Councillors on the Front Line

House of Commons Communities and Local Government Committee

Councillors on the front line

Sixth Report of Session 2012–13

Volume II Additional written evidence

Ordered by the House of Commons to be published 11 June, 2 July, 16 July, 3 September, 15 October, 17 October and 7 November 2012

Published on 10 January 2013 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited

The Communities and Local Government Committee

The Communities and Local Government Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Current membership Mr Clive Betts MP (Labour, Sheffield South-East) (Chair) Bob Blackman MP (Conservative, Harrow East) Simon Danczuk MP Rochdale (Labour, Rochdale) Bill Esterson MP (Labour, Sefton Central) Stephen Gilbert MP (Liberal Democrat, St Austell and Newquay) David Heyes MP (Labour, Ashton under Lyne) James Morris MP (Conservative, Halesowen and Rowley Regis) Mark Pawsey MP (Conservative, Rugby) Andy Sawford MP (Labour, Corby) John Stevenson MP (Conservative, Carlisle) Heather Wheeler MP (Conservative, South Derbyshire)

Heidi Alexander MP (Labour, Lewisham East) and George Hollingbery (Conservative, Meon Valley) were also members of the Committee during this inquiry.

Powers The committee is one of the departmental select committees, the powers of which are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 152. These are available on the internet via www.parliament.uk.

Publication The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the internet at www.parliament.uk/parliament.uk/clg. A list of Reports of the Committee in the present Parliament is at the back of this volume.

The Reports of the Committee, the formal minutes relating to that report, oral evidence taken and some or all written evidence are available in a printed volume.

Additional written evidence may be published on the internet only.

Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Glenn McKee (Clerk), Sarah Heath (Second Clerk), Stephen Habberley (Inquiry Manager), Kevin Maddison (Committee Specialist), Emily Gregory (Senior Committee Assistant), Mandy Sullivan (Committee Assistant), Stewart McIlvenna, (Committee Support Assistant) and Hannah Pearce (Media Officer).

Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Communities and Local Government Committee, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 1234; the Committee’s email address is [email protected]

List of additional written evidence

(published in Volume II on the Committee’s website www.parliament.uk/clgcom) Page Association of Democratic Services Officers Ev w74 Janet Atkinson Ev w42 Bharti Boyle Ev w36 Buckinghamshire County Council Ev w5 Nigel Carter Ev w38 Community Council of Staffordshire Ev w34 District Councils’ Network Ev w23 Dr Mark Ewbank Ev w17 Suzanne Fletcher Ev w73 Friends, Families and Travellers Ev w31, Ev w32 Warren W Hateley Ev w61 David Hill Ev w72 Jack Hopkins Ev w79 L. E. Horne Ev w36 Edward Houlton Ev w38 Robina Iqbal Ev w38 Desmond Jaddoo Ev w41 Councillor Lynda Jones Ev w68, Ev w69 Councillor Mike Jordan Ev w38 Councillor Richard Kemp Ev w39 Rebecca Lane Ev w78 Jenny Lawrence Ev w34 Localis Ev w29 George McManus Ev w37 Councillor Iain Malcolm, Leader of South Tyneside Council Ev w62 Alfred Murphy Ev w35 NAVCA Ev w81 Netmums Ev w48 Scott Nicholson Ev w1 Timothy J Oates Ev w40 Office for Public Management Ev w7 Christopher Padley Ev w70 Participants in Local Government Association seminar Ev w58 Councillor Norman Plumpton Walsh Ev w36 Councillor Robin Potter Ev w33 Somerset County Council Ev w66 Ray Spalding Ev w80 Staffordshire County Council Ev w12 West Midlands Council Ev w2 Wiltshire Council Ev w25 Workers’ Educational Association, York Participate Pilot Ev w43

cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [SO] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w1

Written evidence

Written evidence from Scott Nicholson (CC 01) 1. Summary — Councillors should selﬂessly, represent their community. — Councillors should have an enhanced role in leading the organisation of constituents into a community by creating community groups. — There should be a movement away from the idea that only the retired have the time to undertake the role of the councillor. — Greater remuneration, more councillor seats and a movement of council meetings outside of working hours may achieve this.

2. Introduction 2.1 My name is Scott Nicholson; I am 27 and work for the University of Leeds researching the hospital superbug Clostridium difﬁcile. I am based at Leeds General Inﬁrmary but before this worked as a Scientist in the NHS at both the Royal Cornwall Hospital and Scarborough General Hospital. 2.2 In addition to this, I am the Secretary of Leeds Central Constituency Labour Party and the Labour candidate for Wetherby Ward in the Leeds City Council elections on 3 May 2012.

3. TheRole ofCouncillors asLeaders ofCommunities andNeighbourhoods 3.1 I think primarily the role of the councillor should be one of selfless, representation of his or her community. I do, however, feel that further to that it would improve our neighbourhoods if councillors were expected to take a leadership role in organising communities. 3.2 This organisation by councillors could see them acting as “managers” of perhaps the Prime minister’s “Big Society” idea. In this way it would be the councillor’s role to make sure that communities had youth groups, amateur dramatic societies, sports clubs, etc. I do not feel it should be the councillor’s role to run these groups, merely to lead the organisation of people into a community. 3.3 I very much feel it is the case that people need to be organised into becoming a community. I personally live with my girlfriend in modern flats filled with other young professionals, a lot of whom, I assume have also moved to Leeds from elsewhere. Generally, the interaction between neighbours is very similar to the interaction between commuters on the London Underground. 3.4 These people have no stake in the community but surely have in the past been in clubs and societies at schools or universities. This contrasts the Ward in which I am standing in which organisations such as “Wetherby in Bloom” bring people together in the community but also provide them a reason to be proud of their neighbourhoods. 3.5 I feel if it were the councillor’s responsibility to make sure these groups were present and that people were encouraged to be involved it would really give the young professionals in my area a reason to form a community. This organisation may even assist in reducing antisocial behaviour in poorer areas by giving young people something to do but also more importantly, a stake in society and a sense of community. Furthermore the leadership of councillors in organising communities could possibly even prevent further destructive riots occurring.

4. Recruitment andDiversity ofCouncillors—and theImplications forRepresentation and LocalDemocracy 4.1 I can only talk about the Labour Party’s recruitment of potential councillors in Leeds. I feel that an email sent out to all members, asking if anyone was interested in becoming a local councillor and inviting them to attend a meeting to further discuss it, is a good recruitment procedure. 4.2 I do, however, feel that there is a distinct lack of not just young people but those that are still of working age in our local councils. Having an average age in a council of 60 years old is obviously unrepresentative, as is the lack of black and minority ethnic groups. 4.3 What really annoys me is that people of working age are put off from standing, by sitting councillors in their 60s, anecdotally telling potential candidates that they will not be able to work and simultaneously be a councillor due to time commitments. This was said to me when I applied to become a councillor. 4.4 If it is true and that people cannot possibly ﬁt employment and casework into their daily life, then obviously there must be a change or we doom ourselves to only being governed by those who are in their 60s and 70s. This change could involve greater remuneration to allow further employment to be unnecessary or the creation of more councillor positions to allow the workload to be shared. In addition to this council meetings cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w2 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

could also be held outside of normal working hours to allow younger people to combine employment with representing their community. April 2012

Written evidence from West Midlands Councils (CC 07) Communities and Local Government Inquiry into the Role Councillors Play in their Communities Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the important discussion on the role of councillors in their communities. West Midlands Councils serves the interests of councils in the West Midlands. It is collectively owned by its member councils, who together decide on the activities and priorities of the organisation. The submission reﬂects a diversity of views and in reality many apply or span a number of the questions that you have posed.

TheRole ofCouncillors asLeaders of theirCommunities andNeighbourhoods People generally become councillors in order to “make a difference” to their local area. By virtue of their unique position of being democratically elected to represent the people of their area they are well placed to act as leaders in their local areas. Councils have a range of different ways in which councillors can exercise their local leadership role including ways to influence local priorities and spending, as well as being the voice of their communities within the wider council. While all areas are different, councillors will have effective relationships to different extents with parish or town councils, residents groups and other local organisations. However, in other areas there will be less social capital, fewer volunteers and therefore less beneficial activity locally. Some councils are actively exploring how the role of councillors as community champions can be redefined and modernised, for example through prototype projects such as using social media tools for networking between local community organisations and leading local ownership of community assets. The ability to make something concrete happen in their area can be greatly increased by councillors having control over a specific sum of money. Initiatives such as Local Community Funds through which councils devolve a set amount of money to ward councillors are a positive contribution to this. Sums in the order of £10,000 per councillor can give councillors additional scope for positive engagement in the community and gives the council as a whole greater flexibility to respond to what is happening in localities. Approaches differ, but the funds can be used for small grants or in some cases several years’ worth can be rolled forward to be used on larger schemes. Another important leadership role for councillors is to engage and influence the increasing diversity of public, third sector and private providers operating in their area. This can be a challenging task with, in many cases, limited direct or even indirect influence through the council but it can be a valuable and productive one. However, in some cases, despite the desire to make a difference, councillors find there is less autonomy that they would wish and find themselves unable to respond to local concerns even when they are well evidenced. Where there is no sense of “making a difference” ward councillors can become disheartened when local views and evidence are “over-ruled” or discounted in a wider decision-making process, potentially leading to distrust of officers and processes. There are clearly tensions for frontline councillors in this respect which are not always resolvable, particularly where wider than local issues need to be considered on a greater than local or even greater than council basis. However, perhaps more could be done in terms of involvement in processes and communication with decision-makers to reduce these tensions. In these situations councillors can also have a leadership role in informing their communities of how these wider issues affect them. Through being actively involved even where the overall decision may have gone against the local councillor’s views, there should be scope to ameliorate any perceived adverse impacts, for example in working to secure sometimes very significant community facilities from new development.

Recruitment andDiversity Would be councillors need to believe they would be able to make a difference if they are going to make a commitment and give up valuable time. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w3

One of the biggest incentives for recruiting councillors is therefore ensuring that they have a clear role and will be trusted with decision-making and that they are not by-passed by boards and trusts and the like which have only nominal or even no councillor representation. There are some concerns that the some aspects of the localisation and decentralising agenda are contributing to this by creating more bodies and organisations active locally, but with their accountability increasingly to central Government and/or with no direct relationship to the local council. Potential councillors may, therefore, also be unclear about the different layers of governance in a locality and the influence that they have over different aspects of public life. This makes it difficult to attract people. There are particular issues for prospective younger councillors who may have a young family and demanding work commitments. Indeed, becoming a councillor could well result in a significant loss of earnings. Employees can be reluctant to ask for time off for public duties fearing that it would undermine their career prospects. In this light, it would be helpful if the role of councils and councillors were portrayed more positively by Government particularly to businesses. There is a need to encourage employers to see benefits in employing local authority councillors and to view it as a contribution to their community’s public life. A tax incentive or similar for employers with councillors on their payroll may overcome some of their reluctance to employ councillors. It is important that councillors are drawn from a wider pool of people. The financial implications and time costs risks narrowing down the breadth of representation further to those who have time such as the retired, the unemployed and students. Even where younger people have become councillors there is a substantial risk that they will give up the role in order to pursue a career and to bring up their families.

Skills, Training and Support forCouncillors The learning curve for new members is particularly steep and they can feel disillusioned and out of their depth with full time professional officers. Many, particularly those new to the role, find that being a councillor it is far more onerous and time consuming than anticipated. Therefore, it is important that local authorities support members by making the best use of their time for example by providing more timely and effective information, minimising the number of meetings and enabling members to be more visible to, and directly active with their constituents. Through improved promotion of the role of the council, the councillor and induction procedures, the levels of expectation of member development and support has been improving. Indeed, most, if not all, councils provide training opportunities and/or encourage councillors to participate in national LGA, West Midlands Councils or other training events. Member seminars to bring people up to speed on particular issues and other forms of training, or councillor support may form part of regular council meetings helping to ensure that they reach the appropriate members without unduly adding to their time commitments. West Midlands Councils is the organisation owned by its member local authorities, who together decide on the activities and priorities of the organisation. One of the services that West Midlands Councils offers is a Member Development Charter process that helps councils improve their performance through elected member development. The process raises the profile and standard of member development within participating authorities and recognises the commitment and achievement of those that have been satisfactorily assessed; in all around 20 councils in the West Midlands have achieved either the Full or Primary Charter levels. In addition, West Midlands Councils offers bespoke member development services and a “Knowledge Shot” seminar programme (reaching around 1,100 councillor and officer delegates in 33 events), briefings on specific issues and a twice monthly newsletter to help keep councillors up to date on key issues affecting councils in the West Midlands. The expectations of training from younger Members are likely to be higher than more established councillors, particularly where they have experienced this in a work environment. Such members may expect a flexible and tailored approach to supporting their development, along with effective communication and the sort of business processes that are commensurate with leading successful businesses. These members may be more likely to be concerned with political career progression and how their parties organise succession planning. There can be an important role for senior councillors to support ward councillors on particular matters. With councils having less of a formal role in education for example, ward councillors could have a role in developing cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w4 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

close relationships with their local schools. For most ward councillors, however, education is unlikely to be their main interest. To help, at least one council is developing a “framework of support”. Lead members could have a key role here to support and encourage colleagues in different issues. Having a technical understanding of the technical matters and engendering interest will clearly be important, but increasingly so will be the softer skills needed to make best use of their contacts with schools, FE colleges and other organisations operating locally where there is no statutory role for the council or a requirement on the organisation to cooperate. In two tier areas some councils are looking at the opportunities to draw on their bigger councillor resource to share the load, increase coordination and avoid duplication.

The Practicalities ofbeingaCouncillor Although the amount of time put in by councillors varies greatly, it appears younger would-be councillors generally have to choose between a career and council commitments. Moreover, there is little that can be done about the lack of security in the four year term of councillors. Remuneration packages are unlikely to be able to substitute for this. Generally speaking the level of remuneration is not related to the increasing time and work demands and is not enough to attract younger people and those with families. That said, there are clearly dangers around the perception of using expenses and attendance allowances as an incentive to public service, potentially changing the emphasis to something more akin to a “normal” job and away from its democratic, representative status. The remuneration varies markedly from authority to authority but there is a danger that if it is too high then people will seek election for the pay rather than the responsibilities of public service. Moreover, the loss of office would also become a significant financial shock as well as an emotional one. The demands on leaders and cabinet members make it exceptionally hard for people in full time work. For some the Special Responsibility Allowance is a fair recompense, but for more complex Cabinet portfolios the time commitment can be enormous. Of course, as in other areas of public life there are pressures not to increase allowances or at least not to accept them, which is a further disincentive particularly for younger councillors or those on low or fixed incomes. While perhaps not an issue for most ward councillors, these are important considerations for attracting people into public service, or at least not erecting unnecessary barriers, and in retaining those interested in political progression. In this respect, the messages that Government gives consciously and inadvertently about councils and councillors are very important. Unfortunately, these can sometimes add up to quite a negative image, colouring the public’s understanding of the worth of councils and councillors and therefore influencing whether or not people would be interested in becoming a councillor.

LocalisingDecision-making to Divisions,Wards andNeighbourhoods Many, if not all councils have local, devolved, decision-making arrangements, utilising these would reinforce existing democratic structures to enable challenge over differentiated service provision, economies of scale and coordinated commissioning in an authority’s different neighbourhoods. Having a process and budget to support and empower councillors locally is clearly an advantage and some councils have taken measures to decentralise some of their spending and decision-making. As well as the before mentioned Local Community Funds there are a number of ways this can be facilitated such as Local Committees, Divisional Panels and devolved Neighbourhood Budgets, although there can be risks that such mechanisms could be dominated by the “usual suspects” or vocal single issue interests. Having Neighbourhood Managers who work closely with the ward councillors and other local groups can also be very effective in supporting councillors and brining forward appropriate potential schemes. A challenge for councillors is the amount of public funding coming into areas from Government to local groups that require governance structures, such as the Community First Neighbourhood Fund Forums. Together with other local governance forums such as those for Neighbourhood Plans, there is scope to use these initiatives to reinforce local action around agreed priorities, but with different governance structures for each this could be a real challenge for already pressed local councillors. Councils in the West Midlands are also experimenting with a range of pathﬁnder, vanguard and front-runner activities, often with locally elected councillors leading the innovation and putting accountability at the heart of the relevant service reform. Examples of this include collaborating closely with town and parish councils in cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w5

the development of Neighbourhood Plans, giving the local councillor a signiﬁcant role in developing “Place Plans” guiding local spending and investigating the roles of councillors in preparing for Community Budgeting.

Oversight,Facilitation andAccountability It is clear the role of frontline councillors is becoming increasingly complex. Some of the localism and decentralisation processes have the potential to increase the number of independent, non-democratically accountable bodies active locally and the number and range of providers of public services. At the same time there is increasing autonomy for further education colleges and schools and an increasing diverse range of businesses and organisations who are delivering public services in local areas. There is scope for councillors to be involved in some of these and to help coordination to avoid duplication or assist in focusing on local priorities. However, there is also a risk that councillors themselves could be spread too thinly. In many cases it is the council that is likely to be held to account for the services in their area whether they are responsible for them or not and there will be pressure on councils to step in and intervene where things go wrong. Having a working understanding of their roles and keeping up to date with their performance in order to understand performance and to hold them to account effectively will undoubtedly be a challenge, particularly where they are not directly commissioned by the council.

Strategic, Leadership, Governance andResponsibilities The move to the Cabinet system and away from the Committee system a few years ago meant that other than overview and scrutiny there a relatively few central roles for “back bench” councillors. While the scrutiny and oversight role is an important one, as has been set out, people generally become councillors to make a difference rather than to scrutinise the decisions of others. Realistically, however, councils and the business of councils has increasingly moved away from the Committee model and is changing further. With more decisions being made on a partnership basis, for example the Troubled Families initiative, there are more joint arrangements being put together. There are also more supra-local decisions through partnership arrangements with business such as the Local Enterprise Partnerships as well as the more operational move to more shared services between local authorities. These require different decision-making arrangements but the scrutiny role of local councillors both formally and informally becomes even more important to ensure that the decision-makers are held to proper account. May 2012

Written evidence from Buckinghamshire County Council (CC 08) Summary — Submission from Buckinghamshire County Council. — Focusing on the characteristics and requirements for Councillors. — Two-tier areas have specific challenges particularly in relation to the community understanding of County and District Councillor roles and Buckinghamshire has developed a successful Local Area Forum model. — Councillors as community leaders is an increasingly important aspect of the role requiring people with drive and commitment who are willing to be proactive in their local areas. — There are a significant number of Councillors for whom community leadership does not resonate and this is a challenge for local authorities in moving towards community solutions to service delivery. — The County Council has a Charter Mark for its Member Development programme, reflecting the commitment to supporting Members. — Managing conflicting demands on their time for working Councillors can be a challenge.

Introduction Buckinghamshire County Council is a principal authority in a two tier area in the south of England. The County Council welcomes this opportunity to contribute to the CLG Committee inquiry and to provide the organisation’s views on Councillors and their role in communities. This submission focuses on the characteristics and requirements necessary for Councillors to carry out an effective community leadership role and the challenges therein. This submission will not cover party political issues as it would be inappropriate for an authority to do so, and is for others to comment. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w6 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

Two-tierAreas The two-tier arrangement of local government brings with it speciﬁc challenges in relation to Councillors working in their local communities. From the electorate’s perspective there is often confusion around the County and District Council remits and therefore which Councillor to contact. Good local working relationships between Councillors of the various authorities are therefore critical in providing a “seamless service” to local people.

To assist this in Buckinghamshire we have developed Local Area Forums. The County has 19 local areas each with a Forum providing a place for County, District and Parish Councillors, together with local representatives from other key public sector organisations and often other key local players, to come together to discuss and take action on local issues. Many Local Area Forums have worked with their communities to develop local plans—an activity which was happening in Buckinghamshire before the Localism Bill. However, in our experience the level to which Forums have taken the opportunity to make local decisions and take responsibility for local services has depended very much on the vision and tenacity of individuals involved.

Councillors as CommunityLeaders Community engagement—stimulating interest and action in any local area—requires people with drive and commitment. Over the past decade there has been a growing recognition within British society of the need for communities and individuals to be more self-sufﬁcient. As a result, the ability of the local elected Councillor to provide community leadership is an increasingly important trait.

The number of Councillors who are proactive locally is growing. These Councillors make the time to go out and about in their local communities—learning about the communities they represent and the issues that they face. The most effective Councillors in their communities are those who understand the value in building good working relationships locally. These tend to be individuals who also recognise the need for change and actively campaign, leading where necessary to ensure improvements happen.

However, there are still a signiﬁcant number of Councillors who are less involved in their local areas. The community leadership role appears to resonate less with these individuals, posing more of a challenge for Councils. Delivering improvements or meeting challenges in local areas is best achieved when services, Councillors and their communities are working together on issues. The willingness of Councillors to engage with this work depends very much on the individual Members involved.

MemberDevelopment Here at Buckinghamshire County Council, we have always had a strong focus on Member development, ensuring Members can be the best that they can be and that their skills match their passion for improving lives in their communities. Our Member development programme puts emphasis on our political skills framework and the Corporate Plan.

Our approach is Member–driven and holistic. From the moment someone expresses an interest in becoming a Councillor they can find useful information on our website, including a leaflet and DVD on how to become a Councillor. Once elected all our Councillors receive a comprehensive Member Induction Guide, linked to the skills framework and individually tailored to reflect the Member’s division, and we offer senior Councillor mentors.

For those Councillors who are willing to provide leadership for their communities but who lack the necessary skills, we provide group and individually tailored learning opportunities which continue throughout the term of the administration.

The organisation considers it vital that Councillors are supported to develop their knowledge, techniques and understanding. Events are planned in response to Councillor needs and are designed speciﬁcally to help Members to gain conﬁdence in working with their communities. Buckinghamshire County Council has been awarded The Charter Mark for our Member development programme.

TheWorking Councillor A significant amount of time is necessary to carry out the Councillor role effectively, which can be a challenge for those in full-time employment and for their employers too. Unfortunately society does not attribute a particularly high-status to the role of the Councillor and as a consequence individuals can find it difficult to manage employment and Councillor work. In the experience of some of our Members, the choices made by Councillors can impact on career prospects. This may be one of the issues that discourages younger people from considering standing for election.

Acknowledging the complex demands on twin-hatters in this two-tier area, the County Council holds meetings during the day time. Just over half of our County Councillors are also District Councillors and many cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w7

are Parish Councillors, school governors and involved in other local groups and organisations, the majority of which hold evening meetings. For working Councillors, this is an additional challenge. May 2012

Written evidence from the Office for Public Management (OPM) (CC 09) Summary Developments around localism, encouragement around building a more active citizenry, and the financial pressures faced by councils all have implications for the way councillors will need to operate. Based on members’ experiences of their specific local projects, and more general feedback, we would suggest there are five broad roles that members can expect to take in helping to generate positive outcomes in their areas. The appropriateness of each will depend on the project, as well as the personal strengths and preferences of the member, and sometimes a successful project will see members perform aspects of each. In the case of the first three in particular, the councillor’s legitimacy to act in these roles is rooted in their status as democratically elected representatives. — Councillor as mobiliser—being able to enthuse, motivate, and build the confidence of others; being honest and clear on how much they can do; and being able to “make the case” to council colleagues, partner agencies and local people. — Councillor as convenor and facilitator—understanding who has a stake (and interest) in what, to bring the right range of skills and ideas to bear; having the skills to facilitate meetings with a degree of distance rather than always giving a personal view. — Councillor as broker and arbiter—showing diplomacy, sensitivity and tact; acting as a bridge between key people/organisations; being persistent; being a good active listener; knowing what support can be drawn on from the council and other agencies. — Councillor as signpost—being honest and clear on how much you can do; knowing what support can be drawn on from the council and other agencies, and who to point people towards. — Councillor as communicator—communicating the reasons behind and the implications of council decisions affecting an area—even if you don’t personally support those decisions.

Introduction In reference to your call for evidence, this submission addresses two of the areas of focus: — the role of councillors as leaders of communities and neighbourhoods; and — localising decision making to divisions, wards and neighbourhoods. A current area of interest for OPM is the role of local authorities in “unlocking” the capacity of local communities. As illustrated in our recent report,1 councils are taking a range of approaches to tap into the ideas and energy of local people in order to: give local people more control over their areas; realise the health and well-being benefits that volunteering can provide; and take pressure off traditional council services at a time of squeezed budgets. Some of our recent work asks the question: “what does all this mean for councils?” and also, more specifically, “what does this mean for elected councillors?” The evidence that follows is based on OPM’s work with Shropshire Council, and all quotes are from officers, elected members or other people involved in this work.

Why theRole ofCouncillors is soImportant atPresent Squeezed budgets As councils continue to make difficult decisions about spending, so too the conversations they have with residents about how to make savings will also be difficult. Officers should have the technical and professional expertise to advise on what will be feasible and how outcomes can be safeguarded in potentially new ways, but as the elected face of local authorities, councillors will need to be at the forefront of those conversations, explaining reasoning to residents, bringing resident voices to bear on decision-making, and increasingly being able to tap into resident time and energy to help maintain certain sorts of provision where council resources are no longer enough (eg libraries, community transport etc).

Localism Local communities are being invited to have a stronger voice in deciding what happens in their area. On the one hand, that could be seen to reduce the relevance of councillors, as individuals and community groups will be encouraged to have their say direct rather than channelled through an elected member. On the other hand, the fact that councillors are elected and therefore have both the mandate and the legitimacy that others don’t, 1 See Francis, Unlocking Local Capacity, OPM 2012: http://www.opm.co.uk/resources/33885 cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w8 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

means it will be hugely important that they remain at the centre of conversations and decisions affecting their areas.

Building community capacity and the “big society”

Again, this could be seen as reducing the relevance of councillors; side-stepping them and encouraging citizens to do more and take part beyond the traditional processes of contacting a councillor to “sort things out”. In some cases, councils and councillors can act as barriers to local people wishing to tackle local challenges themselves. But this is only partially the picture, and in most cases individual and communities need support in order to do more—that capacity will not be “unleashed” simply by lifting red tape, it will need to be “unlocked” with the time and resources of local councils, acting to nurture, encourage and coax. Elected members should be well-placed in communities to help join the dots—between council and residents; between local people, local groups and ideas. That might involve acting as arbiter between competing interests, and being an important interface between the council and others when a group or individual steps forward with a proposal.

Learning from OPM’sWork in Shropshire

Background to our work with councillors in Shropshire

Shropshire Council established the Focused Local Learning Programme as a prototype in January 2011, involving councillors in eight wards in the south east of the county. The programme was designed to help elected members provide their communities with the support they need to do more for themselves, as increasingly they will need to in an era of reduced resources. In addition to helping to generate concrete results on speciﬁc local challenges in the pilot areas, the work aimed to answer the following questions:

— Who might councillors work with to improve outcomes for local people?

