HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
TUESDAY 8 APRIL 2008 AT 10.30 A.M.
/ Agenda item no.8
“SUPPORTING COUNCILLORS: A MANIFESTO FOR COUNCILS”
Report of the Cabinet
Executive Member: D E Lloyd
1. Purpose of Report
To recommend the Council to adopt a new initiative entitled “Supporting Councillors: a manifesto for Councils”
2. Background
The Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) is an independent research and information organisation, representing the interests of local authorities by providing advice, resources and training.
On 25 January 2008 they launched a new initiative entitled “Supporting Councillors: a manifesto for Councils” and are looking to gain the support of all authorities in England for this.
3. Information
The aims of the manifesto are:
· to ensure that government listens and acts on the problems facing local councillors
· to help explain what a Councillor does and why they are important.
· to help members represent their constituents.
· to strengthen democracy and encourage an excellent range of future candidates.
The LGiU is asking each authority to support and act on a dozen practical measures (which are in effect “the manifesto”) aimed at better supporting existing and future Councillors.
These are set out in the suggested recommendations set out below, to which the LGiU is asking each authority to sign up to.
The Cabinet at its meeting on 17 March agreed to invite the Council to adopt these recommendations.
The adoption of the manifesto will link to, and will complement, the EERA Charter for Elected Member Development, which the Council is seeking to achieve in the summer of 2008.
It is suggested that the Member Working Group (comprising A Searing, D Billing and D Scudder) set up to help achieve the Charter, take forward the action required arising from the adoption of the manifesto.
4. Suggested Recommendations
(1) That this Council considers that councillors have a valuable representative role which helps to ensure that local people have an active role in the development and delivery of council services.
(2) That this Council welcomes the LGiU’s initiative “Supporting Councillors: A manifesto for supporting councillors”; considers it important to support actions that would help make a real difference to existing and future councillors; calls on the government to introduce measures to help people be active and effective councillors; and agrees to support and act on the following twelve action points so that local democracy is strengthened:
(i) Promote greater awareness and understanding of what a councillor does, so that more people know why they are needed and why they are important.
(ii) Provide information to all those who work closely with the council to know more about how councillors can get things done, and the limits of their powers.
(iii) Provide clear information that explains how to become a councillor and the responsibilities involved.
(iv) Provide training after elections so that members are able to become excellent councillors with a good understanding of their role and responsibilities.
(v) Call upon government to revise the Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity so that councils can more actively encourage and better support councillors to communicate with the public. [The Code places restrictions on local authority publicity to avoid any suggestions of bias]
(vi) Call upon government to ensure councillors and local government have all the powers and constitutional reforms they need to be able to get things done.
(vii) Develop mechanisms that devolve resources so that local councillors can effectively influence spending in their locality in line with their community leadership role.
(viii) Support the development and implementation of a charter containing minimum standards of support to help local councillors carry out their councillor responsibilities effectively.
(ix) Develop with councillors a clear role definition which sets out the main functions and duties and typical demands of being a councillor. The role definition should also help to explain the councillor’s role to the public.
(x) Support the development of a voluntary national framework of allowances set by an independent panel. The panel should take into account differences in types and sizes of authorities and duties of councillors to benchmark allowances. Councils should consider the framework when setting their own allowances schemes.
(xi) Review arrangements for working with councillors so that councils adopt modern ways of working, including making best use of technology.
(xii) Work with businesses to help working councillors to manage their work/council time better; work with local employers to support employees who become councillors as part of their corporate social responsibility programmes and to help them gain public recognition for it; and publicise the many skills that being a councillor brings to the workplace, to the local authority, to the employee and the benefits that this can bring to employers.
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