for the Chief Executive to be elected, with no certainty of the result, was a major impediment to encouraging a wide range of applications for position which was vacant at that time. NEC therefore decided to bring forward consideration of the proposed constitutional changes to establish SLCC as a purely professional body and at the same time create a new body, the Association of Local Council Clerks (ALCC) an independent trade union representing the interests of senior officers in the local council sector. Following the implementation of these changes the Certification Officer withdrew SLCC from the schedule of Trade Unions.
2016February – Online Bookings
February 2016 saw the launch of the ‘Your SLCC’ the new way to renew or apply for membership, book events and log CPD points online. The innovation was a step towards improving members experience by making introducing a convenient, self-service website.
2017SLCC became a limited company
Following a resolution carried unanimously at the National Conference in October 2016, the SLCC became a limited company on 25 January 2017, with a Board of Directors replacing the former National Executive Council.
Today
The SLCC is a vibrant and focussed organisation which helps local council officers not only to continue, but to develop and grow professionally and so be able to better serve their councils and the communities they support. The formation of the Professional Development Scheme (Fellow and Principal members) and the building of a comprehensive Continuous Professional Development (CPD) structure has further raised the profile of a profession which now plays an increasingly significant role in the local council sector.