— How can community capacity be unlocked, developed and measured?

— What are the main skills and qualities that members and their supporting ofﬁcers need to provide community leadership?

— What development do members and others need?

— What changes does the council need to make in organising itself?

Different ways of performing the elected member role

People often see the local councillor as a problem–solver—someone who can sort out local issues, often by referring them on to the relevant council ofﬁcer. Councillors often see themselves as having this role. The starting point for this local learning programme was that this can’t be a sustainable approach for achieving results for communities—elected members don’t have the time or skills to do everything themselves, and councils don’t have the resources to always provide the solutions. Councils appreciate that local people often have the ideas and the energy to help ﬁnd solutions themselves—the question is what the role of councillors can be in bringing that local energy and those ideas to bear.

At the beginning of the programme, members’ self–assessments of their own skills were very positive, suggesting they were already conﬁdent in a range of aspects of their work. Nonetheless, following their focused local learning projects, some did think that they had developed their practise and done things in a different— and more effective—way than previously. Perhaps the learning here is that members will not necessarily have a prior sense of what skills or techniques they can usefully develop if the very approach they’re being encouraged to take is outside their usual remit. In other words, we don’t know what we don’t know, but when encouraged to work in a different way, the value of certain skills or approaches might become more evident.

The table below sets out some of the aspects of the member role that have been evident through the focused local learning programme. In the right-hand column are corresponding knowledge, skills and competencies that feedback suggests are useful in performing those roles. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w9

Aspects of the member role Knowledge, skills and competencies

Councillor as mobiliser: the role of the councillor Ability to enthuse, motivate and build the can be to start the ball rolling on how to tackle a confidence of other people—conveying your own specific challenge or set up a specific project. This enthusiasm and commitment with confidence and may mean launching a campaign and galvanising local assurance and knowing “what buttons to press” with support in the mould of a community activist or different organisations and individuals to get their community organiser. support; helping to build “ladders of involvement” so “You can’t be a wallflower as a councillor … that there are new people coming through. you have be confident in yourself and what Understanding what channels are most effective you have to say.” (member) at reaching different local audiences—for instance, It may also mean mobilising council officers or senior would social media help in spreading your message councillors to give their support, which will require and ideas? Is a traditional public meeting the best making a sound case for action. way to bring people on board? “I’ve learnt that if you get the local Confidence to be honest and clear at the start— community involved and maintain their about what you as a local member are willing and interest, you can go into any office at able to become involved in, so as not to over- Shirehall and say ‘this is what the people commit and set expectations too high. It’s important want’,” (member) not to overstretch yourself. Ability to make the case for action—drawing on evidence of local need, demand, and potential impact to do that.

Councillor as convenor and facilitator: the elected Understanding who has a stake in what issues— member has the legitimacy to pull people and which council departments, which other public organisations together for a specific local challenge, bodies, which community groups and which but not necessarily the time or resources to draw on to individuals—and the relationships to call on where find a solution themselves or with one or two council necessary. officers. In that context, being able to galvanise Skills in facilitating a meeting—basics like how to support from the most relevant quarters and lead set the scene, how to ensure different views are initial discussions will be important. heard and tension diffused, and how to summarise “This is definitely something I’d do in future comments at key points in a meeting to reassure that following this experience—if I can get a views have been acknowledged before the partnership together on other topics, I will conversation moves on do. It’s about the council facilitating rather than doing everything.” (member) “You’ve got to be able to winkle people out— to know the right people in the village to approach.” (member)

Councillor as broker and “problem buster”: the Diplomacy, sensitivity and tact—avoiding creating most useful role of the elected member can sometimes personal tensions and stepping carefully around be to act as broker or go-between when personal those tensions that already exist, maintaining a relationships about an issue have deteriorated, or position of balance and impartiality to steer an where technical and legal problems are too much for objective course through a difﬁcult situation; being community groups or individuals to navigate alone. clear whether you are advocating a particular course Here, drawing down the right help from the council of action or facilitating others to reach a decision. and even other agencies may help to get things Persistence—being prepared that progress can take moving again—without the member having to solve time and small steps might get you further in the the problem directly themselves. long run. “This was a project where something was Being a good listener, and in particular being an stuck. The local support was there, but it was active listener—it’s one thing to listen to what about working with an individual—the thing someone wants, but another to ensure you that was stuck was a relationship, and we understand why they want it and what they want the had to work to turn that around.” (member) outcome to be. These conversations can sometimes reveal that what people really want can be achieved in other ways, and may also point towards ways in which the community itself can play a part in making things happen. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w10 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

Aspects of the member role Knowledge, skills and competencies Understanding of the council structure—the roles and remits of different departments and ofﬁcers, so that you can call on then right professional and technical support at the right point in the process.

Councillor as signpost: even based on this approach Understanding of the council structure—the roles of sharing the burden and finding solutions with and remits of different departments and officers, and others, elected members will not be able to devote where possible, an understanding of the council’s time and energy to all the potential projects in their corporately agreed strategies and priorities with area. When members feel they can’t put a lot of effort which local activities can demonstrate synergy. into an issue brought to your attention, however, it Confidence to be honest and clear at the start— will be important to direct people towards individuals about what you as local member are willing and able or organisations who may be better placed to help. to become involved in, so as not to over-commit and “My advice would be don’t take on set expectations too high. It’s important not to something you can’t help with … but nor overstretch. should you desert those people or that idea— put them in touch with A, B and C … we need to be able to bring in the right council officers and join the dots.” (member)

Councillor as communicator: elected members are Ability to explain the council’s position—just as the primary connecting point between the local members in a “mobilising” role will need to be able community and the decision-making local authority. to make the case for action in front of local people, When a local authority makes decisions that could so too they will at times need to communicate the affect local people, the councillor will need to be able reasons for no action—or unpopular actions—when to communicate (if not always justify, depending on certain decisions are needed. their own views) the reasons and the implications. Confidence to have difficult conversations: particularly at a time when council resources are constrained, some organisations and individuals will be disappointed by spending decisions affecting their area. As the face of the authority in that area, the member will need to be prepared for the difficult conversations that result from that. Ability to challenge voices in the community: sometimes members may need to hold up a mirror to people in their community and challenge their ideas and assumptions—particularly where their impact threatens to undermine other people’s input and willingness to be involved.

Implications forCouncils—How toSupportElectedMembers to beLeaders in their Communities

Putting more energy into locality–focused work

If local members are to use their grassroots knowledge of communities and issues as the basis for practical projects that marshal local energy and interest; and if local people are to get behind those projects, then the place must be the focus, rather than the issue or the theme or the service traditionally tasked with sorting things out. For members and communities to be supported on these place-based projects, councils need to be able to offer resources and support at that level—across departments and perhaps at a level of locality many officers are not accustomed to. “Taking this very local approach is definitely what we would look to do more of in future—you need that for the member, because it’s the level at which they are seen by residents, and it’s also important for the community because the results are more tangible to them.” (senior officer)

Members need different types of support at different times

There are times when the skills members value the most in ofﬁcers relate to organising the process of a project—liaising with the relevant organisations, keeping them informed, running meetings effectively etc. In one of the Shropshire projects that was felt to have been very successful by those involved, the member attributed this in part to a strong project manager. Some other members (and local stakeholders) spoke about the potential value of having a “case worker” for each project who could provide those skills, or at least pull them in from elsewhere as required. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w11

Making it easier for members: avoid jumping through hoops Members cited instances of some council processes that can feel as though they generate work unnecessarily and which, at times when a member is seeking to galvanise community organisations and residents into positive action, risk sapping good will and energy. The primary example was of funding application processes attached to council resources. Some members had found themselves spending many hours struggling to fill applications forms in, and following rejections of those bids they and other local stakeholders felt not only disheartened but unsure of what they were getting wrong. In light of earlier conclusions about the importance of building local people’s confidence and in building relationships with potentially valuable bodies like parish councils, these are the sorts of obstacles the council should think about addressing. “I did feel like the council was being very bureaucratic in the early stage … when the first bid was rejected, we were back to stage one.” (member) Internal bidding processes may be a mechanism for promoting fairness between areas and transparency of funding decisions, but the council may want to review whether this is the best use of members’ time and skills, or whether this should legitimately be seen as part of an officer’s skills set whereby members articulate the vision but paid officer time is used to put the bid in writing.

Enabling barriers to be removed where it is sensible to do so If the community is able to make a bigger contribution of time and expertise itself, the burden on some of the council’s traditional functions should be reduced over time. Different sorts of support will be needed, however, so that people in the community (along with their elected members) are in a position to make those contributions. The council needs to be aware of this. “Its felt like the councillor has been really good at removing potential blocks to progress, eg around planning permission, non-domestic business rates and so on. He’s found ways round things that have come up. The lesson is, if it’s sensible—ﬁnd a way!” (project stakeholder) Removing barriers to good projects will partly be about changing the structures and processes that can unnecessarily or inadvertently slow things down. In many cases, however, it will more important to shift the culture and behaviours in parts of the organisation so that when barriers are encountered, there is a will and an ability to overcome them there and then. In the case of the pub project in the village of Neenton, it was deployment of a new planning policy that made the proposed development feasible. This was an example of members and ofﬁcers turning the rules to their advantage to make something happen. Enabling other hyper-local projects to work in the same way will require the council to be similarly bold and creative.

Allowing members access to senior officer—and cabinet member—support Removing barriers may be something that requires the influence of senior officers and cabinet members. During the course of the projects, some councillors found that the intervention of the area director or cabinet member had been crucial in generating energy, suggesting solutions and ensuring action from officers or other organisations in a way that prevented blockages from forming.

Member development: learning through doing rather than through training We found mixed views in Shropshire, both from members and ofﬁcers, about the extent to which the council is well set-up to support members to play this sort of enabling role. Members were generally happy with the training they had received on being elected/re-elected as a councillor, but some felt that in light of this work with OPM and the sort of approach they’ve been encouraged to take, there could be opportunities to enhance training on “softer” skills for those who wanted it—skills such as basic project management, forging links with community groups, facilitating meetings etc. “I didn’t really have much training regarding making contacts locally.” These could form part of a “menu of options” available to councillors rather being than mandatory. That said, it was also suggested that traditional training was not necessarily what was needed, but facilitated opportunities for councillors to get out into the community and hear what people had to say. We would agree with those members who felt that learning through doing is often the most effective way of building their skills and conﬁdence, and the focused local learning programme aimed to provide those opportunities. In essence, all of the “enabling” aspects of the member role we have talked about—mobiliser, facilitator, broker, signpost and communicator—rely on good relationships being built and maintained. As members’ local projects have demonstrated through the course of the programme, it’s often good relationships that enable things to happen. If members can help to forge those relationships—even where they’re not directly involved themselves—they will be playing a valuable role in effecting positive change. Sometimes those relationships might be formal, between partner agencies, and sometimes they will be informal, between individuals and community groups in the area. Elected members may not always have a central role in facilitating those cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w12 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

relationships, but they are the ones with the legitimacy to start the conversations, to bring people together and marshal the ideas and energy. May 2012

Written evidence from Staffordshire County Council (CC 15)

Executive Summary

Staffordshire County Council welcomes the opportunity to contribute to this inquiry into the role of councillors in their communities. The County Council’s agenda is driven by a commitment to responding to local needs and a customer insight led approach to leadership and service delivery that positions councillors as a key conduit for understanding, articulating and responding to those needs at a local level. We welcome recent legislation such as the Localism Act which reinforces the role of councillors whilst recognising the need to be both bold and decisive to the beneﬁt of the communities we as local authorities serve. This submission highlights some of the decisive actions we have taken.

For councillors to retain their role and influence in local communities they have to be there on the ground showing leadership, building networks of influence and taking decisive and at times difficult decisions that deliver sustainable change beyond the lifetime of any one administration.

KeyPoints — Staffordshire’s Strategic Plan, key strategies and performance reporting framework places councillors at the heart of driving improvements for local communities. — Bold political leadership has led to significant external investment in the County, service redesign, improved services and costs savings without the need for austere cuts. — Councillors have direct influence of local prioritisation and have a range of support systems in place to facilitate local influence. — Funding given directly to County Councillors has directly levered in an additional £116,000 of match funding over the past year.

Introduction

The role of councillors as both strategic leaders and community champions is woven into the core principles of how Staffordshire County Council operates. Cabinet Members are at the heart of driving forward transformational change both within the Council but also more widely in respect of bringing together the local health economy, boosting jobs and prosperity regionally and transforming the way services are delivered to schools. Each of the Council’s key priorities has an Executive Member lead, as set out in the Strategic Plan, as does each of the Council’s signiﬁcant transformation projects.

All Members are champions for their communities whether that be in their role on Cabinet or Overview and Scrutiny, through the distribution of the Local Community Funds or through engagement and working in partnership with local communities.

One of the Council’s key priorities is that Staffordshire’s people are involved in the shaping the delivery of public services. From the commissioning of services, how the council interacts with local communities and how funding streams for local communities are prioritised, councillors in Staffordshire have a widely understood leadership role at each and every stage.

In June 2012 we will have agreed a policy framework around localism titled Unlocking Local Capacity. This is a means of co-ordinating all of our activities around the principles of: — Community empowerment. — Opening up public services. — Social action.

The framework sets out our ambitions for growing personal and social responsibility in our communities. Councillors have a fundamental role in us achieving these ambitions. Examples of this councillor leadership in their communities are highlighted in this submission.

The Council’s Operating Model sets out how services will be delivered in response to local needs. The model has been used to redeﬁne how, through Councillor leadership; the Council will deliver improved services whilst ensuring value for money for the taxpayers of Staffordshire.

Councillors have a clear role as leaders within the Operating Model which is summarised below: cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w13

Strategy Customers Cabinet set strategic priorities, strategies and key Councillors voice the needs of local communities commissioning intentions. directly with service areas, through Cabinet, Council Cabinet instigate service transformation and lead and Scrutiny and through partnership forums instigation and monitoring. Councillors ensure community voice is effectively Scrutiny informs strategy and policy development and reﬂected in Community Impact Assessments prior to review existing policy and strategy. key decisions. Championing the use of customer insight and effective customer services Challenging the comprehensiveness of needs assessments that are used to inform commissioning decisions. Localised scrutiny of community based issues Councillor Call for Action and local petitions.

Outcomes People/Place Delivery Cabinet monitor and challenge delivery Cabinet review impact of key decisions and Cabinet assess the performance of the organisation commissioning intentions through performance reporting arrangements Scrutiny challenge of delivery against the strategic The scrutiny of business cases to ensure effective plan. response to needs assessments Councillors gaining feedback from their local patch Councillors communicating the work of the County on the impact of Council decisions. Council to local communities. Cabinet ﬁne tuning strategic direction based on feedback from customers/citizens.

There are strong mechanisms of performance management, Member and ofﬁcer dialogue and challenge and transparent governance to deliver against this cycle.

Leader of Communities and Neighbourhoods There are a number of examples of where County Councillors in Staffordshire show clear leadership in their communities. These include the Local Priority Scheme, Local Community Fund, feeding into District Commissioning Plans, local petitions and actively voicing the concerns of local communities. The Council has introduced the role of the District Commissioning Lead (DCLs) during the past 12 months. Their role is to provide local leadership of the commissioning of services in response to local need. The DCLs work directly with County Councillors, senior officers and partners to draw together locally responsive solutions and service delivery to improve outcomes for local communities. The District Commissioning Leads are playing a significant role and bringing together local insight, Member’s knowledge of local priorities and analysis of local need into district based commissioning plans which will drive the commissioning of services at a local level. The DCLs are working closely with partners and County Councillors to ensure the County Council’s commissioning intentions provide a razor sharp local responsiveness to address the differing needs of the communities of Staffordshire. Members are also directly supported by Community Partnership Officers. Working on a double district basis they provide direct support to County Councillors in identifying and escalating trends in community concerns and considering the policy implications of such trends. The Local Priority Scheme is a structured system of quarterly meetings which brings together all County Councillors for a district/borough and is led by the Community Partnership Officers. The meetings provide a means for officers and partners to consult with County Councillors about proposals that will affect those communities and to share local information, service plans and good practice. Examples of successful use of these meetings has been where the local Police Inspector has met with County Councillors to consider and address operational successes and difficulties in a patch and an opportunity for the Inspector to take up ongoing concerns and to provide feedback. The events have also been used by the Children’s Commissioner to seek the views of County Councillors and to share their local knowledge of facilities and services (voluntary and statutory) in their local area. This local knowledge can then be utilised by the officer to enable more appropriate and effective services to be delivered which reflect the needs of the community. Highways Liaison meeting provide another means for County Councillors to directly influence service delivery at a local level. County Councillors are consulted on an annual programme of highways repair and maintenance priorities. County Councillors are able to directly influence which projects take priority following feedback from local communities in consultation with district and parish colleagues. In addition County Councillors are also involved in prioritising the work of Neighbourhood Highways Teams. The teams deal with the high volume of small, non-safety related highway maintenance problems that cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w14 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

are important to the appearance and environment of local communities. The work programme is designed in advance through discussions with local community representatives, often local parish councils. Devolving decision making in this way enables parish councils to work together with Staffordshire Highways to improve the effectiveness of this element of the Highway service. The Local Community Fund gives each county councillor a budget of £10,000 to spend in their local division. The fund allows councillors to financially support local projects which meet the core values and priority outcomes of the County Council. The Fund has resulted in £615,000 of direct investment in community groups and activities by County Councillors during the past 12 months. The Fund is an example of resources being given directly to County Councillors to enable them to have a direct impact on local communities with the minimum of paperwork and bureaucracy. There are a number of examples of where a small contribution from the Fund has led to match funding from other sources. In total the funding provided by County Councillors through the scheme has generated a further £116,000 in match funding allocation. Examples of the successful use of the fund include support to an intergenerational social gardening project focused upon environmental improvements, healthy lifestyles and social cohesion. Another example is where all county councillors in an area came together to fund Speed Indication Devices to improve road safety. The leadership role of councillors in their patch is currently being extended with the creation of Local Member Focus Events on a double district basis in Staffordshire. These events bring together all County Councillors (Executive and non Executive) with the remit of County Councillors influencing County Council delivery at a local level. The events are Member led and enable Councillors to bring round the table whoever they feel they need to resolve local issues. The intention of double district structures is to enable the sharing of good practice and innovation across the County. These have been aligned with Local Priority Meetings to provide a seamless means of local influence without generating large number of additional meetings for councillors. A practical example of County Council leadership has been around the support to communities around HS2. HS2 will have a potentially significant impact on communities in Staffordshire. The County Council is clear that any potential business benefits of the Scheme for the County remain unproven and don’t outweigh the environmental and community impact on Staffordshire. The Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport has committed an initial £10,000 to aid County Councillors and local community groups to pro actively evidence and voice the impact the project will have on their communities. Councillors regularly hand in petitions to Full Council as a means of ensuring local voice is heard and responded to. The Council’s Petitions Scheme has led to matters being referred to Overview and Scrutiny with one such petition leading to a household waste recycling site being retained for community use following a review by Cabinet.

Recruitment and Diversity of Councillors The County Council promotes the opportunities and support available for councillors via a programme of candidate open days. Open days are held prior to elections to enable prospective candidates to gain an understanding of the County Council, what the role of a County Councillor entails and the range of support that is available to them. Existing Councillors, senior officers and Member and Democratic Services officers are on hand to provide a realistic glimpse of what is involved and to provide reassurance as to what support exists. A buddy system is in place to support new Councillors. The system provides new Members with a buddy from the Member and Democratic Services Unit who the Councillor can call upon for advice and support for as long as is needed in terms of finding their way round the Council, its officer structure and systems and processes. The County Council recognises that with an average age of a County Councillor currently being 63 that its membership doesn’t wholly reflect local demographics. The County Council would welcome support in promoting the work and value of local councillors.

Skills, Training and Support Members recognise the importance of being up to date on the latest local and national developments and recognise the importance of Member development given the changing nature of the role of a local councillor. To this end the Council has a dedicated Member Development Ofﬁcer, a Members Services Development Panel, a structured annual training programme and general one stop support to Members. The Administration has also implemented a programme of Member peer review and self assessment that is used to inform training and development needs within the majority group. The Council has a dedicated Member Development Ofﬁcer. Her role is to develop the agreed Member Development Strategy for the Authority and work directly with senior Members to plan and deliver training needs. The role has recently been transferred into Organisational Development to ensure political awareness and the implications of working in a political organisation are fed through all organisational development and training delivery. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w15

The Member Development Officer supports the Member Services Development Panel which is made up of a group of Members from across the political make up of the Council. The Panel is Chaired by the Cabinet Member for Environment and Assets who is able to feed matters directly into Cabinet discussions and approve development proposals. It is an informal consultative forum at which Members are able to raise issues affecting their role as County Councillors and for officers to seek feedback and sign up to proposals. The Council has a Member Development Strategy which sets out Member Development intentions on an annual basis. This is informed directly through peer 1:1’s with Members, priorities from the Leader, Cabinet and Scrutiny Members and input from officers in terms of national changes and local priorities. Any training is intentionally interactive and focussed around practical skills such as facilitation, understanding of local communities and raising Members awareness of key policy developments such as Public Health responsibilities transferring back to local authorities. The Member and Democratic Services Team provide a one stop shop service for all Councillors ranging from a single point of access of councillor queries through to wider ICT and administrative support.

Practicalities of Beinga Councillor The time commitment for being a councillor is a significant and growing issue. Staffordshire is taking positive and pro active steps to minimise the unnecessary calls on councillors’ time. Steps include increasing use of social media and blogs, pro active management of meetings and a regular Member e-bulletin summarising key issues affecting Members. The development of Local Member Focus Events provides a visible public means of councillors considering the impact of County Council decisions and services on local communities. As the council moves forward on local commissioning to meet local need then the forums provide an opportunity for true local dialogue that can directly influence commissioning decisions and service planning. These have been linked to Local Priority meetings which provide an informal means of addressing localised issues and concerns streamlining existing commitments and ensuring issues can be addressed and followed up. Social media is being increasingly used by councillors as a means of keeping in touch with local communities and gaining insight into local concerns and issues. The Leader of the Council has a prominent blog for staff and the public and the majority of Cabinet Members also have a strong presence providing in time feedback on issues that affect local communities. County Councillors receive a weekly bulletin which summarises key events, the outcome of key meetings and forthcoming events of interest. The Bulletin also brings together highways works in an area and other information into one place. The Bulletin is being used increasingly by officers in order to reduce the number of individual e–mails being sent by the Council to County Councillors to reduce the number of e-mails in their in box. There is a central point for councillor queries which provides for matters to be chased if responses are not forthcoming. The Cabinet Member for Culture, Communities and Customers is also championing the development of electronic bulletin board system to enable Members to post good practice and common issues across County Councillors. Remuneration is provided to all Councillors through a basic allowance with additional Special Responsibility Allowances provided for positions of authority. These allowances have been frozen for the past three years based on a clear political mandate of not taking allowance increases at a time when local communities are feeling the squeeze.

Oversight, Facilitation and Accountability The County Council has a strongly embedded approach to Member oversight, facilitation and accountability. This includes named Executive responsibility for major transformational projects, clear Cabinet oversight of performance on a monthly and quarterly basis and effective accountability through overview and scrutiny and locality arrangements. Cabinet Members are accountable for the delivery of our priority outcomes as set out in the County Council’s Strategic Plan. The key transformation projects each have a key Cabinet Member with leadership responsibility for those projects. This provides clear political direction and leadership. The Cabinet lead will Chair project board meetings, facilitate communication with other Councillors partners and the public and are accountable to Cabinet for progress against the project. Overall leadership of the Transformation Programme sits with the Deputy Leader who regularly accounts for progress to the Council’s overarching scrutiny committee (Corporate Review). Cabinet Members have regular and structured briefings on performance. These include monthly strategic management sessions with senior officers within the portfolios that they are responsible for. Member/Officer project teams have also been set up to track progress against many of the Council’s key strategic outcomes. Joint Cabinet and SLT sessions are held on a monthly basis with a performance scorecard used to track progress against key agreed measures of impact and success including reputation and customer insight issues. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w16 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

On a quarterly basis a report is produced for Cabinet which integrates performance and financial reporting and is based around the key themes within the Strategic Plan which are Family, Community and Prosperity. The report is produced in a way that summarises key highlights both in terms of good performance but also the actions being taken to address areas of concern. These discussions have extended beyond simply how we are doing as an organisation but have resulted into more fundamental questions about whether the Council is doing the right things in the best and most cost effective way. This has in turn led to some of the bold decisions highlighted in the next section such as the Staffordshire Business Fund, Partnership NHS Trust and proposals around Educational Support Services. Overview and Scrutiny Members have a strong focus on performance. A system of Cabinet Member Accountability Sessions has been working successfully for a number of years. Cabinet Members are held to account twice yearly for performance within their portfolios. The reports are framed around priorities chosen by Members based on either past performance or current areas of significance. The reports are then produced setting out the strengths and weaknesses of current performance in that area. These have led to further investigations by scrutiny or recommendations back to the Cabinet Member about overall progress. Challenge of this kind isn’t however restricted to twice yearly focussed sessions but rather supplement regular dialogue and challenge to Cabinet Members through the scrutiny process. Facilitation is seen as one of the key roles of Councillors within Staffordshire. The liaison that was undertaken by the Leader and other Cabinet Members in respect of the Jaguar Land Rover deal between neighbouring Council’s, the Local Enterprise Partnership and other partners enabled the strongest case to be made in terms of a business case to attract the firm to Staffordshire. That liaison and partnership continues following the deal with joint activity to ensure highways access, secondary manufacturing and employment opportunities benefit local people and communities. The creation of Engaging Communities Staffordshire (ECS) is a prime example of the facilitation role of the County Council and in particular the Cabinet Member for Adults Wellbeing. ECS is a social enterprise that has the core ambition of making it as easy as possible for local people to raise issues and concerns around health and social care matters within Staffordshire, regardless of the body delivering those services. Beyond that it provides one organisation that is able to pull together a range of data and trends to provide an early warning system around possible failures in care and services that could raise a red flag to issues such as occurred at Stafford Hospital which resulted in such tragic consequences. The Cabinet Member for Adults Wellbeing has been at the heart of ECS from creating the concept through to getting the organisation to the point where it has recently appointed its own Chairman and recruiting its own small staff team and is now potentially bidding for contracts including Health Watch.

