In more detail
Councillors are the people we elect to run the local council. They represent localities called 'wards'. Wards vary in size between a few dozen people (in some rural parishes) to more than 25,000 people in large cities where each ward elects three councillors. Councillors are usually elected for a term of four years, after which they must either stand again, or retire. Being a councillor is an unpaid job, although councillors may be paid expenses and an allowance. In larger councillors, the allowance can amount to the equivalent earnings from a part-time job. For senior councillors who are chosen to serve in executive positions, the allowance may amount to the equivalent of earnings from a full-time job. Sitting at the top of the tree in the council and accountable only to the public, councillors are reported to by the paid officers of the council.
The video below is by Areeyanan Satthamsakul. She interviewed councillors in Birmingham about what they do and why they became councillors, as part of her Masters degree in Media at Birmingham City University:
Councillor Roles
Councillors from all the wards that make up a council area – collectively – make up the local council. If there is no directly elected mayor, the local council chooses a council leader. In most larger councils, the leader appoints up to ten councillors to serve as cabinet members responsible for portfolios like social services, children and young people’s services, economic development etc. The rest of the councillors who are not cabinet members may serve on two sorts of committee:
- Overview and scrutiny committees – these usually mirror the portfolios of cabinet members and exist to scrutinise the decisions made by the relevant cabinet members
- Regulatory committees – these are committees dealing with issues like planning, licensing and highways which exercise particular powers given to the council by Parliament aside from the general power which local councils have to do anything that improves the wellbeing of their area.
- Councillors may also serve on other joint boards, management committees etc as representatives of the full council.
In a few councils which have voted to return to the committee system of governance (which was mainly used before the leader and cabinet model described above was adopted), the leader of the council (who is called the chairperson) does not appoint cabinet members. Instead the council as a whole decides on the formation of committees to make decisions about how services are run. The voting members of these committees (who are all councillors) elect a committee chairperson who represents the committee.
As well as serving on committees and, possibly, as part of the executive of the council (ie as a cabinet member or chair of a committee), all councillors also:
- take up complaints and suggestions and undertake casework on behalf of the people in their wards;
- act as local leaders, for example in helping to produce local plans
- represent the council at local events and on things like the governing boards of local schools
- at election times, campaign for their own election or the election of other councillors from the same party.
Standards
Councillors are elected by the people and it is an important principle that whoever the people elect serves regardless of what officers of the council or anyone else may think of their suitability, skills etc. Each council, however, publishes a set of standards which should be made available to the public. Councillors are expected to maintain these standards. If councillors break them, then the council can take disciplinary action. Councillors are subject to the normal laws of the land and if they break those laws, they may be prosecuted and convicted the same as any other member of the public.
| Key Facts:
Councillors are the democratically elected representatives of the people who are in charge of local government. All sorts of local authority – parish, district, city or borough councils - are run by councillors. They are in charge of the council - paid officers are accountable to them. Apart from observing the standards agreed by the council and, of course, the law, they are accountable only to is - the voters - at election time. |
Page Links from here
Stand for what you believe in - is the Local Government Association's guide to becoming a councillor (PDF). It is part of their Be A Councillor resource.
Also see Operation Black Vote's FAQ sheet on becoming a councillor and the Local Leadership Centre
In the toolkit, see:
OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.
BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY PLANNING TOOLKIT DEFINITION SHEET This sheet may be reproduced in paper or electromic or any other form but please mention it was made by Chamberlain Forum Limited for Birmingham City Council supported by Department for Communities and Local Government.
| created: 2016-07-14 14:24:15 | by: admin | status: f published |