Partnership working is the key to most successful organisations and the County Durham Association of Local Councils continually strives to enter into productive partnerships which are mutually beneficial.
- Apart from other parish councils our closest partner is the National Association of Local Councils which represents the views of 9,000 parish and town councils across England and Wales
- The Chairman of CDALC is a member of the County Durham Partnership (CDP) Forum. This is the Local Strategic Partnership for County Durham
- We also have links to the Altogether Greener Thematic Partnerships through the Executive Officer.
- Several of our Executive Committee members work closely with Durham County Council (DCC) as co-opted members of the Standards Committee and its Standards Assessment Board sub-committee and other bodies throughout the County. We have a Local Councils Charter which was created in partnership with DCC.
- Association members are appointed to the County Councils Area Action Partnerships Boards and participate in thirteen of the fourteen AAP‘s throughout the County. These members form the link between parish councils and the AAP. We have at least one local councillor on each AAP Board throughout the County. Note that AAP’s have not been in place since April 2025, with an ongoing expectation of being replaced by twelve Local Networks of which parish/town councillor representation is anticipated. This webpage will be updated once new arrangements are in place.
- We work very closely with the Cleveland and Durham branch of the Society of Local Council Clerks attending their branch meetings whenever possible
- Durham Community Action is one of our closest partners and they provide invaluable assistance to parish councils with Parish Planning and Village Hall queries