Strategic Leadership, Governance and Responsibilities What Staffordshire can evidence in abundance is bold and decisive leadership by its Elected Members to ensure positive impact upon local communities. The following are a few examples which are attracting regional and national interest in terms of innovation and attracting inward investment into the County. — The Staffordshire’s Business Support Fund is a hugely successful loans scheme set up by the County Council to help small businesses through the turbulent economic downturn The Scheme has seen an extra £1.5 million investment to support businesses in Staffordshire to stay afloat and to expand to create and protect jobs within the County. This Scheme was established by Cabinet in response to calls from small businesses that finance from banks was becoming increasingly difficult and was restricting growth and innovation. Over 60 loans have been made to small businesses across Staffordshire. To date the Scheme has generated 68 new jobs and has safeguarded 128 jobs and protected a wide diversity of local businesses within the County. — The choice of Jaguar Land Rover to choose Staffordshire as its base for a new engine plant was a significant triumph for the local economy and will directly and indirectly generate thousands of high end technology jobs. Working with South Staffordshire District Council, Wolverhampton City Council and the Local Enterprise Partnership the swift and decisive actions of the County Council’s Cabinet provided the reassurances around infrastructure, technical support and above all a commitment to breaking down any bureaucratic barriers that led to the choice of Staffordshire over and above other sites across the world. The whole of Cabinet devoted considerable time liaising with partners, Government Ministers and local MPs to ensure a watertight business case for Staffordshire. Since then a range of other well known companies have located new facilities in Staffordshire including Amazon, Nestle and APC Logistics. — County Councillors are now working with JLR towards the creation of a centre of excellence in engineering and advanced manufacturing training; maximising opportunities for skills and development through the I54 JLR inward investment. — Cabinet recognised the need for investment for Superfast Broadband as a priority in order to secure business investment within the County and to support local communities especially in rural areas. Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent have taken the lead in ensuring broadband providers improve access across the County with a £7.4 million investment. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w17

— The creation of a Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub will support victims of domestic violence through the collection and utilisation of joint intelligence. The Hub brings together Staffordshire Police, Children’s Social Care and Adult Protection Officers to identify the early warning signs of domestic violence and ensure effective intervention and prevention. — Staffordshire Cares is receiving national attention. Recognising the needs of social care users and career to access information about services and support available to them the County Councils Cabinet Member for Adult Wellbeing and Cabinet have led on the development of an online market place to assist people in accessing services they need due to vulnerability or care needs. — The creation of the Stoke on Trent and Staffordshire Partnership NHS Trust sees the creation of the largest partnership Trust of its kind nationally bringing together over 1,000 social care and NHS staff to deliver joined up care to the most vulnerable people within the community leading to improved patient outcomes and significant cost savings. Again Cabinet have led the drive for this integration recognising the benefits of a seamless customer journey. — The Education Support Services project (ESS) is an ambitious transformation project. It will provide a unique opportunity for the Council to work in partnership with the private sector to create a new joint venture company. It will deliver enhanced services to schools and academies in Staffordshire and beyond whilst also bringing in major new investment into the education sector. The service will deliver a single point, end to end, support service for schools Whilst this is going on the Council is on target to meet and exceed its savings targets for the year. It is also committed to a third year of Council Tax freeze. Each of these projects has a prominent and passionate councillor lead that in some cases has driven the project from its inception. These examples are evidence of Councillors that have a strong private sector ethos in terms of innovation and bold decision making, recognition that standing still isn’t an option and that risks need to be taken if effectively quantified and mitigated. The increasing national recognition that the County is receiving is because of the focus the Council’s Cabinet and wider membership have on local communities and the need to find cost effective solutions to their needs. May 2012

Written evidence from Dr Mark Ewbank (CC 16) 1. Executive Summary 1.1 This memorandum focuses on one major national survey undertaken with overview and scrutiny “backbench” councillors across England in 2010. The research was undertaken as part of an investigation into how party groups and councillors operated within the Cabinet/Leader and overview and scrutiny structure. The research undertaken and the results of both quantitative and qualitative investigation could provide useful background context to the role councillors play in their communities. This memorandum will focus upon a small selection of the quantitative output of the research.

2. Context 2.1 This research was conducted as part of a three-year ESRC doctoral research project at the Institute of Local Government Studies (INLOGOV) at the University of Birmingham. The chief focus of the research was upon the freedom of councillors to express themselves both in the public arena and private party group. Given that one of reasons behind the introduction of the cabinet system was to ensure that party groups no longer dominated the activity of councillors to such an extreme extent and “councils would be less able to operate behind closed doors without debate and review” (1998, p.30), the research focused on whether the separation of powers had changed the approach of groups and thus councillors.

3. Background 3.1 The quantitative survey research was administered and returned in 2010. Only backbench councillors of the 332 eligible English local authorities who were members of at least one O&S committee, and a member of the Labour, Liberal Democrat or Conservative party were invited to take part in the survey research. The survey sample of 20% of the O&S councillor-population was constructed via probability sampling and composed of 1684 councillors, of which 52% returned survey scripts through the post or online, making it the largest backbench-only councillor survey since the introduction of the Local Government Act 2000. Where relevant, the research measures statistical signiﬁcance to 95% (p < 0.05) and the sampling error is, at its largest, +/− 3.1%.

4. CouncillorsUnderControl orDiscipline 4.1 Councillor Whipping One of the questions in the survey research (Q3.3) asked respondents if they had ever received directive pressure from their group leader or whip about things under consideration by an overview and scrutiny cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w18 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

committee meeting. Given that the practice of whipping overview and scrutiny was expressly discouraged in the original guidance on the Local Government Act 2000, approximately 24% or almost one in four respondents reported this type of advisory whipping, through means of informal pressure, for respondents to act in a certain way in overview and scrutiny committees. 4.2 Q3.4 of the survey research asked respondents whether they had been subject to a strict and explicit party whip in overview and scrutiny. This results of this question showed that this type of whipping in committee meetings was experienced by 12% of respondents.

4.3 Group Meetings and Whipping When combining whipping and responses to questions about whether party group meetings were devoted or partly allocated to backbench operation on overview and scrutiny, the majority (62%) of respondents had either experienced speciﬁc party group meetings relating to O&S, devotion to O&S in regular party group meetings, advisory whipping or explicit whipping from the group in relation to function. Given the legislation’s intention to reduce the role of the group in the operation of councillors on authorities, the level of control over the actions of councillors was still very high, in comparison to previous research conducted with councillors within the committee system by Young and Davies (1990).

4.4 Councillor Time and Group Meetings One of the questions in the survey (Q4.1) asked whether there were more or fewer party group meetings since the introduction of the Local Government Act 2000. Respondents reported that group meetings have seemingly either remained at the same frequency or increased in frequency in 81% of cases, with relatively few respondents (20%) reporting a decrease in frequency.

4.5 Councillor-reported Group Control of Action Q4.4 was a conditional question to those councillors who had experience on local authorities before the introduction of the constitutional changes and asked respondents to self-report (on a scale) how much “control” or preclusory organisation that respondents had experienced from their party group both under the former committee system and under the new arrangements. 4.4a—Before the Local Government Act 2000: “The Committee System”. 4.4b—Subsequent to the Local Government Act 2000: “Overview and Scrutiny”. [The scale ran from 1 meaning absolutely no control and 7 meaning absolute complete control.] The mean level of agreement for each question was extremely close between 4.4a and 4.4b, showing the mean agreement for the party control of the committee system to be only 0.21 higher than the mean level of agreement about the party control over overview and scrutiny (4.52 to 4.31). However the differences between the means demonstrated that the difference between the means was statistically significant (p = 0.001) and unlikely to have happened by chance. However the difference between the two reported levels of agreements was very small and both questions were negatively skewed (4.4a −0.223 & 4.4b −0.229) meaning the responses were both more clustered towards higher levels of agreement—meaning that councillors felt more restricted and controlled by their group under both constitutional forms. In a statistical significance test comparing the means, the political party served as an indicator only for question Q4.4a but not Q4.4b. Thus it was found that Labour respondents reported that the party group had had more control over the old committee system (5.12) than Conservative and Liberal Democrat respondents had believed had been the case (4.49 and 4.06 respectively), which was statistically significant and likely to hold in the population. However, in relation to Q4.4b, the party did not have a statistically significant association and all parties reported party control relatively equally. The Liberal Democrat respondents provided a mean that was exactly the same in both Q4.4a and Q4.4b, indicating no change. Both Labour and Conservative respondents reported a higher mean level of agreement that the party group had more control over the committee system than under overview and scrutiny. In the Conservative case, this 0.1 agreement difference was almost negligible in contrast to the larger 0.67 difference in means reported by Labour.

4.6 Councillors Speaking in Public/Private Q3.7 and Q3.8 sought to discover whether respondents had criticised their group’s decisions in two different spheres; public (such as overview and scrutiny, full council et al) and private (party or group meetings et al). From ﬁgure 1.1, it is clear that the majority (approx. 75%) of respondents had not criticised the decisions made by their party in any public sphere, in contrast to ﬁgure 1.2 which shows that the majority of respondents (approx 65%) had criticised the decisions made by their party in private. 3.7 Since the introduction of the Local Government Act 2000, have you ever criticised the decisions made by your party in any public sphere; such as overview and scrutiny, full council or directly to the local, regional or national press? cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w19

3.8 Since the introduction of the Local Government Act 2000, have you ever criticised the decisions made by your party in any private sphere; such as in group or coalition meetings, the local party meetings, national party conferences et al?

Figure 1.1 BAR CHART SHOWING RESPONSES TO Q3.7, WHERE RESPONDENTS CRITICISE THE PARTY GROUP IN PUBLIC Public Criticism

40 75.6

21.6 2.8

0 Yes Yes, Occasionally No, never cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w20 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

Figure 1.2 BAR CHART SHOWING RESPONSES TO Q3.8, WHERE RESPONDENTS CRITICISE THE PARTY GROUP IN PRIVATE Private Criticism

49.4

20 35.3

10 15.4

0 Yes Yes, Occasionally No,never

Unsurprisingly, from the distinction between the two, it is clear that respondents typically prefer to reserve any criticism about the party group to the confines of the private sphere of the party group rather than in public. However it is the difference between the two that could imply that there would be externalities prompting this type of dichotomy between the two, such as a fear of losing elections, fear of losing positions within the party or being disciplined by the party group et al. which was explored through other questioning in the survey (not explored here). In looking at the responses to these questions through the lens of political group, the affiliation was not statistically significant when looking at the response to Q3.7 (public criticism) (p > 0.05) and in relation to Q3.8 (private criticism) (p > 0.05). cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w21

Table 1.1 PUBLIC CRITICISM (Q3.7) ACCORDING TO PARTY GROUP Political Party Conservative 80.0% Labour Liberal Democrat

60.0% t n e c r e

P 40.0%

20.0%

0.0% Yes Yes, Occasionally No,Never cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w22 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

Figure 1.4

CLUSTER BAR CHART SHOWING RESPONSES TO Q3.8 (PRIVATE CRITICISM) ACCORDING TO PARTY GROUP Political Party Conservative 60.0% Labour Liberal Democrat

50.0%

40.0% t n e c r e

P 30.0%

20.0%

10.0%

0.0% Yes Yes, Occasionally No,Never

When testing public criticism with whether the respondent was a chair of an overview and scrutiny committee, there was a statistically signiﬁcant relationship (Figure 1.5) that indicated that chairs were more willing to criticise their party group in public (p < 0.039), although 71% had never criticised their group. When factoring in chairs from only the majority party group (not within the table below), 69% reported that they had never criticised the decisions made by their party in public.

Figure 1.5

PUBLIC CRITICISM (Q3.7) ACCORDING TO CHAIR VS. NON-CHAIR Public Criticism * Chair Crosstabulation chairDich No - Not a Yes-Chair / Chair/Vice- Vice-Chair Chair Total Yes Count 9 14 23 % within chairDich 2.7% 2.7% 2.7% Yes, Occasionally Count 87 97 184 % within chairDich 26.0% 18.7% 21.6% No, Never Count 238 407 645 % within chairDich 71.3% 78.6% 75.7% Total Count 334 518 852 % within chairDich 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w23

4.7 Recommendations This memorandum would recommend to the Committee to ensure to consider the all-encompassing impact of the party groups on local authorities when considering the role of councillors as leaders of communities and neighbourhoods, the recruitment and diversity of councillors and the implications for representation and local democracy. The group is also a factor in the practicalities of being a councillor—including time commitment. The party group is equally important when considering localising decision making to divisions, wards and neighbourhoods. May 2012

References DETR (1998) Modernising Local Government: Local Democracy and Community Leadership Young, K & Davies, E M (1990). The Politics of Local Government Since Widdicombe

Written evidence from the District Councils’ Network (CC 17) The District Councils’ Network welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Committee’s investigation into the role of councillor and the community. District Councillors are at the centre of their communities and are key to the delivery of localism. They have excellent local knowledge of their communities needs and dedicate their time to advocating these. They are valuable community asset and often work tirelessly to ensure the services their communities receive are of the highest standard.

1. TheRole ofCouncillors asLeaders ofCommunities and Neighbourhoods Councillors play a key role as leaders of their communities and neighbourhoods. District Councillors are elected from within their local neighbourhoods and communities; in many cases their initial mandate is to address very local issues and challenges, which they and their community want to see improved or to inﬂuence speciﬁc decisions of local interest. District Councillors often live, work and volunteer within their ward. Their children may have attended the local school and local clubs. They may be part of the local religious congregation; they are/have been school governors, scout leaders and football coaches. They have come from these positions to represent a community of which they are a part. From this position they know their communities inside and out and are able to lead, speak for, make relevant decisions and advocate for their needs. Councillors have the mandate to be community leaders through the democratic process. District Councils in particular are at the heart of their communities and are best placed to demonstrate their local knowledge in the course of their decision making.

2. Recruitment andDiversity ofCouncillors—and theImplications forRepresentation and Local Democracy Recruitment for District Councillors is predominantly undertaken through local political offices. Some District Councils operate programmes to promote and assist local people in becoming a councillor and the Local Government Association operates a similar programme. Many areas operate a youth council which encourages and supports young people getting involved from an early age and pursuing the interest further through a local political party as an adult. Encouraging younger people to get involved and to see the benefits of being a councillor is key to bringing new faces into the democratic process and ensuring a diverse range of people are represented. There is a feeling among Councillors that the recruitment of new people will continue to be challenging for reasons such as: — people are not willing to give the time and energy to go to meetings, make choices and then be criticised for the choices they have made in good faith; — Influence is limited, as many services are statutory and still retain many central performance requirements; and — the unfortunate and often misleading reporting of the work of local councils in the media. The diversity of Councillors has long been a challenge and there is a tradition of Councillors being retired, white, middle class men. However, this is changing as communities settle and want to make a difference and influence the decisions made about their communities and neighbourhoods. Diversity is important, but not as important as having good, committed Councillors willing to work hard to make a difference to their neighbourhood. Even within a single ward there can be many different types of community/interests and people view their communities in very different terms to traditional definitions. Indeed, cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w24 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

they may belong to several different communities. What is important is that District Councillors have the tools to be ﬂexible and serve the communities within their ward.

3. Skills,Training andSupport for Councillors At a district level there are excellent Councillors drawing on their experience from their professional and personal lives. The District Councils’ Network finds that Councillors often need support in understanding their role in different policies, legislation and initiatives. Support is often needed to define how they can strategically lead and influence their council, where many services still operate within tight central performance and other requirements. Giving limited room for a local dynamic. In addition, it is often not financially viable to have services based on a single neighbourhood’s individual needs. However local pressures can require an individual approach to accessing services. In general, there is a great deal of support for Councillors provided by both their district council and the Local Government Association.

4. ThePracticalities of BeingaCouncillor—Including Time Commitment, Time Off Work, Casework and Remuneration What is evident is that the time commitment can vary considerably between a backbench District Councillor and a Chairman of a committee or a cabinet member. Many District Leaders undertake their leadership role on a full time basis, having retired or taken a career break. Eg induction programmes. Amongst portfolio holders and other committee members, there is a mix of employed and retired personnel. Whilst many employers are respectful and supportive of a person’s role as a Councillor, there is no requirement to be given time off work. In the current business environment, many Councillors complete their case work, correspondence, surgeries and community leadership role during the evenings and weekends, as the role requires almost daily attention. This approach is a positive one for communities. Councillors who are dedicated to their local neighbourhood and commit their time, energy, knowledge and expertise are valuable community assets. Most district councillors do not stand for election for the money! Although it does help and support them to carry out the role, costs may vary from taking time of work, arranging child care cover, transport and travel to meetings. A conscientious hard working councillor can easily see their role approaching a full time commitment for little reward. For the hours put in most District Councillors receive recompense equivalent to less than the minimum wage, so their cost to taxpayers is far less in money terms than the contribution to their communities!

5. LocalisingDecisionMaking toDivisions, Wards and Neighbourhoods Councillors have been elected by their local community and hold the democratic mandate to make decisions on behalf of that ward area. By localising to neighbourhoods, there is a danger of their losing that wider democratic mandate. District Councils and Councillors do a lot to engage with their local communities; through engagement events, local partnership arrangements, community forums, surveys and Councillor surgeries. Councillors continue to be an even bigger part of their local community after they have been elected. Through these activities District Councillors are in the position to make informed decisions on behalf of an area. The question must also be asked as to whether there is an appetite for local wards/neighbourhoods to take on decision making responsibilities. Any devolution of decision making would need to maintain the transparency and inclusivity, already practised by Councillors in the wider context. Referendums; advocated as a form of localised decision making by the Government, maybe one way forward to localising decision making to a ward or neighbourhood. However, with low voter turn out for elections, there is little evidence that it will be a decision in which the whole community, or even a signiﬁcant part of it, has been directly involved. With the cost of the process being high, often prohibitively. It should be noted that District Councillors, being part of their communities, hearing local views, understanding local needs and representing the electorate fully. Therefore should not need a referendum to tell them something about which they are most likely fully aware already should not be necessary. It is a view that as a form of decision making it would only be of practical use where an issue is highly contentious or divisive and the cost can be justiﬁed.

6. Oversight,Facilitation andAccountability Accountability can take a number of forms, but ultimately for all District Councillors, it is the ballot box. This gives a Councillor their mandate and makes them accountable for their actions and decisions. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w25

Accountability can also be found through the local media. For many District Councillors, the local paper will challenge and question the big decisions made, often (but not always) taking on the role of “critical friend”. Through sound governance structures, there can be clear oversight of a council’s actions and decisions. Through the Overview and Scrutiny process, Councillors can challenge decisions and hold decision-makers to account. The way District Councils and Councillors use the scrutiny process in making decisions does ensure that the main decisions have been subjected to thorough and robust challenge and review. Indeed, scrutiny also provides a valuable policy development function.

7. StrategicLeadership,Governance andResponsibilities District Councils and Councillors are the strategic leaders for their localities. They must recognise the balance between representing their communities and seeing the bigger picture for the district. Through committees, scrutiny and other panels Councillors are involved in the leadership, governance and decision making processes of their District Council on behalf of their communities. Many District Councils have identified and published role profiles (job descriptions) for councillors and the various special responsibilities that are held. Strategic Leadership for a Councillor can be defined differently. Backbench councillors will take on the strategic responsibilities/representation of their ward/neighbourhood. Portfolio holders will take on the strategic leadership and responsibility of a service area for the whole District. Understanding how the needs of a District’s individual communities fit together and how to balance these within the legislative framework set by central government is a critical strategic leadership role expected from senior Councillors within the Council’s Political Administration. The Leader of a District Council takes responsibility for the whole district. They are expected to and do represent their community’s needs and views within the district, to county council colleagues, to regional bodies and to national government, as well as to businesses and third sector who operate within or influence activity within the district. It is a very challenging role, but one which is of vital significance to improving the quality of life of the many people within the communities for which they have volunteered (and been elected) to be responsible. Indeed local councillors are the foundation of the UK’s political system, and as such a key aspect to ensuring localism works in practice. May 2012

Written evidence from Wiltshire Council (CC 18) Summary of Key Points This submission focuses chiefly on the aspects of the inquiry relating to the role of councillors as leaders of communities and neighbourhoods; and localising decision making to divisions, wards and neighbourhoods. In Wiltshire, we are moving from “traditional” local government to new ways of designing and delivering public services. It means putting real power and money in the hands of local communities. Councillors fulfil many roles: championing their area by representing their constituents; contributing to decision making; fulfilling responsibilities as a “corporate parent” for children and young people in the care of the local authority; and representing the council externally. Councillors in Wiltshire are also supported in their role as community leaders, creating effective partnerships and working with them to build strong and cohesive communities. Wiltshire Council’s vision is to create stronger and more resilient communities. The Council wants to encourage and support local communities to get involved and work with the Council to strengthen their ability to deal with local challenges. This involves working closely with town and parish councils, voluntary groups, local people and other public sector organisations to establish community needs and to help meet those needs in the most effective way. Strong communities can cope with changing and challenging circumstances and they will often find their own solutions to many of the problems they face. These communities generally require less intervention from public services which is good for people and it reduces the pressure on increasingly scarce public resources. Representative democracy is, of course, unique in the legitimacy it brings to the community leadership role of councillors. It is therefore essential for councillors to have the ability to control and influence local spending as far as possible (not just council spending) and to have the freedom to act to improve local wellbeing. Recent government publications, such as the Open Public Services 2012 paper, have talked about developing a “national framework for schemes of local delegation”. This submission, however, highlights the innovative work already underway in Wiltshire to support councillors and to devolve more power to communities through working at a “community area” level. This includes: delegating power to area boards; enabling community planning; providing community grants; service planning at community area level; and the development of community campuses to “hard wire” the localisation of service delivery between the council and other public service providers. More detail on these and other aspects is set out below. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w26 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

Key Points Community areas It is important that geographies have validity and are based on a sense of belonging. There must be a shared commitment across the public services to work co-terminously. In Wiltshire, community areas were identiﬁed by reference to geography, history, demographics and social patterns—see Dr John Chandler’s 1998 studyA Sense of Belonging. These geographies are fully understood, owned and shared by local people and across all the public, voluntary and community sectors in Wiltshire. They have endured for over 15 years and are now the basis of service delivery within the County.

Democratic governance Locally elected councillors have a pivotal role—through the effective operation of their community leadership role they facilitate and broker negotiations at local level. This can only happen effectively if good local governance arrangements are in place. In Wiltshire, we have 18 community area boards—conterminous with our community areas—which have delegated executive powers. Area Boards have multi agency membership, they are inclusive, informal and participative—a long way from traditional local government committees. These local governance arrangements increase democratic participation and public accountability. Hundreds of residents attend these meetings on a regular basis.

Open data We need good quality information that enables communities to identify priorities. In Wiltshire, we have disaggregated data on outcomes to community area level and augmented that with public data from the other major service providers—to provide a local community proﬁle. This facilitates comparison across the County and highlights issues that might not be readily identiﬁed through consultative processes.

Community–led plans It is important that the views and aspirations of local people are at the heart of service design. The community-led planning process in Wiltshire ensures that consultation, inclusion and public participation are the foundation stone upon for this. In Wiltshire, this process is developed and led by volunteers through independent community area partnerships. Area Boards are invited to back the plans and support their implementation.

Community grants The community based approach to social infrastructure in Wiltshire is already delivering results. The Council is currently investing £3.2 million over four years in building stronger and more resilient communities. This is money distributed by the Area Boards to fund local projects for the community area, informed by priorities in the community plan. The evidence is that by devolving budgets and resources to the community level, additional ﬁnancial leverage is achieved. In the ﬁrst year of operation, the Area Boards’ discretionary budgets helped to lever in an additional £1.4 million into community projects. Funding for youth projects or highways improvements has also been decided at local level.

Area-based service plans We are now requiring public services to produce area based costed operational plans that are agreed locally following consultation and negotiation. This enables local communities to shape services around local priorities. Wiltshire’s local highway plans are examples of how this is emerging. Area boards are empowered to decide the priorities for improvement works locally and prioritise the deployment of anti-speeding initiatives. Other services are currently being redesigned through system thinking reviews with an increased place based focus.

Community campuses Community Campuses are places that the local community are designing to co-locate public, voluntary and community sector services in one accessible location in each community area, to meet the community’s needs. Each campus includes core elements (reception, meeting space, crèche), service elements (such as indoor and outdoor leisure facilities, libraries, youth facilities) and community elements (such as community catering facilities, community ICT provision, skate parks) according to local need. Partnership working ensures not only that the use of existing assets is maximised but also hard wires the localisation of service delivery amongst partners. This community-led approach to local service delivery will contribute towards a longer term objective of developing some form of not-for-proﬁt community led management solution to deliver local services, reporting directly to the local area board.

Community volunteering strategies Council services have been maintained or expanded by providing appropriate support, training and supervision to volunteers. An example of this is the library service, where following consultation through cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w27

Community Area Boards, over 600 volunteers now contribute their time to ensure facilities stay open. Similarly, 350 volunteers support a digital inclusion programme, enabling easier access to many council services. Community volunteering strategies (a speciﬁc framework for the engagement and management of volunteers) to support each campus are being developed alongside the new facilities to take this to the next level.

Community Area (Spatial) Strategy Area Boards have helped to develop Community Area Strategies, which will be adopted as part of Wiltshire’s Core Strategy, in an approach that preceded the development of a legislative basis for neighbourhood planning. Each document sets out the scale of the service infrastructure challenge in the area (for example, improvements needed to electricity substations, FE colleges, childcare provision, GP surgeries, leisure) and the housing and economic development which will be contributing to meeting the challenge. Policy 3 of the Core Strategy will also mean that Area Boards have a say on how planning gain receipts are used to meet the infrastructure requirements identiﬁed by the community. This will lead to resources being allocated more effectively against local needs.

Community-based Social Media Because there are different issues and different stories to tell in each Wiltshire community, we are developing ways to communicate at a local level. The council is developing “blogsites” for every community area in Wiltshire. These sites will enable the council and its partners, local organisations and residents to publicise what is happening in their area and to have an online conversation about issues and ideas that are relevant to their community. Unlike more traditional websites, these blogsites will be fully interactive and local people will be able to post stories and have their say on what other people are talking about. They will also provide a free channel for local organisations to publicise community events. These blogsites are part of the council’s innovation with social media to ﬁnd additional ways to talk with local people about what matters to them. Social media is being used across a range of council services already, providing communities with information that’s relevant, up to date and instant. The blogsites will inform councillors’ own work and provide another way of staying in touch with the views of residents. Currently, over 15,000 people have signed up to their online community area network so that they can continue to inﬂuence, shape and develop the plans for their area.

Social Inclusion It is important that local budgets are not only inﬂuenced by the most articulate, organised and vociferous voices. Empowering communities to control local services depends upon the engagement of all sections of the community, on genuine Localism—not “Vocalism”. Local authorities have a key role to play in ensuring that the process is truly inclusive. In Wiltshire, this has involved the development of a new innovative narrative based approach to social inclusion and building empathy—Wiltshire Voices. The Wiltshire Voices project is engaging people from a wide diversity of backgrounds, from Army families and boaters to economic migrants (and eight other seldom heard groups). The project highlights and celebrates good practice and spotlights the challenges and difﬁculties that exist for many people in Wiltshire. The work builds empathy and stimulates responses, ideas, projects and action at a local level to ensure that there is real improvement for the people and groups involved.

