Change of address

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 09:32:37 GMT

We are moving to new offices in Christchurch

Please note that our registered office address has moved to Hello House, 135 Somerford Road, Christchurch from 1 April 2026. After spending most of the last 8 years with a desk in International House near Southampton Airport, we are moving to a larger office in Christchurch. Post is being redirected from International House for the next few months. Phone numbers remain the same.

Change of address

Sat, 25 Nov 2023 10:01:01 GMT

We are back in International House

Please note that our registered office address has reverted to International House (next to Southampton Airport) from 20 November 2023, after 3 years at Wessex House. International House has been Steve's work base since June and it makes sense for official post to be delivered there. Post will still be collected from Wessex House until the end of the year. Phone numbers remain the same.

Investment advice for parish councils

PH609662 — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 13:19:27 GMT

How should you invest your funds? Article by Arlingclose ltd

As the Parkinson Partnership is unable to provide regulated investment advice, we are very pleased to be partnering with treasury management advisors Arlingclose ltd to make some general investment advice available to parish and town councils. This is the first article that Arlingclose has produced for us to share, but please note that this is general advice and may not fit every council's specific circumstances.

Parish Councils: how should you invest your funds?

With market volatility continuing to fluctuate and short-term interest rates rapidly rising, it may be time to reassess your bank balances and short-term investments for security, liquidity and yield.

A looming recession means it is ever more crucial to ensure security of principal is maintained. One way this can be managed is to diversify funds across a number of counterparties to eliminate any sizeable losses. When investing with banks through either call accounts, notice accounts or fixed term deposits, it is important to identify whether your authority is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

Following discussions with Arlingclose, the FSCS extended its protections in 2015 to include ‘small local authorities’, which are described as authorities with an annual budget of less than €500,000 (currently £430,000 and updated annually on 3 ^rd July). This means that authorities considered small are granted the same protections as individuals, and deposits of up to £85,000 per UK bank or building society are fully protected. Authorities covered by the scheme should have enough counterparties to ensure accounts do not exceed this limit.

For larger authorities, there is no FSCS protection and an investment strategy should be formed to help set formal criteria for investing. Not all banks run the same risks and, as investors of public money, you will want to ensure you are making your best effort to maximise security. The strategy should include minimum overall acceptable credit criteria as well as duration and monetary limits based on the type of approved counterparty and its creditworthiness. For councils with investments of over £100,000, an investment strategy prepared in line with government investment guidance is a legal requirement.

Maintaining an adequate level of liquidity is important to ensure there is funds available to draw down should unexpected costs arise. Keeping a proportion of your portfolio liquid can help avoid incurring expensive borrowing from external sources. Money Market Funds (MMFs) are a useful liquidity tool which also offer diversification.

A MMF is a pooled fund which invests in high credit quality, short-term debt instruments and typically offers daily liquidity. MMFs are actively managed by a fund manager and there are rigid guidelines regarding the makeup and transparency of the fund. For example, the fund must have a weighted average maturity of below 60 days and each holding is limited to no more than 5% of the fund. The principal objectives of a MMF are preservation of capital, high liquidity and competitive returns (or yield) commensurate with security and liquidity, aligning them closely with the requirements of the government investment guidance.

In the current high and rising interest rate environment, you also want to ensure you are not bypassing lost income from accounts still paying sub one percent returns. Generally, MMFs can react relatively quickly to rate rises as existing deposits roll off and it invests at higher rates. We have seen this recently with most funds paying close to the current Bank of England base rate.

To discuss parish council investment advice, please contact the Arlingclose team at info@arlingclose.com

New website

Wed, 10 May 2023 21:55:12 GMT

Please take a look around

After 7 years as a single page, our website was long overdue for an upgrade. Please have a look around, we have added more about our team and what we do. There is lots more to do and we will be adding more content over the next few weeks.

Parkinson Partnership news

Change of address

We are moving to new offices in Christchurch

Change of address

We are back in International House

Investment advice for parish councils

How should you invest your funds? Article by Arlingclose ltd

New website

Please take a look around