Conclusion Ensuring that local resources are used to meet identified local needs builds resilience and means that councillors and communities are empowered to rise to the challenge far more effectively than through a top down approach. Community area working, as set out above, has increased councillors’ influence over a wide range of services and contributed to a 15% improvement in Wiltshire Council’s customer satisfaction ratings over the last two years. This is testament to the philosophy that people are happier, and money is better spent, when people are given the opportunity to do more for themselves and more influence on the decision making that affects them.

Other Points Set out below are brief responses from Wiltshire Council on some of the other areas where the Committee is seeking evidence.

Recruitment and diversity of councillors—and the implications for representation and local democracy This remains an important issue for political parties to address. However, councils play an important role in supporting this even without the legislative “duty to promote democracy”, which has now been repealed. In Wiltshire, as part of an approach to encourage more people to become councillors, the Councillor Development Group has produced a short ﬁlm promoted at Area Board meetings, asking. Do you have the X factor? Involving children in democratic processes at an early stage can also help build understanding. In Wiltshire, Youth Advisory Groups, Schools, and participatory budgeting techniques all play a role in this. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w28 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

Work has to be done to improve the image of local politics and national government can play a role in helping to address this and build understanding here. The key indicator of success will be improved voter turnout in local elections in the future.

Skills, training and support for councillors Councillors play a vital role in the achievement of the council’s vision to create stronger and more resilient communities. Wiltshire Council therefore has committed itself to improve and sustain the standards of councillor training and development. Councillor development and training is crucial to enhancing the individual performance of councillors and collectively the performance of the overall organisation. Consequently, Wiltshire Council has recently been awarded Charter Status for Elected Councillor Development. A wide range of induction and training opportunities for councillors are provided across the whole term. In order to achieve Charter Status the council had to demonstrate that it has met all ﬁve of the following criteria: 1. Being fully committed to developing councillors in order to achieve the Council’s strategic objectives; 2. Adopting a councillor led strategic approach to councillor development; 3. Having a councillor learning and development plan in place that clearly identiﬁes the difference that development activities will make; 4. Demonstrating that councillor learning and development is effective in building capacity; and 5. Addressing wider development matters to promote work-life balance and citizenship. In terms of support to councillors, efforts are made to take into account Member IT support needs, which are often outside normal working hours, and support is provided through Community Area Managers who can help resolve local service issues.

The practicalities of being a councillor—including time commitment, time off work, casework and remuneration Many of these issues have been covered extensively in the report of the Commission on Councillors, the All-Party Parliamentary Group’s report, “The role of councillors” (Dungey, 2007) and research commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, such as “Ward councillors and community leadership” (James and Cox, 2007). Most of the issues highlighted are still relevant—for example, some employers continue to be very reluctant to allow or enable time off to facilitate work within local politics—and for other councillors and potential councillors childcare is a real issue. Although the diagnosis of many of the issues in the reports remains relevant, many of the recommendations in these reports now appear to adopt a prescriptive approach slightly at odds with the current government’s localism agenda. The important thing is that councils are free to innovate to address barriers to becoming councillors, that good practice is shared and that appropriate and fair support is provided when people do become councillors. Member Allowances in Wiltshire reﬂect the fact that the work of a councillor includes a substantial element of voluntary activity rather than constituting a formally paid job. Too few wards or unrealistically large constituencies can hamper the work of a councillor. Wiltshire Council has nearly 100 councillors, which helps ensure constituency workloads are more manageable and that there is a clear and practical local focus. Councillors’ work is aided when the Council’s views on boundaries and community identity are fully considered by the Boundary Commission.

Oversight, facilitation and accountability; and strategic leadership, governance and responsibilities The Localism Act introduces some welcome ﬂexibility in the governance arrangements for local authorities but restricts the size of the Cabinet in the Leader and Executive model to 10 members (or another number to be determined by the Secretary of State). The removal, or raising of, this limit would be welcome and could be one way to facilitate greater councillor involvement in countywide Executive decisions. Strong scrutiny arrangements can be another way of ensuring greater councillor involvement in countywide Executive decisions, as well as strengthening the accountability of other service providers. This could be increasingly important in future and contribute to improved coordination of activity as different accountability frameworks are developed for different service providers—such as Police and Crime Commissioners, Clinical Commissioning Groups, Academies and Work Programme providers. Although much of the old onerous and wasteful performance framework has been dismantled, there is a risk that an overemphasis by central government on payment by results methodologies in too many areas could re- introduce this by the back door. Local accountability needs to rest with elected councillors as far as possible. May 2012 cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w29

Written evidence from Localis (CC19) Summary ofSubmission — Localis is an independent think-tank dedicated to issues related to local government and localism — Of the seven areas that the Communities and Local Government Committee has invited submissions discussing the role of councillors in the community, there are four that Localis feels it is particularly well-placed to comment on by drawing from the ﬁndings of its recent research: 1. The role of councillors as leaders of communities and neighbourhoods. 2. Strategic leadership, governance and responsibilities. 3. Localising decision making to divisions, wards and neighbourhoods. 4. Oversight, facilitation and accountability.

1. TheRole ofCouncillors asLeaders ofCommunities andNeighbourhoods We believe that in an age of localism, councillors have an increasingly important role to play as leaders of communities that have been given greater powers and responsibilities for self-governance. Councillors have a long-established (through frequently under-appreciated) role as leaders of communities and neighbourhoods. Whether campaigning for potholes to be fixed, being a vocal supporter of local services such as libraries and youth clubs, or organising the local Diamond Jubilee celebrations, councillors are often the first point of contact for residents. They can be representatives, champions, or bearers of bad news, and sometimes even all three. However, councillors are often portrayed negatively in the media: unavailable, uninterested, unimpressive. But, if given greater responsibilities and a more central role in the lives of communities, we hope they will find themselves receiving a more accurate portrayal in the media. A recent Localis publication on local government’s role in the Big Society2 highlighted the importance of actively empowering councillors so that they can become effective leaders of local communities who can confidently liaise with both community groups and external partners. This is all the more important given the ongoing major shift in perspective regarding the nature of local authorities’ role in local communities—with councils moving from the old sole “service provider” model, often prescriptive in their service delivery to the public, to a more collaborative model of “enablers” of community-led decisions concerning flexible service commissioning. The recent implementation of the National Planning Policy Framework is an excellent example of an area where ward councillors will have a much enhanced role to play, with strong, locally-rooted yet impartial leadership being vital in the creation of neighbourhood and local plans, and hence in the delivery of key local development projects. In our report, Power to the People, Localis also discussed how local authorities have a crucial leadership role to play in local development, including acting as “honest brokers” between developer and resident interests, and providing an overarching strategic vision for delivering growth. In this case early engagement leads to better outcomes; we would argue it is essential that all parties should seek to capitalise on opportunities to trigger community involvement as soon as is feasible.

2. Strategic leadership,Governance andResponsibilities The number one thing councillors are elected to do is to provide strategic leadership for their council. Experienced senior officers are of course essential in making sure things happen and working out how services can innovate, change, and improve. But councillors are the ones with a democratic mandate and it must be them that are responsible for taking the big decisions. Localis believes that councillors should be key strategic leaders of localised democracy, acting as a confident interface between local communities and local authorities, and help them to collaboratively establish a set of local priorities. One area where this will be absolutely crucial is planning, as referred to above. Another sphere in which a leadership role can prove significant is in maintaining and improving the local environment. Localis’ report The Big Green Society looked at how councils can communicate key messages to communities more effectively by adapting their communication style, looking particularly at the power of “nudge” techniques. We argue that councillors are perfectly placed within the community to disseminate key messages and drive change from within. If councils can begin to change the attitudes of residents towards litter for example, then cultural shifts will likely occur across the wider community fostering civic pride and a positive, responsible approach.

3. LocalisingDecisionMaking toDivisions,Wards andNeighbourhoods In a recent article exploring devolution,3 Localis noted that the potential power of the localist movement is just beginning to be realised within local councils, but they need to carefully establish how best to localise power to the greatest extent. Councillors will be vital in helping councils establish what the future face of service delivery on a ward and even neighbourhood basis will look like; the essence of localism is realising 2 Policy Platform: Enabling Communities | Published: 8 March 2011 http://www.localis.org.uk/images/Localis%20Policy%20Platform_Big%20Society.pdf 3 Let the local authority clamour for more devolved power begin by Steven Howell | Published: 3 May 2012 in the Guardian’s Public Leaders Network http://www.localis.org.uk/article/1057/Let-the-local-authority-clamour-for-more-devolved-power-begin.htm cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w30 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

that there is not a single solution to fit all local challenges, and councillors are the key people on the ground who know local areas, their communities and unique problems well enough to suggest tailor-made solutions. Localis outlined a specific example of how communities can be directly involved with important decisions in our recent report, Credit Where Credit’s Due, in which we recommend that neighbourhood councils and community groups could work collaboratively with local authorities and developers to establish key neighbourhood infrastructure priorities with a certain degree of control over local budgets, a procession which councillors would play a vital intermediary role. We believe that localising council decisions to the greatest extent possible will encourage a much greater level of community engagement with local issues which have traditionally been seen as problems for councils to resolve. This would make a councillor’s role more vital than ever. By reinvigorating democratic involvement at the most local level, parish councils and neighbourhood groups will take charge of their locality, and newly- granted powers will help them take up direct responsibility for their neighbourhood. In our report, Total Neighbourhood, that detailed the findings of research into several community schemes such as the pilot Neighbourhood Area Agreements piloted by Birmingham City Council, we recommended that community budget funding mechanisms must be simplified as much as possible to prevent harmful “silo mentality” so common in centralised administration from spreading into the local community. This would not only hinder improvements to local services but also isolate neighbourhoods from one another. Councillors can help to prevent this by acting as both spokespersons for individual wards and fully integrated members of councils as a whole, thus helping communities to become “Total Neighbourhoods”. In these “Total Neighbourhoods”, we recommended that communities should take direct responsibility for place-based budget pots, and the facilitation of this would be greatly assisted by the guidance councillors can offer communities. In turn, the feedback councillors can then relay back to the local authority will create a harmonious consultation loop in which local residents directly influence the actions of local councils. In general, we would argue that local authorities should encourage greater community engagement with local services by strengthening the responsibilities given directly to communities. For example, in The Big Green Society we suggested that local authorities could look to empower local residents and businesses who are eager to contribute to the maintenance and improvement of their local environment, not just through making official the work that they do, but also by providing the opportunity for residents to become local representatives or “go-betweens”, enabling wider community involvement and engagement.

4. Oversight,Facilitation andAccountability Despite all of the many changes the local government sector faces in coming years, ultimately local government will retain responsibility for the oversight of new relationships and roles. Councillors have a vital part to play here, given their more direct connection to their communities and role as brokers. The collective energy, experience and wisdom of our councillors is a priceless resource to be made the most of in the new localist environment. Councillors provide leadership that is accountable to their electorate through local elections and their accountability to the local press. Their manifesto sets the tone for four years and if the electorate is not convinced, unlike central agencies, councils who act against a community’s wishes can be held accountable through the ballot box. Councils should relish this opportunity (and the associated risk), not ﬂee from it. While researching for our report, Can Localism Deliver?, Localis surveyed 694 local councillors. The results of the survey showed that most councillors who believed greater accountability could be achieved thought it would occur though engaging communities more closely in the democratic process and by devolving power. This would happen through the use of more effective communication techniques and by increasing communities’ input into decisions: for example, by increasing opportunities to vote on local issues and by granting more power to those affected by local decisions. The survey responses also suggest that a key step in enhancing local accountability is improving communities’ awareness of the councils’ work and responsibilities, as well as the work of the public sector. Increasing the visibility of local leadership makes the council subject to more thorough scrutiny by a better informed public. Therefore, communication channels should be strengthened to facilitate a two-way conversation between communities and councils, another recommendation from The Big Green Society. Making it easier for residents to report problems and for councils to express their intentions and activities bolsters local government’s accountability. We suggest that councillors should act as key communicators and take into account the signiﬁcance of residents as messengers. May 2012

Note The recommendations made above are based on the ﬁndings of several of Localis’ recent research reports. The key reports used are: Power to the People: The Future of Planning in a Localist Landscape http://www.localis.org.uk/images/LOC_Planning_A5_web.pdf cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w31

Credit Where Credit’s Due http://www.localis.org.uk/images/LOC1358_Infrastructure_report_WEB.pdf The Big Green Society http://www.localis.org.uk/images/LOC_Big_Green_Society_Report_WEBﬁnal.pdf Total Neighbourhood: Placing power back into the community http://www.localis.org.uk/images/Localis_Birmingham_report_web.pdf Can Localism Deliver? Lessons from Manchester http://www.localis.org.uk/images/articles/Can%20Localism%20Deliver_Localis%20& %20Policy%20Exchange.pdf Enabling Communities: Local Government’s Role in the Big Society http://www.localis.org.uk/images/Localis%20Policy%20Platform_Big%20Society.pdf

Written evidence from Friends, Families and Travellers (CC 20) 1. Friends, Families and Travellers is a national charity which works on behalf of all Gypsies and Travellers regardless of ethnicity, culture or background. Its aim is to end racism and discrimination against Gypsies and Travellers and to protect the right to a nomadic way of life. 2. It is not known how many Gypsies and Travellers there are in the UK as, until the 2011 Census, they had not been systematically included in any monitoring statistics, but best estimates suggest that they could number around 300,000 (excluding newly arrived European Roma whose numbers may far exceed this figure). On this basis we might suggest, roughly speaking, that Gypsies and Travellers represent around 0.5% of the total population ie one person in about 200 is a Gypsy or Traveller. 3. Most authorities now agree that Gypsies and Travellers experience some of the poorest life outcomes of any minority ethnic group within UK society today with health and education outcomes significantly worse than for any other group. Racism against Gypsies and Travellers continues to thrive unpunished within the media and elsewhere, the most recent example being the advertising campaign for the Channel 4 “Big Fat Gypsy Wedding” series which portrayed negative images of Travellers with the caption “Bigger. Fatter. Gypsier”. This was regarded as extremely offensive by Gypsy and Traveller individuals and communities but, despite nearly 400 objections the Advertising Standards Authority initially declined even to investigate the complaints. 4. Many agencies however now recognise the extent of the inequalities faced by Gypsies and Travellers as part and parcel of their everyday experience and there is evidence of a degree of commitment among some (but by no means all) public sector agencies to address these inequalities through various initiatives. 5. Our concern, and this is the main point of these representations to the Committee, is that Gypsies and Travellers are still very much regarded as passive recipients of decisions made about them by others, rather than as an integral part of our community. As a case in point we would cite a presentation made by the ACPO lead on Gypsies and Travellers to the Annual Conference of the Irish Traveller Movement in Britain a few years ago. His presentation was about policing Gypsies and Travellers and whilst he made some valid points the tone of his presentation was all about “us” policing “them”. Our view is that until Gypsies and Travellers are properly represented within all parts of the public sector—the police and criminal justice services, local authorities, the NHS etc—and, crucially, at all levels within democratic processes—we will never achieve the fair, equal and cohesive society to which we all aspire. 6. At the present time Gypsies and Travellers are seriously under-represented in all walks of public life. We are not aware of any Member of Parliament who is from a Gypsy/Traveller background and, of the 40,000 or so local authority Councillors at County, District and Borough levels we are only aware of three from a Gypsy/ Traveller background. When one considers that around one person in 200 is a Gypsy or Traveller this is a massive under-representation. 7. We accept that some people in public life may not wish to disclose their ethnicity as a Gypsy or Traveller, but this is itself can be considered to be an indication of the racism and prejudice that still exists against these communities. 8. We believe that this under-representation should be officially recognised and acknowledged in the same way that the under-representation of women or Black and Asian communities has been recognised and acknowledged. In respect of these latter groups there have been various targeted and funded initiatives to attract and recruit more of their members into public life, but we are aware of no such initiatives having been tried for Gypsies and Travellers. We recognise that Gypsies and Travellers come from a very low base of democratic engagement; a recent survey that we have carried out in Surrey showed that many Gypsies and Travellers have never voted and indeed have only the vaguest of notions what the electoral process is all about. Because of this low base of engagement it will be necessary to spend time, money and resources in order to recruit, mentor and train people from the travelling communities to have the confidence to enter into public life. But unless we do this and tackle the issue head on we will be forever consigning Gypsies and Travellers to the margins of society with decisions being made about them but never by them. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w32 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

9. We hope that the Committee will take due note of this brief representation and we would be pleased to have the opportunity to elaborate on any of the points made or to give oral evidence to the Committee if this would be of assistance to its work. June 2012

Further written evidence from Friends, Families and Travellers (CC 20a) 1. Introduction 1.1 Friends, Families and Travellers is a national charity (no. 1112326) working on behalf of all Gypsies and Travellers regardless of ethnicity, culture or background. The organisation was founded in 1994 and thus has some 18 years experience of working with these client groups. 1.2 Because of the lack of robust data we do not know how many Gypsies and Travellers there are in the UK but best estimates put the figure at around 300,000 (excluding newly arrived European Roma). Of these about two thirds live in bricks and mortar accommodation and of the 100,000 or so who live in caravans and trailers about one fifth to one quarter have no authorised site on which to place their home. In other words around 20,000 to 25,000 Gypsies and Travellers in the UK have nowhere where they can exist legally but are constantly evicted from one place they are not allowed to be to another place they are not allowed to be. This process of moving people around aimlessly has been estimated to cost around £18 million per annum. 1.3 Gypsies and Travellers experience some of the worst life outcomes of any minority ethnic group in present day society. In terms of health and social care, education, housing, access to democracy and access to justice they have outcomes that are significantly poorer than for any other group.

2. Gypsies and Travellers in theDemocraticProcess 2.1 The level of engagement of Gypsies and Travellers with civic society in any theatre of engagement is minimal. Over decades, if not centuries, of discrimination and exclusion Gypsies and Travellers have become mistrustful and even rather fearful of public bodies, particularly local authorities and the police and often actively avoid contact wherever possible. As a result, and despite impressions to the contrary that may appear in the populist press, many Gypsies and Travellers fail to receive the financial and service support for which they are rightly eligible. 2.2 A further factor is the low level of literacy that may exist in some sections of the community that can be a serious barrier to engagement within bureaucratic structures and processes. 2.3 So far as Gypsy and Traveller involvement in local democratic processes is concerned we believe that such involvement is, at best, minimal and in many areas non-existent. We are only aware of two serving Councillors from a travelling background at Borough, District, Unitary or County levels across the whole of the country. There may be others who, for whatever reason, do not wish to reveal their Traveller heritage but this in itself would demonstrate an issue that needs to be addressed. 2.4 Similarly there are, so far as we are aware, no Members of Parliament from a Gypsy or Traveller background. 2.5 We have identified a few Gypsies and Travellers at Parish Council level but we believe that even within Parishes there is a huge under representation from the travelling communities. 2.6 We employ a Community Engagement Worker in the Surrey area who recently undertook a survey among the local communities to find out why so many Gypsies and Travellers fail to participate in any way in local elections. The data from this survey has not yet been fully analysed but first indications are that there is a vast lack of knowledge and understanding among communities about the electoral process. Many Gypsies and Travellers do not know what voting is, nor that they are allowed to vote, nor what the purpose of voting might be. Many people have never been to their local Council offices nor ever spoken with a Councillor.

3. Us andThem 3.1 Many statutory agencies now recognise that Gypsies and Travellers experience such poor life outcomes that targeted work has to be done in order to meet the need. Gypsies and Travellers are beginning to be considered for example within the Joint Strategic Needs Assessments being carried out by local authorities and primary care trusts/clinical commissioning groups. Some equality action plans of local authorities now make speciﬁc reference to Gypsies and Travellers. 3.2 But statutory agencies are still operating in the mindset of “them and us” ie “us” the settled communities delivering appropriate services to “them” the travelling communities. Our proposition is that we will not achieve a just, equal and cohesive society until Gypsies and Travellers are not simply viewed as the passive recipients of services but are actually fully represented within those agencies that deliver the services. And of course democracy is one of those services; until we can achieve proper representation of Gypsies and Travellers at all levels of democracy from the Town Hall to Westminster it will always be a questions of “us” making decisions about “them”. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w33

3.3 We greatly welcome the initiative of extending the opportunity to as many people as possible to participate in democratic processes by becoming local Councillors. But the unintended consequence of any initiative that seeks to widen participation, give more power to a greater number of people and give more people control over the decisions that affect them is to increase the disempowerment of those people who remain chronically excluded and on the margins. Empowerment initiatives may help those people who already have a little bit of power, who are already so to speak, within the system, and leave the chronically excluded even further behind.

4. TheWayForward 4.1 If we are serious about developing an equal and just society then we need to take targeted and resourced action to address the needs, including the civic engagement needs, of chronically excluded groups. Simply producing leaﬂets, web-based information, inviting people to come to meetings at the Town Hall and the like, is not enough. There is a whole range of initiatives that could be put in place over time to mentor and support Gypsies and Travellers to become involved with democratic processes but, given that we are starting from a very low base of engagement, it will be a marathon and not a sprint. Unless the phenomenon of chronic exclusion is acknowledged and addressed however we will continue to perpetuate a situation where a whole section of society is totally disenfranchised. Chris Whitwell Director Friends, Families and Travellers October 2012

Written evidence from Robin Potter, Dorchester Town Councillor and West Dorset District Councillor (CC 21) Why beaCouncillor? I stand for my local councils because I think they are the vital provider of services to the community and I want to try and ensure that the right services are provided at the right cost. I first became active in politics many years ago when I attended a live broadcast of “Any questions?” from the school where I taught. I found myself often in agreement with John Pardoe of the Liberal Party, joined soon after and have stood for elections many times since, thankfully winning several times, but losing on others. I am now Town and District councillor for Dorchester South Ward. To persuade people to offer themselves for election to councils requires several things: 1. They must be helped to realise how important local government is and how local things can be affected by local councils. A much clearer understanding by the general public of which layer of government does what is necessary. 2. An all-party campaign to sing the praises (or castigate where necessary, but NOT on party lines, please), of local councils and local councillors of all party persuasions and, perhaps especially, of those of no national party. The low turnout in the overwhelming majority of local elections is a scandal which needs to be addressed by those with the ear of the media. 3. There must be reasoned public debate on issues at national and local levels. The image of the House of Commons as portrayed in the media fills me with loathing and despair, with its emphasis on point-scoring rather than persuasion (the recent reaction by the Labour party to the “pasty tax” is all too typical—rather than take the credit for persuading a correct change of mind, they gloat about U-turns) . This point–scoring obsession is also too present in local government. 4. Some form of PR is necessary so that votes are not considered wasted. Dorchester is an excellent example of the problems that can arise when one group is well entrenched: At the last town council elections (fought over four wards with five seats in each), the Lib Dems put up 18 candidates, all of whom were elected, Conservatives and Labour only put up five each, with three Independents, perhaps evidence of a lack of hope. [Of course, I claim that this is because the LD controlling group is so excellent!] At the district elections held at the same time, the provision of new offices for West Dorset district Council in Dorchester was a big issue. All successful candidates in Dorchester opposed these new offices, but those elected from the wider district overruled them, the leader of the District claiming he “had a mandate” from the voters of West Dorset. As a consequence, many Dorchester voters are even more disenchanted than before! 5. Local election campaigns and results should be as divorced as possible from national party politics. The recent travails of the Liberal Democrats, and the previous ups and downs suffered by all parties has had far too much to do with national matters. Whether Liverpool is run by cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w34 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

Labour or Lib Dems, or West Dorset by Conservatives or Lib Dems should be much more to do with the local council than how their national party is doing. 6. A way must be found to make government more accessible to those other than the white, middle-class retired. All our District Council meetings are held at 2.15 and public participation is difﬁcult at best and often actively discouraged. This cannot be helpful. Town Council meetings are at 7.00, but in truth this seldom helps generate a vast audience! June 2012

Written evidence from the Community Council of Staffordshire (CC 22)

I am particularly pleased to see that the Committee is looking into the reasons why individuals stand or do not stand for election.

We here at the Community Council of Staffordshire, have been keen to explore whether communities that have a wealth of community development activity and very active community groups show an increased involvement in the democratic process, either through more people standing for election or a greater turn out at local elections.

We were particularly interested to see if people who were making a difference in their community through their involvement with voluntary groups and activities felt that 1) they were more effective in their community in this voluntary (and action based) capacity than being elected or 2) they felt they could do more with their new found skills and knowledge if they moved on and stood for election.

Approximately four years ago we were keen to do some simple research around this subject comparing small and large rural villages and small and large urban communities and did do some very simple background work on the various levels of engagement in the democratic process in preparation for a funding bid to allow us to spend the time exploring the situation further. It was interesting for us to discover in this background work that in the Stafford Borough Council area approximately 90% of the parish council seats were not contested but the turnout for election was about 28%. Similar ﬁgures occurred in Staffordshire Moorlands district.

We would like to believe that in those communities where community development and capacity building has taken place, there has been an increase in individual’s involvement in the democratic process. However taking the above information some areas in Staffordshire Moorlands area have received signiﬁcant amounts of community development support and it wouldn’t on face value appear that it has had an impact on their involvement. Without some well constructed research in the area it would be difﬁcult to make any judgements.

Unfortunately all our efforts to obtain resources for this piece of work came to nought despite the support and encouragement from a number of partners and key individuals eg local MP.

We shall watch your committees progress with keen interest and if they should like to discuss any aspect of the situation with us I am sure we would be happy to provide what little information and views we have. And of course if they had any resources to help us undertake our research that would of course be even more well received. June 2012

Written evidence from Jenny Lawrence (CC 23)

I have twice been a local councillor but chose not to stand again for the following reasons: 1. Not having any power to substantially change anything within the community. I was on a council for a community of 1,800 with a precept of around £48,000. The majority of our budget was spent on salaries for the clerk and handyman and the grass cutting contract. The small amount remaining was insufficient to enable us to fund any projects. 2. We would be asked by the District Council for comments on planning applications but they took little notice of our response. Planning Officers appear to be straight from university with little experience of life and are more concerned with letting applications go through then the impact on the local community such as parking and the lack of infrastructure. 3. The time commitments are quite large even for a small council and working people find it difficult to attend meetings in the day or straight after work especially if they work shifts. 4. Quite frankly the views of local councillors are not heeded by Government and it is a waste of time attending council meetings which are dominated by mundane items such as dog fouling and parking issues. 5. When the council wishes to upgrade, for instance the local play area, and apply for grants the amount of work necessary to complete the necessary application forms is enormous and requires cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w35

someone with experience of “working the system” to complete the forms. Match funding is usually required and small councils just do not have the money to put forward. June 2012

Written evidence from Alfred Murphy (CC 26) There are three major items that I believe should be put to the Select Committee. 1. In 1997 when the Labour Government was elected under the premiership of Mr. Tony Blair the Labour Party set out a programme of building homes for the whole of the UK. The responsibility was given to the Deputy Prime Minister—John Prescott now (Lord Prescott). He decided through planning advisors that over 65,000 dwellings should be built in the old Mid Beds District Council and South Bedfordshire Council. This figure was much higher than places like Essex and Norfolk, bearing in mind that Bedfordshire is one of the smallest Counties in the UK. I as Chairman of Hulcote & Salford Parish Council opposed this figure and set up a group of Parish and Town Councils in Bedfordshire to oppose this figure. We are called the Bedfordshire’s Councils Planning Consortium. Through the help of our previous Member of Parliament for Mid-Bedfordshire, we delivered a petition to No.10 Downing Street. I also gave evidence at the Select Committee on Sustainable Communities. My group and I have met with many Members of Parliament and also with members of the House of Lords. I have been given a great deal of help from these politicians. We highlighted that any development that took place should have infrastructure in place, roads. Schools, places of worship, transport etc. It was also agreed by the Government of the day that 60% of development would take place on brownfield sites and 40% on green land. Bearing in mind that the old Mid-Bedfordshire is very rural and that the employment in this area is very poor. To find work you would have to commute to London, Milton Keynes or Luton & Dunstable. At the same time we were told that employment would be found in local communities and that the car should not be used as transport to go to your place of employment.

2. Hulcote& Salford Parish Council Being a Parish Councillor and Chairman of the above, my aims were to ensure above all else that our residents enjoyed a way of life that a rural community could give them. We are a very small community with a population of 180 residents. A small village such as ours can present its own problems and challenges. In Broughton Road, Salford we had a 60mph speed limit which I and my fellow Councillors thought was dangerous in such a small village and needed to be reduced to 30mph in the centre of the village. I am pleased that we achieved our aim. We have also put in place in Broughton Road, Wavenden Road and Cranfield Road— Salford, six Gateways and four Police Speed Watch signs that are beneficial to our residents. We have notice a marked improvement in the reduction of speed. Since all these additions were put in place. In Salford Rd. Hulcote two of my fellow councillors dedicated a piece of their land for a bridleway so that horse riders could enjoy their way of life. My Vice Chairman recently through a 106 Agreement on his land, has donated £10,000 to have the speed limit reduced from 60mph to 40mph. And we also have two gateways erected in Salford Road Hulcote. I believe that this shows that our Parish Council works for our residents and we listen to their concerns. Being a Parish Councillor we are not paid for the work we do and I would personally not accept payment as I feel that being a Parish Councillor is a job that you want to do and that you do it to try and make things better just not for the village you live in but to help residents also. I would like to thank my Member of Parliament, my Unitary Council, the Bedfordshire Police Authority, the Assistant Director of Highways for CBC and the Police Road Traffic Management Team for all their help and advice they have given me over the years, with which I could not have achieved any of the excellent facilities that we have gained but for their co-operation.

3. Localism Bill/Neighbourhood Plan The Secretary of State will be helping many Parish Councils to have more say in the way their villages are run. It will protect green belt land, places of natural beauty and wildlife etc. Following meetings with civil servants at the DCLG my Parish Council will be pursuing the Neighbourhood Plan/Rural Exemption Sites for a few affordable homes. This will be under the leadership of my Vice Chairman. I believe that I have highlighted the work that my Parish Council and I do for the beneﬁt of the young, the sick and elderly residents of our community which is how it should be. My aim for the next few years as Chairman of this Parish Council would be to ensure that our lovely village with its two wonderful and old churches remain rural and not concreted over as I feel that there are very few villages safe from development. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w36 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

My Vice Chairman and I would be happy to give evidence to the Select Committee. June 2012

Written evidence from L E Horne (CC 28) I am a member of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes who are a worldwide charitable organisation. We deal not only with our local communities by raising money for local causes, but we also deal with causes in the whole of Great Britain and in the rest of the world. I am myself the Provincial Grand Secretary of the Doncaster and District Provincial Grand Lodge and deal with all finances and charitable funds from the nine lodges in our area. I have thought about putting up for local council elections but find that there is no information how to proceed. To stand as a labour candidate you must be a member of the labour party. So when you join as a new member you cannot command the votes that older members have so you never get nominated and are kept in limbo. I feel that it would be fairer if there was some method of getting information on the subject of standing for local councils perhaps more people may then get involved in not only local politics maybe general politics. As it stands at the moment it seems to the outsiders it is a closed shop and the only way in is to agree with one of the main parties and become a member. So people with their own ideas and principles are stifled by the major parties. In this country I thought we had freedom of speech however if you join one of the main political parties this freedom is taken away as you have to comply with the parties ideas even if you do not agree this to me is undemocratic everyone should have their own opinion on matters. After attending a WEA course on politics and listening to some of the political speakers I am not surprised this country is in such a mess. Listening to an MEP who came to give us a talk on the European Parliament, I was appalled that she had not prepared for the briefing and we were told if we needed information to go on the European Parliaments website. This makes me think politicians are not listening to the ordinary people and dismiss us as dim. This applies to all the main parties. This country is in such a mess because all the major parties are trying to bring the other parties to their knees would it not be better for them to pull together and try and get this country out of turmoil. We here time and time again no matter who comes in to power they blame the last Government for all the mess left behind. I think it is time they stopped acting like spoilt children in a playground and got on with the job they were elected to do perhaps then more people will take an interest in politics. June 2012

Written evidence from Bharti Boyle (CC 29) As a past WEA student it has been suggested that I might like to make a comment on “YBacouncillor”. I am an Indian female who serves as a business governor for a very successful College of Further Education. I am also an active member of my local Save The Children organisation. I’m afraid that I think that we simply have too many layers of government. In particular I think the tertiary level (my local council) adds very little value. This is for several reasons the most important of which is that the local government employees effectively decide what will happen on most major issues with elected councillors having little inﬂuence in practice. Another problem is that if we must have local government then local councillors should reﬂect local issues and opinions and not be driven by blind adherence to national party policy. Also in my experience the general calibre of councillors is quite poor which leads to ineffectual councils, which leads to a downward spiral. I do not think that there are any circumstances under which I would stand for election to 3rd or 4th tier government. I believe I add far more value to my local community through my voluntary activities. July 2012

Written evidence from Cllr Norman Plumpton Walsh (CC 30) CouncillorsElectedWithin theLastThreeYears To answer the question posed in parts.

1. What made them stand? I have been involved in both local and national political campaigns for circa 16 years. Indeed, I stood in my now seat three times before being successful at the 2011 local elections. My reasons for standing were two- fold. The ﬁrst is that I now strive to be a hard working, responsive Councillor in the community where I reside. The second reason, (and more long-term), is that since graduating with a degree in Politics in 2008, I have found it difﬁcult to gain policy related employment, although through no fault of trying. To this end, I will cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w37

soon be utilising my Councillor role as the main component of a Work-Based Masters degree, concentrating on Public Policy.

Whether the experience has so far live up to expectations?

The experience thus far has exceeded my expectations. In my authority of Halton Borough Council much emphasis is placed on elected member development through training and seminars. This training, now ILM (Institute of Leadership and Management) accredited, concentrates on the many skills a Councillor needs to be effective. This is from safety at advice surgeries, working with the media, to time and case management. To date, I am ﬁnding this invaluable, both in my role as a Councillor and to aid my further study, and hopefully into a future career.

Whether (or not) they intend to stand for re-election?

Only a year into my four year term of ofﬁce, I would hope to re-stand for election in 2015. July 2012

Written evidence from George McManus (CC 31)

I am currently a Band C Beneﬁt Fraud Investigator at DWP, a job I’ve been doing for three years. I joined the Department in 2002 as a Band B in the Pension Service, got my Band C in 2003 and resigned to stand for Parliament in 2005.

I’ve been a Labour activist all my life and am an elected member of the Party’s National Policy Forum. When I joined the DWP in 2002, I was a sitting Parish Councillor in Pocklington East Yorkshire and in 2004 I was elected Mayor.

From starting in DWP, I have been classiﬁed as belonging to the Intermediate Group of civil servants and have stuck to the letter and spirit of the Code of Conduct for Civil Servants. This included attending courses at the National School of Government on the Code and its purpose.

In 2005 I resigned to stand for the Parliamentary seat of Beverley and Holderness. Before I resigned I was told by my local HR ofﬁcer, a senior Tory in the local Party, that if I was unsuccessful then I would be barred from applying for reinstatement. Having failed to win my election campaign I applied for reinstatement but was refused. I appealed through one of my local Labour MPs and following the intervention of Sir Gus O’Donnell, I was reinstated. I was offered a post in London, 200 miles from home, and told that if I accepted it would be at my own expense.

I duly took up the post in 2006 and in 2007 accepted a secondment at Band D, to the Foreign Ofﬁce in Whitehall working in the Minister for Europe’s team. On the completion of my secondment I was offered a post in DWP Fraud at home in Yorkshire and have been here for the least three years.

On my return home in 2009, I was elected as Chairman of my Constituency Labour Party and in February 2011, the Party asked me to run as a Councillor for the East Riding of Yorkshire Council. In keeping with my Intermediate status I asked for my Line Manager’s permission. At this point my Line Manager was told I was now in a “sensitive” post because “I had face to face contact with at least three members of the public per week”. I was not therefore permitted to stand. I argued my case and in March 2011, the advice given to my Line Manager was reversed and he was told that I should be regarded as being in the Intermediate Group and was therefore allowed to stand, but only on the provision that the ward in which I was standing was remote from my place of work. The East Riding Council covers about 500 square miles. Instead of being able to stand for a winnable seat in Beverley, I stood for a non-winnable seat in Bridlington and was unsuccessful.

In April 2011 I got a new Line Manager and in June 2011 I was told that I was indeed in a “sensitive” post with the restrictions that this entailed. The previous permission I had been given was a mistake. I am now in discussions with the Department to again have this reversed.

Should the Department not reverse its advice it will not only have implications for me but for 80,000 public facing members of staff in DWP. My experience has caused me considerable stress and family difﬁculties. Following the General Election of 2005, I was out of work for 10 months and only survived because of my wife and family’s support. Between 2006 and 2009 I met all expenses for travel and accommodation from my own resources.

In my experience, it’s no wonder that people don’t want to stand as councillors. I have a number of friends, of different political persuasions, who would willingly become School Governors, volunteers at the CAB and councillors, but are worried about contravening the rules. My Department gives the impression that we want to encourage public service and community engagement but then puts insurmountable barriers in place to deter potential candidates. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w38 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

But the good news is, that if they work for DWP and they’re successfully elected, they’ll be given loads of Special Leave to discharge their responsibilities, a contradiction if ever there was one. July 2012

Written evidence from Edward Houlton (CC 32) I stood for Council and was elected for one term. I continue to attend all the meeting in the community I did for a simple reason. The majority of elected ofﬁcials are not able to do their job so I make up the difference. If you people actually cared, there would not be homeless people. Shame on you. July 2012

Written evidence from Nigel Carter (CC 33) What made me stand as a councillor? The possibility that I might make a difference and do a better job than others as an elected member.

To what extent has experience lived up to expectations? As an independent, capacity to effect real change is limited due to an overwhelming majority held by the lead group. What a shame that dogma stands in the way of common sense in so many cases.

Will I stand for re-election? Yes, but with a majority of 14 votes, I’m not optimistic. July 2012

Written evidence from Cllr Mike Jordan (CC 34) You ask an interesting and regularly asked question about why only certain groups of people stand as Cllrs. There are two simple answers to this—cost and time! Had I got children around, were I in a minority group, were I disabled, I would simply not be able to go to all the meetings, get support of my peers, dash around from different meetings either in Selby or County, or attend these during the evening (at Selby) and during the day (at County). I am lucky in that I work shifts. I am even luckier because I am just about sorted with my ﬁnances and have handed my notice in (Ind Chemist on £45k/year) just so I can concentrate on Council duties. My wife works, I enjoy the tasks, but I would not have a cat in hells chance in any other circumstance. There is a huge amount going on at the moment with sorting houses out for people, dealing with families with debts, trying to get support for different groups and most local cllrs, certainly were I sit, are up to their eyes in it! The MPs, bless you all, make rules etc in London and we have to implement them somehow some way, in our own time! If you want better representation then make it easier for these groups to stand, provide the service they and we need and we will all get on with it—to quote the ex cllr I took over locally from—“if you have no car and can’t drive you cannot do the role”. June 2012

Written evidence from Robina Iqbal (CC 35) If you have wanted to be a candidate: — Why did you want to stand for election? — What, if any, speciﬁc barriers prevented you from standing? I am a community worker and have worked in the community in a job as well as a volunteer for the past 20 years. I work in an area where there is a high population of Pakistani muslims and somalian. The area also is one of high deprivation and faces many challenges on many social, economic and education fronts. I have and still do work with mostly muslim women and girls to educate and empower them so that they can be active citizens and also be informed parents so that they can help their children. I have been asked to stand many times as a councillor and have had my reservations. These are: cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w39

— There is not enough guidance or training offered by the govt or the parties to prepare you before you even begin to think about starting. It is important to offer workshops/training before so that we are all aware of the requirements like time commitment, work loads, salary etc. — Lack of support if you do decide to stand. It seems to be all down to you and if you have the resources like manpower, ﬁnance, contacts. I do feel that there should be a starter package that would help you. — Mentoring by other older candidates that have stood successfully before. — Full support by the party/govt in case of threats,abuse and victimisation. — There should be a shared resource by the party of printing and media support. — For women there should be someone with her when she goes out campaigning. July 2012

Written evidence from Cllr Richard Kemp CBE (CC 36) I am writing in response to your current review of training and support for councillors. For the past year I have been leading an operation internal to the Liberal Democrats helping councillors responds to both the challenges and opportunities of the Localism Act and other Acts such as the Health and Police Acts which localise some elements of decision making. This work has been funded by the Leadership Centre for Local Government and similar work has been instigated inside the Tory and Labour parties. It has been undertaken, in our case, by experienced councillors working on a regional basis with council groups, MPs and Constituency parties. Most of this work has been done with Lib Dem councillors but in some cases we have been doing whole council training or working in other cross party ways. Our overall impression is that councillors need substantial help if they are to take advantage of new opportunities for localism. The Localism Act in particular will make massive new demands on councillors if it is to work effectively. There are three problems: (1) That in many areas officers are digging in and doing their best to resist the Localism Act because it transfers power away from officers back to councillors and even more importantly to communities. (2) That the quality of training being provided by councils and other bodies into the opportunities of the Act are dire. (3) That many councillors will need help with the development of new and enhanced skills. Typically our role as councillors has been Town hall dominated. We took up a problem and asked an officer to do something about it; we asked a question in council; put forward a motion in council; helped develop new council wide strategies. All that can and should be done. But the Localism Act means that we can do a lot more beside. To do more or to do the same amount more effectively involves three things: (1) Councillors moving to a position where they think that their ward is a place in which to do something rather than from somewhere to do something. (2) Councils freeing up resources to ensure that councillors can be the local community champion or as I describe it become the “cabinet member” for their ward. (3) Councillors being supported into the new skills needed to do the new work. The help that they require is not technical descriptions of yet another Act of Parliament but support to develop a new set of skills such as: — Facilitation. — Advocacy. — Mediation. It is now our job using the various parts of the Localism Act to bring together people from within our wards from across disciplines and professions and across organisations to focus on how to deliver council wide strategies effectively in their own area. Some people will say that nothing has really changed and that some councillors have always had these skills and one these things. Correct. But not enough of them have done this and many who wanted to have given up because of the increased centralisation of the system over 40 years. Now is the time that ward councillors can come into their own. They along with town and parish councils can pull down power from the centre and ensure that truly local decisions are taken which will provide good value for money and good local outputs. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w40 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

This is a once in a generation opportunity to make fundamental change but it will only happen if the Government champions localism and provides a reasonable resource for up skilling those of us at the front line of governance and delivery. Cllr Richard Kemp CBE Director Winning with Localism Operation July 2012

Written evidence from Timothy J Oates (CC 38)

FormerCouncillors whoChose not toSeekRe-election

I became a Town Councillor in Abingdon in the local elections of 2007. My wife had stood for election in 2003 and became Mayor of Abingdon in 2007 and I was successful in joining her. The following four years until 2011 were an educational experience but I chose not to repeat if for reasons set out below: (1) Disenchantment with the political process at local level. Meetings controlled by an “inner core” with the rest of us merely being used as “lobby fodder” in order to “rubber stamp” decisions. (sound familiar to you?) (2) Further, private meetings, not minuted, being held between Council officers and the “inner core” to which the rest of us were not privy. (3) Council officers choosing to do their own thing in their own time without regard to the wishes of the Councillors. (4) Failure to oversee council decisions and check progress on decisions previously taken. (5) Before standing in 2007 I was assured that there would be no more than three or four meetings a year! This turned out to be slightly “economical with the actualite”, more like three or four meetings a week depending on how many committees and outside bodies you were on! (6) I finally came to the conclusion that for a parsimonious allowance of £750 per year this was not sufficient recompense for my time expenditure, especially as I was still in full time employment until 2008.

Summary

Local government seems to me to be a bastion for “jobsworths” and people who have done nothing more risky than “crossing the road”. Having worked in the military for twelve years and subsequently pursued a career entirely within the private sector, I am unimpressed. In the private sector you either get results in the time/budget set or you get out and without any payoff for failure either. Local government seems to be immune from these pressures with Councillors merely providing a “ﬁg leaf of democratic accountability”.

Conclusions

Of course the tone set in local government is replicated at national level. I cannot let my submission pass without giving my thoughts on the national picture. Over the last 30 years, the political elite in this country have been captured by business and global corporations, leaving the electorate with the “bill” of paying for it, whether they approve or not! Politicians seem to think they have a sense of entitlement as the MP’s expenses scandal showed. The recent furore over Barclays and the so called “grilling” of Bob Diamond by MP’s shows how mediocre our political elite are.

The political process should be opened up so “every man and his dog” should be able to stand for election. There should be open primaries at every level with no artiﬁcial restrictions or meetings of the “great and the good” behind closed doors, selecting candidates. If not, interest will continue to wane whilst the “rotten/corrupt fruit” at the top will continue to prosper at the expense of the rest who are paying for it!

My response at the next election, if matters don’t improve will be to spoil my ballot paper with “none of the above”! July 2012 cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w41

Written evidence from Desmond Jaddoo (CC 39) I was a supporter and also intended to stand for elected Mayor of Birmingham, however the proposal was rejected. During the campaign, various issues concerning the engagement, voter apathy, lack of understanding, image, and distancing between the people and Local Government were clearly highlighted. Over the past few years the between the Local Councillor and many Local Communities have become detached.

The Issue Local Government Elections indeed lacks inspirational political engagement. This was demonstrated at the last local election here in Birmingham in May 2012 when the turnout was a derisory 29% and some actual ward turnouts were as low as 16%. This may start to answer the questions as to why people are not standing for Councillors. Local Government is perceived to be an exclusive Club, for the Local elite to lead without any real mention of transparency or accountability to its local electorate. This lack of engagement demonstrates the disinterest in Local Politics. The whole idea of Local Government is uninspirational, owing the lack of new blood entering into the process of Governance. Indeed there are barriers which actually commence with the political parties. Birmingham commissioned a response to the McPherson report in 1999 and it was published in 2001. The need for better engagement of minority Communities was highlighted along with Political Parties ensuring that their local party selections demonstrate reflective governance. Furthermore, the need to actually ensure that the demographic make is also taken into consideration when selecting candidates is key in order to maintain interest from various diverse communities. One must take into consideration that Political engagement in many cities today, is based upon individuals as well a political parties. The two factors go together. One must understand that local Political figures are seen as role models and should many of them and just thrust onto the electorate and hence leads to the disconnection and the continued apathy, which leads to the lack of representation. In Birmingham where we are always told we have the most diverse population in the Country and we should celebrate this; appears in my opinion to only be lip service from individuals that are attempting to be politically correct. Current Councillors are desperate to cling onto power in many cases until they cannot physically move, then are seen as a waste of time as they are unable to serve their communities effectively or even understand the needs and anxieties of the Citizens, in their greed to cling onto their local power. There are established Party workers that are unable to attract their own party support as there appears to be an apparent closed shop when it comes to selection of candidates. The whole idea of local governance is not just to provide services and manage the local economy but also to connect with the people in order to inspire them as to what Local Government and indeed what being a Local Councillor is all about. Many people are unable to even name their local Councillor and many don’t even know the location of their Council House or Town Hall. I believe the problem is not contained in any one specific issue. Many people don’t know the role of their local Council yet alone the role of their local Councillor. Apathy has also set in as there is no real new blood from Communities and the failing of Parties to correctly address the demographic make up of area is causing major barriers in terms of engagement, involvement and representation. Some Councillors having been in post for over 30 years in some cases is just making local politics stale are they feel the need to cling on and mentor younger people in order to replace them in good time that reflect an ever changing society. Political Party selection processes I many cases have too many barriers and on occasions appear to be secretive to the public. The lack of transparency and accountable in demonstrating in how candidates are selected does not help to inspire the electorate either. One must remember especially in the case of Local Councillors, this is the opportunity for local people to get onto the political ladder. Even if one looks at the Independent route, the financial barriers for campaigning cost in comparison the major political parties are their structures are a major barrier. Indeed people can ruin themselves financially in their quest to run for public office. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w42 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

There is also an element of trust. In my opinion and from talking to many people, there is a mistrust of Politicians both locally and nationally, and if one aspires to public service in life, many people rather go by way of faith and community groups as these, offer more credibility, in comparative terms.

What Can Be Done In order to tackle this issue in my opinion, there needs to be local political engagement, by way of going out into the Community and educating people of the role of local Government, ensuring that all people are registered to vote and indeed that they use their, vote. Encourage and advise individuals that they need not be Members of a Political Party but they can stand as Independents, although they start off at a disadvantage owing to the financial muscle of the established Political Parties. I believe in order to encourage new blood into Local Government a cap of three–four for terms must be placed on Councillors and then they must stand down from reselection for at least one year before being reconsidered. This will demonstrate their effectiveness, as if they are good they should then be reselected. Political Parties need to make their selection process more transparent to the Public. Local Councils such as Birmingham must demonstrate reflective governance and not just talk about celebrating diversity, as observers do not understanding the make up of the various cultures that exist in Birmingham and many opinions are still based upon stereotypes, such the West Indian Community is reggae music and jerk chicken and the Sikh Community Bhangra Music etc. The local press also only support what appears to be the norm, which is actually turning off engagement. This issue is one of image, no-one sees the real or importance of Local Government and the whole concept and structure needs to be revisited and made more transparent and accountable and not the apparent old boys closed shop which is there for the chosen few. We must take action now to re-engage the public with Local Government which will go towards in my view developing their interest in then serving their Communities. As a result of this I have commenced Community Activation of the Black Community in Birmingham initially, which will remind everyone of their role in local governance and also of the opportunity for them to become representatives. Currently there are eight Black Councillors out of 120. Over the next five years we intend to work to increase this to 20 through Community Activation, also seek to get at least one Member of Parliament. Furthermore, once engagement is building, it is envisaged that this can be taken into the other communities in Birmingham including the white community which has also become disaffected, and the common age group of 18–25 are just not interested in politics and this needs to be addressed. July 2012

Written evidence from Janet Atkinson (CC 40)

It was when the youngest of our six children started school that I had time to consider what I was going to do next—part time teaching plus some voluntary work—but thoughts of being a Councillor did not cross my mind: and that has remained the case.

My husband became a councillor at County and then Borough level, and found the work both fulﬁlling (being of use to people) and occasionally maddening (knee-jerk politicking).

My chief voluntary activities have been as a Samaritan, a magistrate (Deputy Chair of a large urban bench), an active member in the governance of the Church of England at local, regional and national level—and of course the WEA, also at all levels, plus an unexpected invitation to become involved in one of the newly established Colleges in Stockton, as offshoots of Durham University, as a personal tutor, a member of the College Council and ﬁnally having just been elected President of the Senior Common Room. All these experiences have been rewarding in terms of working with a variety of colleagues, learning new skills, growing into new responsibilities. I have been very fortunate—so no regrets about not being a local councillor. I did not feel any barriers, have many friends who are councillors, and am interested in their work and am quite proud of my town. I do think however that my alternative use of my time was the right one for me. July 2012 cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w43

Written evidence from Workers’ Educational Association, York Participate Pilot (CC 43) NoteAbout Contributors The author is a WEA volunteer and tutor. He was previously a consultant, former Director and Chair of the Institute of Economic Development, Assistant Chief Executive and Director in local government. As well as working in local authorities he has also acted as chair, secretary etc. in a wide range of community and partnership organisations. The Participate learners are a diverse group consisting of retired professionals, people employed in high education, residents associations members, political party members, former council candidates and people who just want to know more about how decisions are made.

1. Introduction 1.1 The Workers’ Educational Association4 has just started a pilot course—(Participate)—in partnership with City of York Council, to promote active citizenship. There are similar pilots scheduled early next year with Sheffield and East Riding councils. This initiative encourages people to be more active citizens by helping to provide the motivation, knowledge and confidence they need. The York brochure is attached as an addendum for information. An Appendix provides more information about the Participate Programme. 1.2 The range of learners is wide, including retired professionals, employees in higher education, residents’ association members, political party members, and people who just want to know more. In all cases they are already active in their local communities, including some who have stood as candidates for council, others who are contemplating it, but all have decided that they want to engage more effectively with the local council by better understanding how it works. 1.3 The course is presented by providing a series of briefing factsheets on each topic before the session, but it also partly involves getting people from the different topic areas eg health, education, voluntary sector, including local councillors, to talk to the Learners’ Group. 1.4 In response to the Committee call for evidence, and in view of previous sessions on understanding local government, the Learners’ Group decided to hold a discussion and submit its collective views on the reasons people decide to stand or not to stand at local elections. 1.5 It should be noted that the views expressed are solely those of the Participate Learners’ Group (PLG) and not necessarily those of the WEA or the City of York Council.

2. Why People Stand for Council 2.1 To make a difference or get things done—This was the biggest factor which would motivate members of the PLG to stand, the ability to contribute to their community by improving some aspect of life for their fellow citizens. In this sense there could be a clear difference between those standing for office or those staffing public services. The latter seek to “run things”, the former “to do things”. 2.2 As a political career move—It was recognised that standing for local office is an important step in seeking a political career and that this is a significant motivation for some people. Ultimately, standing may not lead to such a career, but it can be an effective way to develop political skills and test commitment and abilities. It was felt that this traditional route to higher office might provide a more down to earth grounding than the increasingly common routes through think tanks and acting as political advisors. 2.3 Having the time available for council work—It was recognised that this was an increasingly important factor as many people had more pressurised careers or had to work longer hours. This unfortunately tends to restrict those with the option to stand to those with private incomes or the retired or unemployed. 2.4 Self-employed or flexible employment—If not retired or economically inactive, then it was likely that potential candidates would fall into one of these two categories. 2.5 To achieve a moderate income—While allowances for local council work are moderate, they still provide a regular source of income for those with aspirations as activists or seeking a political career. 2.6 To exercise power—Perhaps this is a less worthy description of 2.1, in the sense that some people are attracted by the apparent ability to exercise power within their local communities. Reference was also being made to the ability to “be in the know” as the information provided to councillors is a sort of power within local communities. 2.7 To achieve a certain level of status within the community—In common with most traditional community leaders, councillors have probably suffered a loss of respect and status, due in part to the loss of deference and 4 The Workers’ Educational Association—also known as the WEA—is UK’s largest voluntary-sector provider of adult education. We were founded in 1903, in order to support the educational needs of working men and women who could not afford to access further or higher education. Today we provide courses for all kinds of adults but we maintain our special mission to provide educational opportunities to adults facing social and economic disadvantage. We run over 10,000 part-time adult education courses each year. Our 110,000 students reflect all ages and interests, and come to us from all walks of life. We are one of the UK’s biggest charities, and operate at local, regional and national levels through our regional offices and volunteer-led branches. Our courses are created and delivered in response to local need, often in partnership with local community groups and organisations. More information @ www.wea.org.uk/ cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w44 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

increase in cynicism among the general public. Nevertheless, in most communities being the local councillor does still convey a significant status, not least as a “local worthy” and source of information. 2.8 Because politics or public service is a family tradition—It was felt that coming from a “political family” was still one of the major factors that influenced people to stand for election. Conversely, those who did not have such a background were aware that they might be considered strange or even “above themselves” if they sought public office. 2.9 To advance a community interest—The kind of motivation indicated in 2.1 and 2.6 essentially sprang from a belief that the individual could make a contribution to their local community. There is however also a motivation that springs from wanting to advance or have recognised a particular community interest. In such cases people decide to stand because it is felt that existing candidates do not adequately acknowledge or represent their interests or are perhaps at odds with them over particular issues, such as proposed developments, closure of local facilities etc. 2.10 Out of a sense of civic responsibility—Although this may be a diminishing factor, and is partly covered in some other headings, it was felt by the PLG that is it still remains a significant motivation for some.

3. Why People Do Not Stand 3.1 Not convinced that they can make a difference or get things done—These are probably the main reasons that deter people from standing. They divide into two main aspects: — Lack of conviction that councils can deliver change—Given the amount of central control or direction, which is exacerbated by current expenditure restrictions, there is scepticism that local councillors will be able to achieve much for their areas. — Lack of conviction that you as an individual have the capacity to make a difference—Individuals might often be modest about their abilities, and this is reflected in 3.11, 3.15 etc, but there is also a feeling that in today’s challenging circumstances, and with a sceptical public, you need to be have exceptional ability to make a difference. 3.2 Bad for your job prospects—Many people believe that their job prospects will be damaged by commitments such as standing for council. This is especially the case where long hours are required or where the demands of work can themselves require flexibility. Nor is it seen as a way of indicating the appropriate commitment to enhance promotion and job prospects. 3.3 Employer not supportive or inflexible job—While a few employers might value the skills and profile of a councillor, it was felt that the majority would not. Even where they were not actively hostile, then many jobs would find it difficult to accommodate the time and flexibility required for council work. 3.4 Runs own business or self-employed, but cannot afford or take time off—While small businesses and the self-employed have traditionally contributed a large number of council candidates, it was felt that in the current financial climate this is not practical for many people. 3.5 Lack of experience and/or confidence—PLG felt that lack of confidence and perceived relevant experience was a major deterrent. This was in part because standing for office and serving on a local council seemed significantly different from other forms of local participation, such as voluntary sector activity. It seemed to require an all or nothing commitment, compared to other participation where roles could gradually expand as confidence and experience grew. 3.6 Family commitments—Many people who might be interested could not contemplate standing as they could not combine it with caring for children or dependent adults. 3.7 Independently minded or not a member of a political party—While the main parties often ensure that candidates are found for many places, there are some people who do not stand because they do not want to join a party but feel they have little hope as an independent. 3.8 Do not have enough knowledge of local community/or have not lived there long enough—Political parties often nominate “paper candidates” in unwinnable seats irrespective of their place of residence. The PLG felt however that a lack of detailed local knowledge and residence was a major factor which would prevent them from standing either at all or certainly outside their home area. 3.9 Too much work involved—More than most jobs and certainly more than most volunteering or other civic participation, it is felt that to stand and serve as a conscientious councillor is an almost totally open- ended commitment. 3.10 Lack of knowledge about local government—With the largest local authorities in Europe and probably the most complex structures it is not surprising that those in the PLG felt that they many people lacked sufficient knowledge to stand. This is not helped by councils often using concepts such as outputs, outcomes, community cohesion, inclusion etc. which are not in general use. Decision-making also appears to be complex and tortuous. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w45

3.11 Lack of confidence about own abilities—This is similar to 3.5, but it is combined with a lack of clarity about what are the appropriate abilities for a candidate or councillor are, and a view that these are rarely articulated. 3.12 Lack of status—public hostility—Despite the comments in 2.7 some are undoubtedly put off standing because of increasing public hostility to politics and politicians. 3.13 Do not know other councillors or candidates—Those in PLG who have stood or are considering standing have often been influenced by knowing existing candidates or councillors, but conversely if you do not know anyone who has taken this step, then it is unlikely that you will feel able to do so. 3.14 Lack of family interest in politics—In view of likely impact on family it is a real disincentive to stand if they are unlikely to be interested in such things and equally likely to be unsympathetic to the demands it will make. 3.15 Fear that educational level may not be sufficient to do the job—Although this partly relates to other comments, such as 3.10 and 3.11, it also represents as perception that local government has become a technocratic activity for professionals, rather than a forum for representing community views. 3.16 Too big a commitment—This is a similar commemt to 3.9, but it also represents the idea that unlike say a parish council, school governor or involvement in a community group, you have to commit to be a virtually full time councillor for four years—it is not possible to try it for six months or on a temporary or part-time basis. 3.17 Not sure that local authorities will be supportive of anyone with disability or health issues—Although local authorities are perceived as good employers for people with disabilities or heath issues, there was scepticism about whether they could be similarly accommodating to elected members.

4. What can be done toAddress theseIssues? 4.1 PLG had little time to spend on considering how more could be done to increase the number of people standing, but there are a few observations, that have arisen and these might be divided into broadly three categories: — fundamental, that require major structural change; — opening up, measures that could be taken mainly by local authorities; and — de-mystifying which involves doing more or less the same things, but in a way which makes them more accessible.

Fundamental 4.2 Some potential candidates are clearly deterred by the view that local authorities are lacking in the power to deliver real change due to their lack of autonomy and resources. Compared to their historic roles and other, similar countries, then English local government is at low ebb. This contrasts with the increased autonomy apparent in the rest of the UK and is reinforced by the need to reduce public expenditure. 4.3 In the long term many additional candidates may only be attracted by more power at the local level and by Whitehall leaving major issues to be settled locally, as they have in the devolved parts of the UK.

Opening Up 4.4 As so many local agendas are controlled or heavily influenced by the centre, it is not surprising that sometimes local people feel they do not have a great influence. In this situation it is especially important that councils are being seen to open themselves up to dialogue, not least as this will engage people in a way which encourages them to stand for office. This always needs to be led by local councillors as it loses much force when it is officers providing the link. 4.5 Standing for office seems to be such as big step that it is necessary to use existing local forums—parish councils, residents associations, neighbourhood committees etc. as a stepping stone to involvement. This needs to be cross-party (and non-party), and locally it could build on the work of the Local Government Association and of the information provided by the DirectGov website: 4.6 — www.beacouncillor.org.uk/default.htm — www.direct.gov.uk/en/governmentcitizensandrights/ukgovernment/localgovernment/dg_073312 It is important that this should be on-going, rather than occasional, especially where elections are only every four years. When specific powers or resources can be devolved to such groups (even if these are very limited) then this will be especially useful as a stepping stone to potential candidacy. 4.7 Among those who have long term experience of dealing with councils there was a belief that the adoption of executive systems of leaders, cabinets etc. have led to less transparency in decision-making. The traditional committee system may have had its faults, but it is felt that it allowed a more open debate and encouraged cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w46 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

cross party dialogue on issues. Councils will of course soon be able to elect return to the traditional system if they so wish. 4.8 Co-option to committees (in a non-voting role) was fairly common to the previous committee system, but was mainly conﬁned to experts. This might however be considered as a way of breaking down barriers onto existing committees as non-voting members. Alternatively, shadowing of existing councillors for short periods of time might prove to be a popular initiative for potential candidates.

De-Mystifying 4.9 While most councils try to use plain English in their public documents it is clear that many struggle to transact their business in a manner that is readily intelligible to most citizens! This, ironically, is partly because IT and the internet have made such a wealth of information available. Understandably, it is often easier to produce massive strategies, reports and agendas rather than brief and accessible documents. 4.10 While local authorities have limited time and resources for better PR it is important that they concentrate on developing the skills of existing staff, and appropriate procedures to ensure that all major initiatives are simply and accessibly presented.

5. Supplementary InformationAbout the Participate Programme 5.1 Participate promotes active citizenship, by which we mean: — taking an interest; — having your say; — inﬂuencing decisions; — making things happen; and — challenging people in power. 5.2 Being an active citizen might involve taking an interest in local issues, such as proposed changes to public services or helping a community organisation, but equally it might be about campaigning about national and global issues, such as the future of the NHS or climate change. It might involve lobbying the council or other government agencies to change or improve services or alternatively helping to provide services or facilities by self-help initiatives, such as running a village hall. Sometimes it might simply involve participation in consultations or providing time or other support to a charity or local services. 5.3 It might involve short term commitments or something more open-ended, such as deciding to join or participate in a pressure group, political party, trade union or other interest group. The overall objective of Participate is to leave learners with the motivation and knowledge to become more active citizens in local communities.

Context 5.4 Since the “Community Development” initiatives of the 1960s5 there has been 50 years of varied attempts to encourage more active citizenship—mainly directed at deprived or marginalised communities or groups. Attempts to engage the wider community in the political process (with the exception of young people) have been more sporadic. While measuring success is complex, it is questionable how much progress has been made. For example, recent NCVO research concluded: Despite consistent efforts by the last government to get more people involved in public participation and volunteering, only 4% of people are involved in their local services and the number of people volunteering has remained stagnant for the past 10 years.6 5.5 Indeed in terms of conventional political participation—voting, membership of political parties, trade unions etc. the position is depressing. For example, membership of the main political parties has fallen from over 4 million in the early 1950s to around 500,000 or less than 1% of the population.7 Applying any kind of rigorous assessment of active citizenship, it is unlikely that more 5% of the population could regularly be included in this category. 5.6 To provide a more balanced picture, it should be noted that pressure group membership has increased steadily over the last 30 years, and international comparisons8 show that the UK is somewhere in the middle of the league table of participatory, advanced democracies. Moreover, such hard evidence9 as does exist suggests that people are just as interested in politics now as they were in the 1970s, even if they are much more cynical about politicians, professionals and for that matter most other traditional community leaders. 5 A useful short guide can be found at http://www.infed.org/community/b-comwrk.htm 6 See NCVO, Participation: trends, facts and ﬁgures: An NCVO Almanac 2011 7 Membership of UK political parties, John Marshal House of Commons Brieﬁng Paper, 17 August 2009 8 Measuring Active Citizenship through the Development of a Composite Indicator, Bryony L Hoskins and Massimiliano Mascherini, Social Indicators Research, Volume 90, No.3, July 2008 9 For example http://m-workers.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/poll.aspx?oItemId=2427&view=wide cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w47

The Big & Good Society 5.7 The Government’s “Big Society” initiative has been criticised because it comes at a time of austerity, public expenditure cuts and consequent reductions in the resources of the Community and Voluntary Sector. Nevertheless, it is major attempt at increasing active citizenship. There are three key parts to this agenda according to the Government: — Community empowerment: giving local councils and neighbourhoods more power to take decisions and shape their area. — Opening up public services: our public service reforms will enable charities, social enterprises, private companies and employee-owned co-operatives to compete to offer people high quality services. — Social action: encouraging and enabling people to play a more active part in society.10 5.8 Some Labour critics have claimed that much of this agenda originated in the Blair years.11 Still further criticism has been levelled at both New Labour and Government articulations as being inadequate to foster a true civic and community revival.12 5.9 Leaving these disputes on one side however, it is apparent that there is much common ground on the need for a civic revival to generate active citizenship. This is noted in a recent analysis by the Local Government Group Big Society Taskforce (LGGBST), speciﬁcally in a local government setting: There is an unexpected political consensus around the need for a “bigger society” be it labelled as “co-operative” or “civic” or anything else that party politics dictates. It’s not just about the need to save money, though this is undoubtedly a driving force, it is about the need to recognise that society is changing with a more connected population demanding greater participation in shaping the lives of their communities.13 5.10 While the evidence base that people are “demanding greater participation” can be disputed, there is a much clearer idea of what people expect from public services. For example, recent RSA research concludes that the public: — want public services to be based on notions of the public good, rather than just what’s good for me; — understand the public good largely in terms of universalism, with equality of access to beneﬁts; — are prepared, with prompting, to consider types of equality that relate to outcomes rather than access; — see more potential in playing a strong adult role in public service development locally rather than nationally; and — struggle to see a compelling or urgent case for reforming public services to cope with economic pressures and social changes, and divide evenly on whether to support service cuts or tax rises.14

Take Part Programme 5.11 This national Take Part Programme was funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government and managed by the Community Development Foundation to develop and promote means of increasing community empowerment and engagement, especially in deprived communities. It ended on 31 March 2011 and has a number of important lessons, especially for the LGG aspirations. These are described in detail in the final evaluation and on the independent Take Part website but in this context the key recommendations are: — The impact of Take Part in encouraging local action and stimulating civil society offers important learning for the Big Society agenda and other future empowerment initiatives. — Ongoing support for citizens’ engagement practices must be sustained to ensure that the benefits do not begin to diminish. — A balance is needed between accountability and freedom for local people to target resources effectively. — Meaningful partnerships can enhance active citizenship in times of austerity.15 5.12 Between 2009 and 2011, the WEA in this region played its part in this programme by organising “Regional Take Part Champions”, working with many local partners to pilot different approaches to active citizenship and community empowerment. The twelve initiatives provide a wide range of lessons and some 10 http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/content/big-society-overview 11 Ed Miliband rehearses “good society” guru’s lines in conference speech, The Guardian, Tuesday 28 September 2010 12 Labour’s Good Society, Jonathan Rutherford, Social Europe Journal, 28 October 2010 13 Doing something Big: Building a better society together Local Government Group Big Society Task Force, June 2011, page 5 14 What do people want, need and expect from public services? RSA, March 2010, page 4 15 http://www.cdf.org.uk/web/guest/publication?id=475814 cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w48 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

useful contacts that will be utilised in this proposal. Participate also partly addresses a major issue identiﬁed in the evaluation: A key issue with short term funded projects is how they can achieve further impact and longer term sustainability. This question is especially relevant during the current period of reductions in public spending.16

Potential Learner groups 5.13 Participate has potential to recruit a wide range of participants, which will help the prospect of sustainability and increase the richness of learning. Similar initiatives have tended to target deprived communities or difficult to reach groups, such as young people or ethnic minorities. While learners from such groups would be very welcome, we expect to attract a larger number of people from the 60–70% of those who are interested in politics and public services, but where less than 10% are “active citizens”. 5.14 A very significant opportunity is provided by public service restructuring. This is illustrated by the LGG Taskforce and similar publications. The ability to understand and work across sectors will be a key skill for activists and professionals alike, but the training resources of organisations and the time they allow for this is at an all-time low. — In 2009–10 the median gross training expenditure (GTE) was £185 per employee, the lowest level since 2003; looking forwards to the financial year 2010–11, over three fifths of authorities (64%) thought that gross training expenditure would decrease. — GTE per member (at £185) is now at a lower level than in 2003 (at £193 per member).17 5.15 It is clear that community leaders, professionals and politicians alike will increasingly have to rely on self-help to improve their knowledge and skills at a time when they are being asked to respond to fundamental change. There is then the prospect of attracting junior and middle rank officers from local government, NHS, and other public services to such a course, especially if it is officially sanctioned or supported.

The Political Deﬁcit 5.16 Similar courses to the one proposed have been delivered from time to time, these have however mainly concentrated on brieﬁngs for the community or CVS activist and have not tended to engage directly with the political system. Participate will engage the main Political Parties, who may in turn be prepared to endorse and provide both learners and speakers. July 2012

Written evidence from Netmums (CC 45) NETMUMS SURVEY: WHAT’S WRONG WITH BEING A COUNCILLOR? The information below is based on the results of a survey carried out by Netmums in July 2012. The survey asked Netmums members a series of questions about their perceptions and experiences of councillors and local government. 104 people completed the survey.

16 Empowering communities Regional Take Part Champions: Final Report, April 2011 17 Local Government Workforce Survey 2010 England: Main report, LGA cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w49

Question1

Which part of the country are you from ?

R esponse R esponse Answer Options P ercen t C ount North East England 7.7% 8 North West England 11.5% 12 Yorkshire and Humber 11.5% 12 East Midlands 1.9% 2 West Midlands 9.6% 10 East of England 0.0% 0 London 18.3% 19 South East England 21.2% 22 South West England 6.7% 7 Wales 5.8% 6 Scotland 4.8% 5 Northern Ireland 1.0% 1 answered question 104 skipped question 0 cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w50 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

Question2

Do you volunteer for anything?

Response Response Answer Options Percent Count No, I don't 48.0% 47 Toddler groups/pre -school - helping out 12.2% 12 Toddler groups/preschool - managing 4.1% 4 School - helping out 20.4% 20 School - as a Governor 12.2% 12 School - PTA 14.3% 14 Faith group (eg, at church) 12.2% 12 Brownies, scouts or similar 9.2% 9 Charity 17.3% 17 Other (please specify) 13 answered question 98 skipped question 6

Other (please specify) — Leading group in school called Lighting the Candle. Helping to keep a church website going. — Local council. — Local councillor. — Women’s Institute. — Church Cleaning. — Administrator for a counselling organisation. — Community Library set up. — Local amateur theatre. — Community. — Looking after other mums’ kids on weekends when they work, local community centre fun days. — National Trust.

Question3

Are you employed?

Response Response Answer Options Percent Count Yes, full time 34.3% 35 Yes, part time 31.4% 32 I'm a stay at home mum 34.3% 35 answered question 102 skipped question 2 cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w51

Question4

Do you have any interest in party politics?

Response Response Answer Options Percent Count No, not really 21.4% 22 I follow the news and I know who I agree with on 62.1% 64 most issues I support a political party and take a keen interest 16.5% 17 answered question 103 skipped question 1 cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w52 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

Question5

Do you have an interest in the decisions your local council makes?

Response Response Answer Options Percent Count No, it all seems very far removed 15.5% 16 I have some interest, but I don't really see that it 28.2% 29 affects me I do take an interest in what decisions are taken and 56.3% 58 how they will affect me answered question 103 skipped question 1

Question6

Have you ever thought about being a local councillor yourself?

Response Response Answer Options Percent Count No, I'd hate to do that sort of thing 27.5% 28 I'm not really bothered 12.7% 13 I could be interested, but hadn't thought about it 30.4% 31 I have thought about it but decided not to 15.7% 16 I wanted to get involved, but it was difficult to do 9.8% 10 (please tell us more in Q9) Yes, I am a councillor 3.9% 4 answered question 102 skipped question 2 cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w53

Question7 In general, what do you think stops more women from applying to be local councillors? (Choose the top 3 barriers, in your opinion) Response Response Answer Options Percent Count Lack of confidence 40.2% 41 Wouldn't occur to them to try 29.4% 30 They don't see the point 27.5% 28 Lack of knowledge or skills 18.6% 19 Dislike the arguments that happen in politics 29.4% 30 Modesty - not wanting to put yourself forward for 35.3% 36 election Lack of time 70.6% 72 Lack of or cost of childcare 47.1% 48 Other (please specify) 9 answered question 102 skipped question 2

Other (please state) — Apathy. — Party system. — Intimidating pompous men. — Aggressive nasty election tactics, I think most women can’t see the point in the tale telling you see a lot of the local men going for. Also I don’t think it’s spoken about to young girls as a step to a political career as much as it could be. — Male dominated environments can be aggressive and intimidating. — Arrogant patronising men. — Pure politics that go on: people often have cliques and they often seem impenetrable. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w54 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

Question8 In the past five years, have you ever been involved in a campaign directed at your local council (eg, to get funding for a new project or protest about a closure of services?) Response Response Answer Options Percent Count I've signed a petition 77.4% 65 I've written a letter 41.7% 35 I've joined a march 14.3% 12 I've been to a local council meeting 23.8% 20 I've met with a local councillor or staff at the 29.8% 25 authority answered question 84 skipped question 20

Question9

Do you know anything about your local councillors? (Tick those that apply)

Response Response Answer Options Percent Count Quite a lot about who's involved and their 32.4% 33 backgrounds Just a name or two 43.1% 44 What party they are from 33.3% 34 I don't know anything really 26.5% 27 Other (please specify) 4 answered question 102 skipped question 2 cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w55

Other (please specify) — I know who our local councillor is and what local issues he was elected for. As long as our local one works for the good of the community that elected him, delivers what was promised, is friendly, approachable and works for all ages/genders/races etc that voted for him I don’t need to know the councillors in the areas next to us. The next name would be our local MP’s name. — I am a parish clerk.

Question 10 Please tell us more about your thoughts and experiences. If you’ve been involved with a local council, did you enjoy the experience and what do you see as the barriers? If you are not interested, tell us more about why. — Would like to do it but I have too many voluntary jobs already. — I get really frustrated with our local councillors as they have all been in office for over 20 years, and some don’t even live in their wards. I’d love to get involved, but I do feel like it is a bit of a thankless task at times—but I don’t know if that is because the wrong people are in charge! I’d love to see more “normal” people get involved in local politics, because I do feel that it is something that you can control. I have to say, in the run up to the local elections in May, I found it very hard to find any information about what the candidates were going to do for their ward ... there seemed to be no manifestos and any information was very hard to come by, which I think is disgraceful in this day and age! — I work full time, sometimes six days a week, am struggling in my own little world and wouldn’t want to stand up for election as am quite shy and not very confident. I prefer to change the world in my own little way, not in huge, big, committed ways. — Interested, but no experience. — My local councillors are self interested and I question whether they actually understand what their constituents want. — Barriers preventing me becoming a councillor: — Not having a political background. — Seems to be a “who” you know can sway your chances of getting in. — I’m not an outspoken person! — I don’t support the Conservative party in my area; interested in local issues for ordinary people. I’m a member of the Labour and just joined Labour Friends of the Forces. Tend to sign the Save the Children petitions directed at the Government. Interested in low cost housing development. I feel very strongly that the physical punishment of children should be made illegal tomorrow. That affordable childcare should be for Mums who go out to work. Also support initiatives to address domestic abuse. — I like being involved, but lack the confidence. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w56 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

— I am a local councillor and have had three children whilst being a local councillor. Am finding it very hard. — I used to be a councillor but meetings are during daytimes and not often outside core work hours. It is too difficult now with a child to be involved. Petty party politics also put me off and with the internet your reputation can be damaged due to political vendettas. — I’ve been a local councillor for almost five years and I love it. I didn’t see any barriers and its great making local changes for the better. — My local councillor has helped me resolve a couple of issues in my local area, ie rubbish and traffic management. I find him very approachable and helpful and will contact him again the future if another issue arises. — I would like to be more involved but I work as a pilot and am away at night quite a lot so can’t serve a community if I am not here. — I work as a Parish Clerk which I love. My role gives me the opportunity to help the communities I work for and is very satisfying. I feel the barrier to women becoming councillors (especially with school age children) is a lack of suitable and affordable childcare and time! I also feel that there is a general lack of understanding about the role of Parish, Town, City, District and County Councils. — A lamppost was put outside my house and I wanted it moved as it affects the house. I started to complain before it was actually put up, but nearly nine months later, I still hadn’t had a response, so I complained online. I got an answer—they weren’t going to move it! So really there is no use to complain as they do whatever they want and don’t care who it affects. — Decisions being made without me being consulted. Challenged and got results. Hate the stupid health and safety issues, pathway only cut once a year, can’t walk down it, but not allowed (although willing to do it myself) to cut due to stupid rules and neighbours. My daughter sexually assaulted at school in February, wrote to [***] via local MP but he could not even be bother to reply (how dare he). — My father was a Labour councillor in my original home area (South East) back in the 80s and I am a party member still but I don’t have the child care or time to get involved these days. — As a new parent I consider it important to contribute to my community which in turn I consider will benefit my family, neighbours, friends and others. Knowing more about what my council and local councillors do and being in a position to hold them to account/challenge them when necessary is an opportunity that is not afforded to many in other countries but is something that should be appreciated in the UK. — I work for a local council and want to see more young and female councillors. — I would love to be a councillor and have a real opportunity to change things in my local town but realistically: 1) I work full time and simply wouldn’t have the time to devote to it at present; 2) I detest the mudslinging in both local and national politics—I would want to be a councillor that is only for the people in my town and starts with a clean slate—ie I cannot change what’s been done before, I cannot work miracles but here’s what we’ve got—and get the town involved in voting/saying what should be done for the town. In my area, I’ve seen horrendous examples of money being wasted on what councillors “think” should be done on behalf of the town but did anyone ask the council tax payers? I have worked in the past for two local councils and the waste/attitude was terrible. I had to leave in the end because the attitude towards new ideas was ONLY welcomed when it came from the top (dinosaur management). Any attempt from within staff to change things was met with opposition. I had to leave and now work for a company (private) where new ideas for efficiency/improvements are positively encouraged and welcomed. — Politics has become a celebrity status, they are not there to serve the community, it’s more about what they can achieve from the community. — It’s so male dominated sadly—men do less in the home and with childcare so it’s usually them that seem to be aware of politics—my local Mayoress is a young lady who is childless! — I was a councillor from 2006 to 2010. I loved it and hope to return in 2014! — I have been involved in protesting on a couple of issues. I do find that a lot of my friends of a similar age to myself (29) think that it is a waste of time as the council will go ahead regardless of what their constituents think. I have spoken at a council meeting on behalf of local netmums against the closure of our town centre library, our council want to move the library to a less accessible place on the edge of the town centre. — We normally know our local one as they are not covering huge areas, though I’m not that interested in how many times they had a cold over their life or what their childhood sweethearts’ names were. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w57

It’s sad and off putting that even at this ground level how much stupid detail about partner/ children’s past is brought up, as they don’t choose to run, they’re just supporting their partner/ parent in something they want to do. This puts me off as I wouldn’t put my family and loved ones through that, you see too much of “Their wife/husband tried a drink/cannabis cigarette when they were in college so god forbid at the age of 45 they campaign for tighter or new laws”. How can those in politics know us well enough to lead if they haven’t been young, had relationships good or bad and have family issues the same way we all do? Hypocritical is one thing, normal life experiences are another. I also feel that there are still some lingering views that a woman in politics is a hard nosed ball breaker which women might think can leave husbands open to the fear of being mocked as under the thumb of a “strong” woman not an equal. This may also make some women feel the only way to look or act is to macho up instead of being themselves. You don’t see many (some but not many) lady politicians in the more feminine office attire that isn’t a sharp dark coloured business suit, so maybe how these women are presented affects the view of women who are not the city exec types on what type of women are expected at local level? These are all minor things but I think women in general are more prone to think a little more on how will it affect those around them and themselves more than a lot of men. These preconceptions have been changing towards the better for a long time but I don’t think they have fully gone yet, though I believe most women feel that in the areas of intelligence/ age/status and social background they are now even with men. — I think local councils should not be party political, as parish councils are. This may encourage more local working and less political arguments. Women incur childcare costs that most men do not in volunteering for this kind of job. — As the daughter of a county councillor who was formerly a town councillor and a district councillor I know the amount of time and effort these posts involve—canvassing to get elected, knocking on doors, getting abuse or indifference, large numbers of meetings, paperwork, phone calls and emails. My father could only do this because my mother chose to be a stay at home mother and be there for all those times he wasn’t. I don’t think that it’s very compatible with a family that is likely to have two wage earners, children and may not have available childcare. — [***] council is forcing through an exclusive Catholic school (against government policy) and has raised sectarian tensions to boiling point. The borough desperately needs inclusive places yet it prioritises Catholics. Its behaviour and tone has been despicable. We have been forced to move. — Local authority is still very male dominated and I find as a professional woman who comes into contact with the local authority and councillors that I am often patronised—local authorities waste a lot of money on feasibility studies and exploration and less on making a difference where it is needed. — I can’t be doing with “party” politics—the bickering and posturing between parties means nothing meaningful ever seems to get achieved, and few common sense decisions get made because the party comes first. I prefer Independent councillors, but few stand, and even fewer have the funding to fight the big parties on a level playing field in order to get elected. — I think it’s mainly a gravy train for them to get a lot of freebies at everyone else’s expense! — I intend to stand for election in 2014. — I have a very personal interest—my son is autistic, and trying to get the help and education to which he is entitled is enormously difficult, so I have had many interactions with the local council, and am currently undertaking a legal challenge to get their illegal policies over-turned. — Never been involved. — Women with families are just too busy to contemplate doing anything for themselves. Literally fill every day looking after kids/partner/house and working elsewhere. No time at all! Also childcare is ridiculously expensive. — I think it is a closed shop. I do believe many people have substantial experience, thoughts and skills to offer. The everyday person is generally not found to be represented in local government. People already feel like they are undervalued so why would they bother bringing their thoughts to local council? All members of the public have experienced some form of cutback, yet many of those people could offer up an alternative solution or way to save money elsewhere. There are local people with grass roots experience of projects and services but yet local councils spend money on implementing projects that already exist. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w58 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

— Politicians are all the same, they’re in it for the money and don’t really care about the public they serve. Politics is very male dominated because women often ﬁnd it hard to get suitable affordable childcare (especially single mums like myself). August 2012

Written evidence from participants in seminar at the Local Government Association (CC 46)

NOTE OF THE SEMINAR HOSTED BY THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION ON 19 JUNE 2012

Committee Members Present Mr Clive Betts Stephen Gilbert Heidi Alexander George Hollingbery Simon Danczuk James Morris Bill Esterson

CouncilorsPresent Joanne Beavis Braintree Conservative Lisa Brett Bath Liberal Democrat Ruth Cadbury Hounslow Labour Robert Cooke Hastings Conservative Gillian Ford Havering Independent Sarah Hayward Camden Labour Jack Hopkins Lambeth Labour Amina Lone Manchester Labour Sioned-Mair Richards Shefﬁeld Labour Colin Noble Suffolk Conservative Terry Stacy Islington Liberal Democrat Clare Whelan Lambeth Conservative Emma Will Kensington and Chelsea Conservative

Committee Members met with a group of councillors to discuss some of the challenges faced in becoming and being a councillor. Discussion was chaired by Cllr Ruth Cadbury, Deputy Chair of the LGA Improvement Board and Cabinet Member at Hounslow Borough Council and Mr Clive Betts MP, Chair of the Communities and Local Government Committee. Below is a note of the points made during discussion of the topics highlighted in bold:

Motivations forBecomingaCouncillor

There were many different journeys to becoming a councillor, which could involve a combination of factors motivating people to stand. For councillors representing political parties these broadly broke down as either through a political route—being previously active in a political party locally—or through involvement in the local community and local issues and so becoming active in local politics. Local parties varied in how actively they sought out and encouraged new candidates to stand; this could be through, events, leaﬂets and/or personal contact. It was also noted that not all councillors represented political parties and their route to standing would be different to those who do.

The majority of councillors said they were motivated to stand for election because they wanted to make a difference, particularly on a local issue, and being a councillor would enable them to make that difference.

Attendees felt that a lack of awareness among the public about the role of councillors and the impact they could have on their communities was one reason why more people do not stand for election. Another factor identiﬁed as discouraging people from standing was public opinion of politicians generally. This meant that councillors had to be personally resilient: one example of this was the critical stance of local press reporting which tended to focus on criticism of local authorities and councillors.

A campaign to promote awareness of the role of councillors could encourage more people to think about standing. A campaign could be co-ordinated by central or local government, though councillors were wary that running a campaign to promote their role might be seen by the public as self-interest. It was noted that the LGA was already running its be a councillor campaign to encourage people to consider standing for election. Be a councillor also involved political parties playing a greater role in encouraging people to think about becoming councillors. Equally councils should be encouraged to raise public awareness of the role of councillor. It was pointed out that Members of Parliament were well positioned to encourage individuals to come forward to stand as councillors, while recognising the need for MPs to stand back from participating in local selection. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w59

Recruitment and Diversity Strategies to promote a diverse range of councillors needed to be formulated locally, taking into account the particular characteristics of individual areas—a “one size fits all” approach would not work. In many places political parties did reach out to under-represented groups, but this could be variable. Councillors should be representative of their communities, and the people that make up their communities. It was stressed that it was important to focus on representativeness rather than diversity—that councillors should reflect their local population in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, place of residence, economic background and many other factors. A number of barriers prevented particular sections of society from becoming councillors. The working hours of a councillor could impact on parents and those with other caring responsibilities, those in full time employment or with any other major fixed time commitments. While the ability to “job-share” as a councillor, by coming to mutually beneficial arrangements with other councillors, and other measures could make it easier to juggle other commitments, addressing the scheduling of council business was key to resolving this and each council would have its own methods of managing this. As a result of negative publicity about allowances, some councillors felt pressure not to claim for reasonable costs incurred in the role, eg childcare expenses. It was felt that young people working long hours to advance their career would have little spare time to devote to council work. This could be offset if legislation or other incentives were to provide employees with more time off to undertake council duties, and if employers understood the skills employees gained as councillors in a similar way to other civic roles such as the Territorial Army or magistrates. Remuneration was seen as a barrier by some, particularly if an individual could not afford the loss of income or benefits associated with becoming a councillor. There were differing views as to whether this was an issue that had to be tackled locally or whether there was a role for a national body to advise authorities on remuneration and so take it out of local politics.

Practicalities andChallenges More IT and administrative support would help councillors to manage their work load more efficiently. MPs recognised that the support they received made a significant contribution to their effectiveness. Similar support for councillors should be tailored to the differing needs of executive and backbench members. The greatest barrier to IT and administrative support was council resources. A potential solution would be to redistribute the administrative support already available to officers between officers and councillors. It was also felt that better use could be made of councillors’ time through better use of technology or through fewer meetings/ briefings where appropriate. Information overload and undifferentiated data impeded councillors scrutinising the work of local authorities. Access to better quality, more straightforward data, for example, about the demographics of the area and council performance, would make it easier for councillors to make decisions. It was suggested that in some areas resources might be redistributed by reducing the number of councillors, though the opposite point was made that in many areas with complex communities and needs there was less scope to reduce the number of councillors.

Community Leadership Community Budgets and the Localism Act had the potential to impact greatly upon the way councillors work and their role as leaders of communities. Many councils had already devolved some budgets to wards or divisions to give communities more inﬂuence over local decisions; the impact that devolved budgets had had varied from place to place, but where done well this was a good tool for community engagement. There are many challenges in taking on a more prominent “community leader” role including reconciling or mediating disputes in divided communities and ensuring that all sections of the community are represented. There were discussions around voter turn-out and the impact on mandate. Joined-up messages from central and local government on the role of councillors, MPs, and the recently introduced Community Organisers would be helpful. The complexity of governance structures risked confusing the public, particularly in multi-tier areas, where with both county and district (and potentially parish/town) councillors, it might be difﬁcult for people to identify who their community leader was, and which tier had responsibility for which service. Single member wards could make the system simpler for the public and give councillors a greater sense of responsibility, though this could increase the workload of individual councillors, especially in highly populated urban wards.

Training and Skills These days most councils provided a good basic induction, often drawing on the excellent training provided for councillors by the LGA both immediately after election and later for further development of the more experienced. Prospective councillors coming from a political background might have some knowledge of cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w60 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

council structures and procedures but those coming to the role without this experience had a steep learning curve when elected to a council. This was compounded by the fact that the national curriculum also did not provide the general public with a clear understanding of local politics or local government. It was recognised that the role of councillor was complex and support and training was vital for councillors to meet their potential. Many councils provided councillor training including inductions but this varied from council to council. The consequence was that it could take a long time for new councillors to become familiar with council procedure, and a lack of training and support in this area could put them off standing for re-election. Training and support had to continuously evolve to reflect the changing needs and challenges of the role. A qualification covering the range of skills required by councillors could be useful, but the role and requirements would depend on each council and individual. If employers could be made aware of the benefits of the skills developed by councillors they might encourage and support staff to become councillors.

APPENDIX A COUNCILLORS AND THE COMMUNITY INQUIRY—COUNCILLORS’ SEMINAR ATTENDEES’ THOUGHTS ON THE FUTURE ROLE OF COUNCILLORS 31 July 2012 Members of the Communities and Local Government (CLG) Select Committee met with a group of councillors to discuss some of the challenges faced in becoming and being a councillor. Discussion was chaired by Cllr Ruth Cadbury, Deputy Chair of the LGA Improvement Board and Cabinet Member at Hounslow Borough Council and Mr Clive Betts MP, Chair of the CLG Select Committee. Attendees were not able to address all the points raised by the Committee, who asked that attendees submit their thoughts on: — How do you see your role changing in future? For example, will the localism agenda and the likely rise of mayors change the role for the better or worse? — If there was one thing you could change to improve the lot of being a councillor, what would it be? This note provides councillors’ responses to these questions and does not represent the Local Government Association’s corporate view.

The Future Role of Councillors How do you see your role changing in future? For example, will the localism agenda and the likely rise of mayors change the role for the better or worse? 1. In response to reduced resources, the role of councillors will continue to be more important as spending is prioritised. Sensible councils will reflect this by giving more power and authority to councillors. Greater efficiencies will be found by prioritising the real needs of a neighbourhood or ward. This is where the ward Councillor should be empowered. Many councils already invest budgetary responsibility or at least priority setting (indirect budgetary responsibility) in local councillors through a variety of democratically constituted forums, ward budgets, or direct approval of investment priorities (eg Road resurfacing). Some councils like Lambeth are going even further and devolving budgets to user groups and local residents with the councillor acting as commissioner, encouraging residents to “see what they can do” or whether particular activities need being done at all. This is being reflected at a senior level in Lambeth for Cabinet Members themselves to become the commissioners of services. This is the next natural step and brings procurement and commissioning into much sharper focus on neighbourhood needs and outcomes, where whole systems and outcomes can be tested and written into contracts or service level agreements. These have often been missed by fault or design, meaning cost savings may have been made by the spending department but simply picked up somewhere else. This requires a significant skills investment in councillors around finance, strategic statementing, any skill someone at the top of an organisation could need and this requires further investment in councillors. Once councillors are seen to be actual power brokers with an interesting and important role and one councillor is confident that the calibre will increase at a faster rate. 2. During these austere times it will be more difficult at a ward level to help those on benefits who see changes in Housing Benefit & Council Tax Benefit which will adversely affect them. Recipients will perceive the council as having made the changes not the government. There will be a real need to develop community resilience as services are cut. This may be harder in areas which are already depressed and where there is a very small middle class base to galvanise. One councillor is not convinced that Mayors will be what local people see as the answer and suspects it will depend on how effective the Police and Crime Commissioning (PCCs), once operating, are perceived to be. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w61

If there was one thing you could change to improve the lot of being a councillor, what would it be? 1. British politics must be the only industry in the world where there is no signiﬁcant relationship between those at the operational level and those at the strategic. Good businesses are agile, where operational tweaks and changes in the dynamics of delivery can be properly responded to. We have seen recently the dangers of those at the top not being in control of the basic business they make decisions on, whether that is Enron, Goldman Sachs or anyone involved in the sub prime mortgage crisis in the US. At the moment we are generally encouraged to lobby on big ticket items which are complex to change when legislation is going through Parliament, or in response to consultations. What would be hugely beneﬁcial would be the ability to make small changes. The biggest thing that would vastly improve our lot would be a standing body of MPs whose responsibility it is to respond to councils’ requests for small changes to legislation, closing loop holes without requiring long and timely acts of Parliament. 2. Another councillor believes that state-of-the-art IT equipment with more administrative back up would improve the lot of being a councillor.

APPENDIX B—FROM CLLR RUTH CADBURY COUNCILLORS AND THE COMMUNITY INQUIRY—REFLECTIONS ON THE FUTURE ROLE OF COUNCILLORS 31 July 2012 Members of the Communities and Local Government (CLG) Select Committee met with a group of councillors to discuss some of the challenges faced in becoming and being a councillor. Attendees were not able to address all the points raised by the Committee, who asked that attendees submit their thoughts on: — How do you see your role changing in future? For example, will the localism agenda and the likely rise of mayors change the role for the better or worse? — If there was one thing you could change to improve the lot of being a councillor, what would it be? This note provides a summary of my reflections on this area. The role of councillors is changing. As more powers are devolved to local communities and neighbourhoods, councillors will be playing even more active roles in their communities. The role is therefore becoming more demanding and expectations are rising. But for many councillors, much of their time is spent not at the front line but preparing for and attending meetings. There’s no doubt that councillors play a hugely important role in decision-making, overview and scrutiny, but are we making best use of their valuable time and skills by imposing a lengthy schedule of meetings and accompanying paperwork? It is also important to remember that it is not only meetings and accompanying work that takes time: basic administration, such as emailing, chasing and following up casework etc, often has a significant impact on councillors, particularly when there is limited administrative support. If the focus of councillors’ time is changing, have we got the systems in place locally to help them respond? Councils might look to review their own practices and ask themselves whether their systems are helping councillors work directly with their ward and division, or whether the emphasis is on meeting attendance. This could mean a rebalancing of back office support towards work at on the front line. The required changes to back office support are underlined by the further extension of directly elected mayors and whole place community budgets: if there is joint and combined work across councils and further devolution of the executive, there needs to be an extension of appropriate back office support. The Localism Act has given localism a boost. It has created the formal rules, with measures such as the General Power of Competence, but we now need the cultural change that can translate these rules into better outcomes for our local people.

Written evidence from Warren W Hateley (CC 47) In our town there is a generation of people who hold the post of town councillors (some have been in place for 20 years) and to say it is a closed society/old boy/family net work would be under stating the situation. Their mind set is so much set in concrete they do not want to see change and we have seen evidence of this in the past over decisions which have or have not been made. The prime example is James Dyson who some years ago wanted to expand his manufacturing base within the town. The site opposite his present premises was vacant he wanted to expand and employ an extra 400 people. In return under a 106 agreement he was prepared to build a new leisure centre. Needless to say it went to planning committee and was they voted against. Consequence was Dyson moved his manufacturing abroad (previously the option had had not been on his radar) outfall was there were 125 redundancies. Schools that are over prescribed after 18 months building which is out of step with services etc etc etc. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w62 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

Up until recently the councillors meeting were very much a closed shop, minutes were being produced well after the events of meetings notices were not common place information published in a very circumspect way but seen to meet the necessary stator requirements. There was no transparency meetings held in camera with developers/interested parties and until members of the community pressed for change through a local web site being established and more people attended public meetings. So that information all of a sudden became available in the public domain rather than buried.

The closed shop was managed in such a way that the chosen few became councillors. This is now not the same but there is a small nucleus of the old guard and the new kids on the block and until there is complete change in the town leadership there will be resistance for change. In the mix there is no commercial representation and the town lacks focus. The budget for promoting the town is £2,600 this year bearing in mind we have 60,000 visitors in any one year. Can I get them to see sense it is virtually impossible the only way progress can be made and is made is outside the council thorough various committees/associations like the resident association which has over 2,000 members.

Other examples were the original application for WOMAD to come to the town thank God that common sense prevailed in that case, the biggest impact was the closure of Lynham 3,500 jobs out of the economy and £890 million black hole—councillors/military rejected a commercial solution to potentially employ 6,000 people year two, establish new housing, education centres (one which included a proposal from James Dyson to set up a engineering apprenticeship establishment together with a catering college) a county showroom, a renewable energy centre producing 45% of Wilts energy requirement the old guard in the disguise of our Tory MP James Grey won the day, we have recently had proposals for two super markets on the outskirts of the town again both put on hold politics played a big part despite both offering employment for 200 people and reduction of travelling for 70% of the town that drive at least 12 miles to shop in super markets in Chippenham.

However the times are a changing through our new Area Board structure and although the back bone of the previous diehard regime has been broken the consequences change are starting to have an effect on attitudes. But we are still ﬁve years away from what I would regard as an open book and forward community lead society.

I tried getting involved in the change process by being the chairman of the local chamber I got sucked into the political swamp, fell foul of not in my back yard people, the blue rinse brigade and I also got fed up with banging my head against a brick wall. So I decided that I had better things to do with my Day. If I had the time and money I would put myself forward because time is what you need and running a business and being a councillor do not mix. July 2012

Written evidence from Councillor Iain Malcolm, Leader of South Tyneside Council (CC 48)

Elected members are at the heart of all we do—from ward members championing their neighbourhoods, and resolving residents’ queries, to cabinet members and committee chairs providing strategic leadership and scrutinising the performance of the council and its partners.

South Tyneside already has a national reputation for its innovative approach to meeting the needs of its residents and its through the knowledge of our members that we have been able to innovate with conﬁdence, in everything from developing a new housing “ALMO”, redesigning area–based services, or launching our strategic partnership with BT.

Despite being amongst the hardest hit local authorities in the country in terms of financial allocations from central government, we are still committed to delivering our vision that South Tyneside will be an outstanding place to live, invest and bring up families. Over the last year, we have made efficiency savings of £35 million (on top of the £20 million in the previous year) with no major service closures. We have now identified a further £20 million for 2012–13. This is an extraordinary level of savings for South Tyneside and it’s thanks to the commitment of our elected members that we’ve achieved it whilst continuing to deliver rapidly improving services to our residents.

Close political and managerial partnership has been key to meeting this challenge. We have established a new strategic forum between members and ofﬁcers to steer the organisation through these major challenges. SLMB (“Strategic Lead Member Brieﬁng”) met for 24 whole morning sessions in 2012—a massive commitment from elected members, and their vision and insight into the priorities of our residents ensured that we made the right decisions when reshaping our services.

These strengths are also mirrored on the ground. In 2006, the IDE&A highlighted South Tyneside as a Beacon Council for the role of Elected Members as Neighbourhood and Community Champions. In 2011, the MJ also recognised us as winner of MJ Achievement Award for Excellence in Democratic Services, and we hosted visits from councils including Cambridge, Sunderland, Newport, Ealing, Hull, and Nottingham, all of whom were keen to learn from our success. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w63

Community Area Forums Our Community Area Forums (CAFs) have existed since 1973 and are our key democratic interface with the public. CAFs are held every six weeks so that local people can find out about what is happening in their area and have a chance to say what they think. All decisions are made by either all elected members at CAF meetings or by the Chair and Vice Chair of the CAF in consultation with the relevant ward members. Each CAF now includes a range of business and community representatives. In 2002 a Members Community Areas Forum Review Steering Group which was established to look at issues affecting CAFs, including the Area Management Initiatives Scheme (finance from the corporate centre allocated to CAFs to spend). Consultation with residents showed the general feeling was that the scheme was valuable with many positive features, particularly the flexibility to respond to local needs with a strong emphasis on local control and member leadership. From 2005–06 CAFs received additional funding, with a strong emphasis on supporting local priorities. Funding was increased by £90,000 to £349,080 with the additional money being allocated chiefly for environmental schemes. Members were encouraged to operate a 70/30 split on environmental/social funding. Forums were able to set CAF specific operating procedures to ensure they retained control of their allocation allowing decisions to be made depending on local needs and priorities. In 2009–10 efficiencies made by South Tyneside Homes provided an additional £600,000 to be reinvested in housing services. The funding was allocated to Forums on the basis of the number of council houses, aimed at providing local neighbourhood solutions to council housing issues. In 2011–12 increased demand for environmental initiatives led to additional funding being allocated to this area. In April 2011 Cabinet agreed the following allocations. — Housing Initiatives Scheme (including increase) £700,000. — Environmental Initiatives Scheme £420,000. — Social Scheme £254,000.

Our Work with Partners through the ST Partnership A strong local partnership framework has always been a key feature within South Tyneside and has provided the foundation for many of our achievements in recent years. Elected members are at the core of that framework, taking an active role in influencing and challenging the range of organisations we work with, to ensure a focus on the priorities that matter most to our residents. There is no longer a requirement for partners to work together under a local strategic partnership and at the end of 2010 we took this opportunity to review our arrangements in the context of the changing political and economic climate. In 2011 we launched a new and invigorated South Tyneside Partnership, which built on the success of previous arrangements, but was reshaped to reflect new priorities and new ways of working. The new partnership is smaller in size and much more focused, with greater effort concentrated on “action not words”. As well as securing the involvement of a number of influential partners in the new arrangements, elected members remain at the heart of the partnership. All cabinet members are represented on at least one of the “priority boards” ensuring democratic accountability across the partnership. The partnership will continue to evolve so that it remains fit for purpose to tackle the challenges we face, but it is already delivering improvements. Progress on key priorities such as safeguarding, high impact families and tackling youth unemployment has firmly established that the new partnership is more joined up than ever before, with partners across the five priority boards recognising their collective responsibility for tackling “wicked issues”. Elected members are key to making the links between the individual boards, back into the council’s activities and with the communities they serve.

InvolvingMoreCouncillors in theDecision-MakingProcess South Tyneside Council has been operating its existing Governance arrangements since the Local Government Act was passed in 2000 with only small changes in subsequent years. As the new Localism Act 2011 gave local authorities the opportunity to review their governance arrangements, we revised the way we worked across each area of the council’s governance structure: — Executive decision-making (cabinet). — Non-executive decision-making (standing committees). — Scrutiny. — Community-level governance (CAFs). A particular focus was to increase member involvement in the commissioning of externally provided services. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w64 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

Commissioning Panels The direction of travel for most councils is for a greater multiplicity of service providers. As we developed our own new “operating model” it was important that elected members were still able to shape the services that the council commissions from third parties, while also holding these providers to account for their performance on behalf of their constituents.

Contracts Performance Panel We established a Contracts Performance Panel (CPP) to provide members with the opportunity to represent the views of the communities they serve and scrutinise the performance of a range of organisations who provide services to South Tyneside Council (including our Strategic Partnership with BT). The purpose of this panel is to: — Agree a work-plan at the start of the year to scrutinise a range of larger contracts (with potential for more focused sub-groups). — Comment on service speciﬁcations to ensure that they are focusing on the outcomes that matter most to South Tyneside residents. — Ensure that all commissioning activity contributes to the council’s commitment to local spend (the “Supply South Tyneside” Initiative). — Provide a sounding board for members on strategic commissioning issues. — Through regular performance reports and service reviews, comment on the effectiveness of commissioned services, with a particular focus on: — Customer satisfaction. — Value for money. The work-programme this Contracts Performance Committee encompasses a range of contracts and partnerships, including: — BT Partnership. — Grounds Maintenance contracts. — Local Education Partnership (school buildings). — Highways Maintenance contracts. — Waste Partnership. — Street Lighting and Highway Signs contract. — Fleet and commercial vehicles. — Adult Residential/Domiciliary Care Care contracts. — Children’s Fostering and Residential care contracts. — Recycling service. — Tyne and Wear Museums partnership. — ITA Transport Contracts. — TEDCO contract. — APCOA parking contracts. The CPP reports directly to South Tyneside Council’s Cabinet, and will have the power to recommend urgent action (including ending contracts) if they consider that the performance of a provider is inadequate, or if demand can be met from other existing services through new models of service delivery.

Housing Performance Panel Given the strategic importance of providing high quality housing for our residents (and the dominance of housing matters in the workload of many elected members), a Housing Performance Panel was also established to provide members with the opportunity to represent the views of the communities they serve and scrutinise the performance of the housing provision we commission externally. The purpose of this panel is to: — Help to shape the priorities in South Tyneside Homes’ Annual Delivery Plan in advance of its agreement by South Tyneside Council’s Cabinet. — Provide a sounding board for broader strategic housing issues, and scrutinise the supply and mix of good quality housing to meet the needs and aspirations of current and future residents. — Through regular performance reports, comment on the effectiveness of housing services against the STH Delivery Plan, as well as other housing support services (including Extra Care, and Supporting People contracts), with an emphasis on: — Customer satisfaction. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w65

— Support for vulnerable tenants — Re-let times and empty properties — Repairs and maintenance — Rent collection — Sustainability of our housing estates The HPP will report directly to South Tyneside Council’s Cabinet, and will have the power to recommend urgent action if they consider that the performance of a housing provider is inadequate.

Existing ScrutinyCommittees These have retained the same powers to scrutinise the discharge of any of the Council’s executive functions, but now have an explicit focus on services delivered “internally” by the council and the performance of other public sector service partners in South Tyneside. In addition to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee our three current scrutiny select committees were consolidated down to two to better reﬂect the council’s structure and priorities:

Overview and Scrutiny, Coordinating and Call in (OSCCI) This Committee has its own separate Chairperson and Vice Chairperson, but will also include the chair and vice-chairs of the two new “People” and “Place” scrutiny select Committees. In addition, OSCCI will: — approve an annual overview and scrutiny programme; — determine which Committee should consider an issue where there is overlap; — scrutinise cross-cutting issues where this is appropriate; — “call-in” decisions made but not yet implemented; — Oversee “corporate” issues (eg ﬁnance, equality and diversity, HR); and — undertake scrutiny of partners.

“People” Scrutiny This committee will have their own separate chair and vice-chair and deal with matters relating to: — Adult and Community Learning. — Adult Safeguarding and Social Care. — Children’s Safeguarding and Social Care. — Family Support. — Fostering and Adoption. — Education and Building Schools for the Future. — Services for Young People. — Health and Wellbeing.

“Place” Scrutiny This committee will have their own separate chair and vice-chair and deal with matters relating to: — Asset Management. — Cultural Services. — Economic Regeneration (including Marketing). — Housing Policy. — Planning, Built Environment, Development & Control. — Regulatory Services (including Trading Standards).

Training forElectedMembers South Tyneside Council is committed to investing in training and development for all its Elected Members. In support of this, the Council has achieved Member Development Charter status and Beacon Status for Elected Members as Community Champions. Our Training and Development Guide offers a range of development opportunities, to ensure that Elected Members have the skills they need to carry out their role effectively. This helps to ensure that Members have the skills necessary to fulfil the following needs: — Individual needs—identified through Personal Development Plans (PDPs). — Committee needs—training necessary to ensure members of specific committees are up to date with current legislation and current issues. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w66 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

— Organisational needs—required to help the Council achieve its vision and priorities. We have a dedicated Training and Development Ofﬁcer who not only organises the training and development, but also carries out annual Personal Development Plan meetings for all Members. We have a cross-party Member Development Group which is chaired by the Deputy Leader and is held bi-monthly. To ensure that newly elected Members can fulﬁl their roles as soon as possible we hold an Induction day; which is partly facilitated by the Chief Executive. This helps Members understand corporate priorities as well as the other key issues to help orientate them in their new role. In addition to this the Leader holds a “Summit” on an annual basis (with prominent national speakers) which gives all Members an opportunity to hear about new initiatives and offers a valuable arena for discussion.

Key Issues for Councillors and Local Authority Governance Elected member demographics—we need to do more ensure that elected members reﬂect the local communities that they serve. We are proud that almost half of our elected members are women, but councillors still tend to be recruited from among the retired/long term sick, and although we are now holding more evening meetings, until greater responsibilities are devolved to councils, more professional people will simply refuse to serve sensing that it is a waste of their time. Remuneration—the current system leads to wide variations in remuneration packages to elected members, and considerable controversy among the public. Local independent panels play a key role, but they would beneﬁt from a national framework to guide them (we used regional analysis to develop our own local remuneration scheme). Criticism of councillors’ allowances would be reduced if remuneration was set and paid via HM Treasury. Getting elected—more people need to be encouraged to stand for the council. Could each candidate have one piece of election literature delivered free by the Royal Mail? Alongside this, an increase in the number of nominee supporters required for a candidate to stand (or the imposition of a modest “deposit”). July 2012

Written evidence from Somerset County Council (CC 49) THE ROLE OF THE COUNCIL AND COUNCILLORS IN “NEW NUCLEAR” Somerset is a large rural County located at the heart of the Southwest with a population of approximately half a million people. Local Government is organised on a two tier basis with the County Council and five district councils. Somerset finds itself in the vanguard of new nuclear development with the first new station proposed to be located in West Somerset District.

1. Summary Somerset County Council, Sedgemoor District Council and West Somerset are statutory consultees for the application by EDF Energy for a Development Consent Order (DCO) allowing the construction of two new nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point C and the associated development. The project will cost in excess of £10 billion and the consequences will affect the communities of Somerset for some 70 to 100 years. This local project is of national significance and is subject to Ministerial and Departmental interest. At the same time, the potential effects on the local community, services, and economy, both now and in the future, are significant and complex. Councillors at all three tiers of local government are actively engaged in the many decisions related to the project. The many opportunities and risks at play in Somerset reflect just how demanding the challenges facing councillors in the 21st century can be. Local councillors are making decisions on behalf of their communities that, it is no exaggeration to say, will have a profound effect on future generations both locally and nationally.

2. Background The proposed site of the power station is in a remote, rural and very sensitive area at the foot of the Quantock Hills which was the first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty nationally. Because of the scale of the project, and the location of the site, the construction phase places an enormous burden on local communities in increased traffic levels, noise and air pollution on roads that were not designed for this volume and weight of traffic. The scale of the project also means there are vast economic opportunities on offer nationally and for surrounding areas if these can be captured. The resource and skills needed to capture what is on offer are fragile and this fragility means there is a danger the benefits may not be fully realised. The scale of the proposed project means there will be many impacts on local communities over the lifespan of the development. For example, there will be a considerable impact on the demand for housing during the build period that impacts on local housing affordability, as well as an impact on demand for health, education cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w67

and other welfare issues. The potential inﬂux of new communities into Somerset raises concerns around social cohesion from including escalation in crime levels such as those associated with prostitution and drugs.

Local authorities are hopeful that they can secure community beneﬁts over and above mitigation of planning issues. However, the community of West Somerset is an older community and many of the beneﬁts will not accrue to the current generation of people that will have to bear the discomfort of the construction phase.

Local authorities must also absorb the cost and human resource burden to engage with Government and EDF energy throughout this complex process. The complexity is increased by the abolition of the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) and introduction of the new National Infrastructure Directorate within the Planning Inspectorate. As statutory consultees, councillors have a responsibility to respond on behalf of their communities to elements of the examination of the application under a relatively new planning process designed to fast track nationally signiﬁcant infrastructure projects such as this one.

The new planning process is untried and untested, and the full impact on councils is as yet unknown. The complexity of the situation is increased by the need for simultaneous planning processes for ancillary works such as the jetty and earth movements. Again local authorities bear the brunt of these requirements.

3. TheChallenge forCouncillors

The scale, scope and subject matter involved in the Hinkley Point C project mean this is new territory for councillors. The complex and interlinked set of local and national issues combined with often very different public opinions on the beneﬁts of nuclear energy have made this a huge task for councillors to take on.

Members needed to understand the implications—positive and negative—of the project and the 10-year construction period to be able to inform their communities and feed back any emerging concerns.

As well as informing themselves of the relevant details of the project itself—the application documents for the £10 billion scheme ran to some 55,000 pages—members had to become acquainted with a new planning process which relies heavily on written submissions and web-based information.

This was further complicated in the case of Hinkley Point C because the applicant applied for planning permission under the Town and Country Planning Act for part of the project to allow an early start on site before the Development Consent Order (DCO) was considered. It also applied to another organisation, the Marine Management Organisation for consent to build a temporary jetty.

As statutory consultees, the local authorities affected by the development were invited to submit a Local Impact Report (LIR) to the examining panel. They were not obliged to do this but the brief for the panel is to weigh the national need for the project in the balance with the anticipated local impact when reaching its decision. The quality of the evidence in the LIR would be vital and much of the evidence would come from the communities through their elected representatives.

As well as working with local communities, the council will be interacting with different government departments—the Departments for Energy and Climate Change, Communities and Local Government, Business Innovation and Skills, and HM Treasury—and Ministers, all with differing drivers and no joined-up approach, meaning the work of the council becomes yet again more complex as it balances local needs with national direction.

At the local level all three tiers of local government are involved. They all have strong views, and these views are not always the same. A vibrant local democracy helps ensure that the decisions taken will be the right ones for Somerset, however it adds another layer of complexity to an already complicated situation.

The weight of responsibility on councillors to understand the issues at play, accurately represent them to their residents, and then balance the needs of different communities when making far-reaching decisions should not be underestimated. They are at the heart of decisions that will affect not just their local area, but the national economy, for decades to come.

Councillors are elected representatives of their communities. They are not chosen on the expertise or knowledge about nuclear power, but as the best candidate for their division or ward. For many, the tasks they are now undertaking are far outside what they might reasonably have expected to deal with when they stood for election.

The example of Hinkley Point C demonstrates just how much the role of the councillor is changing, and the complexity and importance of the decisions they are responsible for. It is vital that councillors receive the support they need to ensure the best outcomes for local communities are achieved. July 2012 cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w68 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

Written evidence from Cllr Lynda Jones (CC 50) Why did I run and what are my impressions? What would I change? My name is Lynda Jones I am a local councillor for Cheshire West and Chester in the Winsford Over and Verdin Ward. I am a conservative and share my ward with two labour councillors. I am 50 years old married with three children aged 20, 11 and 6. I had a previous career in Recruitment, Contract Cleaning, sales and manufacturing before I became a housewife in 2006. I ran for election for the first time in May 2010. A few years ago I became involved in the campaign against a waste incineration facility in Northwich through an ex colleague of my husbands. Working and lobbying to help try to prevent this made me want to be able to help the local person’s voice heard. On top of my ability to get this done locally in discussions with my council made me feel that I could add some value locally. At this point it is worth noting that I had NEVER been involved in any local politics, had never been a member of a political party and understood nothing about how political system worked and the influencing skills required, aside from watching back episodes of Yes Minister. What I did have was a reasonably successful career in business which had been continuously interrupted by my requirement to support my spouse as he travelled from job to job and built his career through the eighties and nineties. I was solid commercially, had an inbuilt capability to negotiate, driven to achieve targets and drive for results the usual business stuff that people discuss at interviews. I had been on maternity leave and decided that a five year sabbatical I would turn to a new path and egged on by some friends entered the political arena in earnest. Following a selection meeting I was put for forward as a candidate by the Conservative party for Winsford. I chose the Conservatives not through any deep seated political motive only that they closely reflected what my views and background was—if you work hard you should succeed and be rewarded. My family came from a working class West Lothian Scottish background totally labour and my father and mother would turn in their grave if they could now see me as one of Thatcher’s children turning out in Thatcher’s blue. However path chosen I turned to the campaign and strategy.....what a bizarre experience that was. I was handed over to the local team who were undoubtedly driven and motivated towards their cause and ideals however explanatory notes and an overarching strategy were a little thin on the ground. The overwhelming message was that the Liberal Democrats were the issue and that campaigning should start in late March for the May election. I ignored the advice and started my campaign in early February and armed with batches of leaflets and maps I took to the streets and walked ... and talked and walked. I will not bore you with the next two months however during that time it became apparent that local council elections are fought on a team of 3 and that Labour was the incumbents not the Lib Dems. On 5 May 2011 I was voted in by seven votes, my two partners narrowly missed out and I was returned for Winsford with two Labour local councillors who had been in situ for a while. Then it was down to business and creating an agenda to make a difference ... at this point I should state that you would not take local politics seriously if you had to make a living out of it and my first year with a crammed diary was manic. What you instantly notice is that local politics is a bit like life and a normal job there are those who contribute and work very hard and there are those who get elected to obtain the badge and then do absolutely nothing ... and I mean nothing ... but they will remain nameless. Back to my working hours, I was doing 50hrs plus a week plus weekends and evenings and calls and letters for 11k per anum ... I was being asked to make decisions on serious issues for £4 an hour ... I had wrangles over child care payments for my 5 and 11 year old … the objective has to be the creation of a system that rewards representation of the community but also encourages participation and at the same time does not discriminate against minority groups. The current system is not designed to reward results, value adding participation or to encourage representation from underrepresented groups. Racism has been brought back into focus on the football pitches of the UK in the last year and it still slow burns in local politics. Women who cannot get full reimbursed expenses for childcare will not bring a new housewife faction racing into politics. However the main enemy of local politics is those who are elected to add real value and experience in the majority of cases do not. Probably shocked with the level of responsibility, or simply victims of a voting system, that is designed around party lines or a nice surname not on the capability of the individual. I have seen the broad spectrum of this in just 12 months, from the kid that gets elected and has no experience of life, to the individuals who want to be invisible and add nothing, to the people in all parties who do not even seem to believe in their own parties’ agenda or politics. Or the paper candidates put forward that don’t even want to be involved. My final issue is with the local press ... just shows my naivety when I stepped up for the role, I thought that reporting would be fair and balanced, I thought that press would be run on local stories and achievements, sadly this is not the case, I live and work in a Labour dominated area the newspaper wants to print stories with a pro Labour bias. If Labour do nothing and add no value they still get a good press that perpetuates the myth cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w69

and recreates the ﬂawed system. They always want to berate new ideas or policies however never have any plausible alternatives.

What would I change if I was painting a new canvas? — Briefing packs and inductions for all prospective candidates that outlined their mission and their responsibilities. — Payment on results on attendance and visibility. I would have less representatives and increase payments but still make an overall saving. Two per ward opposed to three. I would also limit the terms a councillor can stand for to ensure turnover and fresh ideas but this introduction should be staggered. — Payments to councillors based on overall council performance vs. its mission and targets. — Improved payments will bring in better quality candidates. However in balance powers need to be given to Chief Execs of councils to warn Councillors that are not participating and performing duties to the required standard. — Review the requirement for town councillors ... it seems one layer too many. — Ensure the number of women candidates and minority groups had larger representations at elections. — Have Councillors who live in their own area—it so important it is so locally focused. — Have each Councillor outline their achievements and credentials and age on the polling booths. No party would want to potentially stop new candidates who do not have a record a suggested alternative for those would be that they make promises and are able to demonstrate if they have achieved them. — Ensure the local press report on issues and achievements not simply on party lines. — To ensure you are eligible you should sit a test, set by their local Council, this will help to identify suitability and commitment. If you were not driven and motivated to serve this would help to sort out the true candidates from the time wasters. Tax payers want and deserve to have the best working on their behalf. You would not let a person loose on the roads without a passed driving license, why would you then let them serve in local government and not only pay them public money but allow them to influence spend of public money without testing their suitability to serve. In summary I have enjoyed my time as a Councillor despite the challenges I have a leader who rewards effort and bases his decisions on performance but this could be unique. We have a great opportunity to make a difference however that difference needs to be a collective effort by the whole team across party boundaries. My goal is to make Winsford and Whitegate better, safer and enjoyable and advantageous to live in ... that is a universal goal but the system is not focused on that outcome. Will I stand again in three years time, yes I will, however my husband provides financial support to enable me to operate effectively and why I say operate effectively I mean that you have to put at least 50 hours a week into this role, beyond that you need to work at home both responding to correspondence and answering queries. You have to be visible, approachable and reachable ... if you cannot do these things you will not make an impact. You also to have an effective contribution at meetings, forums and events and to do this you need a level of life and work experience which will allow you to add value ... again you need to have these skills and knowledge to make a difference. Overall I enjoy the experience, I love helping individuals and groups and providing guidance, leadership and insight and I have found it a life enhancing experience. July 2012

Supplementary written evidence from Cllr Lynda Jones (CC 50a) It is difficult to substantiate the real impact that Cheshire West and Chester Council has made upon electorate representation. It is likely that electorate representation is a reflection of the actual selection processes within each of the political parties themselves, which is outside the influence of the Council. However, there are a number of actions that the Council has undertaken since April 2009 in order to support members in their role to engage with their communities, including “hard to reach” groups such as women, young people and ethnic minorities.

Leadership and Direction The Council has embraced the equality and diversity agenda and raised its proﬁle by having the Leader of the Council as its Portfolio Holder. The Council has a pro-active Equality and Diversity Member Champion that works closely with minority communities, supporting very visible events across the borough. There is a clear message to all minority groups that the Council wants to engage with them and will give them a voice. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w70 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

One of the Council’s key priorities is to narrow the gap between our most and least disadvantaged communities. In order to achieve this we ensure that equality monitoring and impact analysis is carried out and barriers to opportunity for a range of communities covering race, disability, rural, geography, age, sexual orientation, gender and religion and belief, are considered and addressed. In July 2011 the Council was awarded the “Achieving” Level of the Equality Framework for Local Government. Following a Peer Assessment the Council was complimented for being able to embed a culture of inclusivity and meeting customer needs into its new structures and ethos. The Council was able to provide many examples of a proactive approach to equality, consultation, involvement and inclusion. These included engagement with partners, establishing reference groups with individuals described as having a protected characteristic in accordance with the Equality Act 2010 and good internal and external communication channels. The very successful “Everybody In” campaign has enabled the Council to raise awareness of equality and diversity issues across the whole community, including employees and elected members, to challenge discrimination and prejudice.

Member Engagement The Council has significantly invested in member training and development and offers a varied training programme overseen by a Member Group (the Chairman of this is also the Equality and Diversity Member Champion). Training is offered at different times of the day and in different formats, for example online training, face-to-face, mentoring, external courses and in-house training delivered by officers. There are also a series of induction sessions held for new members, designed to ensure they can “hit the ground running” but not be bombarded with information. All members are offered an annual Personal Development Plan (PDP) interview to discuss their training needs and aspirations in a supportive environment. The Member Support Team has a dedicated hotline telephone number and email address and provides an administrative and signposting service to all members. This includes ordering equipment, organising travel, inputting expense claims and assisting members with who to contact to resolve ward issues. The team also operate a “help desk” prior to each full Council meeting. The majority of Council and Committee meetings are arranged at times to enable working people to attend and expenses to cover, albeit the rules do detract from this by the taxing of actual costs claimed for childcare. For informal meetings such as Scrutiny Task Groups, teleconferencing is used. Most meetings are webcast, allowing members to keep abreast of issues without having to attend meetings as visiting members and enabling members to watch a webcast live or at a time that suits them. The use of ICT and Social Media has been successful and the Council offers one-on-one training on the use of social media, primarily Facebook and Twitter, to enable members to communicate with residents in a way that fits in with their lives. Blackberry’s and other ICT equipment/solutions are offered to allow members to communicate whilst on the move. I hope you find this information useful. Councillor Lynda Jones October 2012

Written evidence from Christopher Padley (CC 51) 1. Executive Summary The submitter was a Town Councillor for over 25 years. He found the experience more frustrating than rewarding and feels that, having put in a great deal of effort into trying to make a council work, that he has insights into why many do not, and has two recommendations born from experience he wishes the committee to consider.

2. MyProﬁle asSubmitter 2.1 I was a Town Councillor for Market Rasen in Lincolnshire from the May 1986 to May 2011. Town Council are only equivalent to parish councils, but they vary enormously in the size of the town they serve. Market Rasen is a very small town, with only about 3,000 electors, but very much a market town rather than a village in character. It employs only one full time person—its clerk. I originally stood for the council in 1986 after being approached by the old Liberal Party. On its dissolution prior to the formation of the Liberal Democrat party I joined the Green Party. After that I re-stood as a Green Party candidate although around the same time parties ceased to play any formal role on the council and all members acted effectively as independents. 2.2 I was born and brought up in the same town and, although my career took me away from it for part of my life, I have been someone who felt committed to my home town. 2.3 I was also, for four years, one of the parish council-members of the district council’s (West Lindsey District Council) Standards Committee, under the recently abolished local government standards legislation. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w71

2.4 I decided not to re-stand at the 2011 elections. My reasons were as follows:

3. Reasons for notRe-standing 3.1 A minor factor was changed personal circumstances, a move of home and more of my work activity being away from the town. Also, I had been a councillor for a very long time and I was becoming jaded. However, the major factor was the increased feeling that being a councillor was a futile business, and that it is almost impossible to achieve anything worthwhile on a local council, and certainly nothing proportional to the cost to the public purse. I feel it should not be like this, for we do need some form of local government at this level. To explain: 3.2 There was is lack of interest in the council on the part of the electorate. In over 25 years, I only faced two contested elections, and then there were no more than 14 candidates for the 12 places on the council. Voter turn out has been correspondingly low. In addition numerous casual vacancies have occurred at which either no election was called, or there was no contest. Vacancies have increasingly had to be filled by co-option. This situation has left the council easy to join. It only requires two nominations for a person to fill an uncontested seat at parish level, while in the case of co-option pressure to fill vacancies from the local deputy returning officer leads often leads the council to accept whoever is offering. 3.3 The result of all this is a council whose members too often have little knowledge or understanding of how local government works, a poor level of general education, and no experience of working purposefully on any kind of committee. The shortage of capable people results in too much work or responsibility being piled on a few. This would not be such a problem were it not that small town councils are too small to have proper officer support. They lack legal advice, while even the simplest questions of good administrative practice and proper procedure (matters a member of a parliamentary committee would probably regard as day to day routine) leave both members and the clerk floundering to understand. 3.4 A vicious circle has long ago set in, where once the council is seen to be functioning badly and rather than this inspiring people to stand for election and help sort it out, this has the opposite effect, and instead people say they don’t want to be associated with such a body of people. 3.5 A further problem in recruiting candidates is the changed nature of rural society, this being a country market town. Fifty years ago, a town like this contained the full range of social groups, from manual labourers, through the trades and to the professions. Now, thanks to the car, rural villages and small towns have differentiated in the same manner as urban suburbs. Professional people now commute from a “posh” village where most inhabitants are well off. The shopkeepers no longer live over the shop, but also commute in, while the town has become largely a low-income area. A hundred years ago, the old Urban District Council (which of course had much wider responsibilities) had a local solicitor as its part-time clerk, and members from a variety of trades and professions. Now, the clerk is a person with basic secretarial skills, no lawyer lives in the town, and the councillors are mostly retired newcomers who bring no “corporate memory” to local problems. 3.6 A factor discouraging interest in the local council is its lack of powers. People care most about the big issues; education, road repairs, policing, etc. They know the parish or town council can do little about these. It has influence of course, with the principal authorities, and should act as a conduit of communication with them. This role is weakened by a lack of skills and knowledge of the council’s members, especially when it results in failure to pursue matters consistently, as it often does. Officers of the higher authority soon tire of being receiving conflicting or unclear requests. Another vicious circle operates because, if lack of power results in lack of public interest, and lack of public interest results in poor performance, then poor performance results in reluctance to give the council more power. 3.7 Another problem is that when it becomes too easy to join the council, it enables people with small- community petty grudges to become councillors. I am quite sure that this happened more than once on our council, where someone joined solely in order to spoil the projects of an existing councillor, not because they thought the project was a bad idea, but because they didn’t want their foe to gain credit for achieving something. You may imagine how frustrating this is to the rest of us.

4. Local standards committees 4.1 I hope the committee will be interested in my views on the short-lived regime of local standards. I was a strong supporter of the introduction of a scheme to control and regulate the behaviour of local councillors or local councils, and believe the compulsory standards scheme had a strong beneﬁcial effect. There was much concern when it was introduced because many parish and town councillors decided not to re-stand at that time, creating a shortage. I believe that these were largely people jumping before they were pushed, and councils were better off without them, 4.2 The grudge-bearing spoilers I refer to above are only one type of character frightened off by a standards regime. However, I feel the now repealed law addressed the wrong part of the problem. It imposed standards, and provided an avenue of complaint, for councillors, but not councils at the parish and town level. 4.3 Town and parish councils frequently deviate from the legally proper course of action, and there is no means of redress below judicial review. These actions can often cause harm and waste of public money. More cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w72 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

often than not, the loss and harm falls on the community as a whole, and no one individual is ever likely to have the means and motives to seek redress for the community in the courts. A system by which the public can raise complaints of unlawful actions by local councils to a higher authority is badly needed. An effective system of monitoring and handling complaints would, should greatly improve the performance of small councils by indirectly supporting and therefore attracting councillors who are honest and have the wherewithal to understand the need for lawful procedures and a proper and open way of doing things.

5. EmploymentDisputes 5.1 One of the most frustrating things about my time as a councillor was the number employment disputes we were involved in, and the very poor way the council handled them. I would very much like to expand on this, but feel it would take too long, and this is not the place to go into details. It may be enough to say that I feel local councils are caught in a trap between the now-ancient laws under which they are founded—essentially the 1897 local government act, and much of modern employment and health and safety law. I have no complaints with the latter, but local councils are notably bad at administering them because they have so little access to good professional advice. 5.2 All of the above add up to the experience of willing councillors becoming one of intense frustration at the difﬁculty of making any progress, and the repeated waste of time and public money on projects and schemes that never make any progress. People join councils wanting to make a difference and ﬁnd they cannot, but are spending a lot of taxpayers money doing nothing.

6. Recommendations 6.1 I would like to end with two suggestions born from long experience. 6.2 The clerks of parish and small town councils should be employed by the district or unitary council of the area and form a pool of trained personnel, comparable to the committee services clerks. This would ensure the clerks were properly trained and qualiﬁed. It would enable cover to be provided in events of illness or other reasons.. It would give them independence from bullying. It would enable employment disputes to be handled professionally without effectively decapitating a small council. 6.3 An independent system for handling complaints of procedural illegality on the part of parish and town councils should be introduced. This could, I believe, be adequately dealt with by the monitoring ofﬁcer of the district or unitary authority if they were given the power. 6.4 Those two reforms would give a huge moral boost to decent councillors and would-be councillors, and thereby encourage more motivated and able people to stand. July 2012

Written evidence from David Hill (CC 52) I have been interested in being involved in my local community in some capacity for many years, since my interaction with, and interest in the wide range of people with whom I came into contact during my time as a retail business owner in Exeter. Since relocating firstly to Bovey Tracey and then to Newton Abbot in South Devon, I actively pursued being a local councillor. However, partly as a result of other activities, such as representing mental health issues both locally, and as a service user on a consultative group working with social work students at Plymouth University, I found my time more than well utilised. Having said that, with a little more local political awareness and at least an acknowledgement of my existence by the Teignbridge MP, I may well have followed this interest. What has become apparent in the last few years, is that despite positive noises made by establishment organisations, Mental Health and/or disability issues remain a major concern awaiting resolution. I gave a talk some years ago to BA Hons students at Plymouth titled White Stick Syndrome, in which they were invited to identify what they believed to be presenting factors in four people at the front of the lecture theatre. One had hearing aids, one a white stick and dark glasses, another in a wheelchair and still another merely standing by the others. The responses were fairly predictable, namely, the first person is deaf/has hearing issues, the second blindness/sight issues, the third “some kind of disability”, and the fourth was probably a friend or supporter of one of the other three. In actual fact, all had mental health problems in addition to the obvious disabilities exhibited by three of them. The fourth had severe Bipolar Disorder and was more potentially ill than the others. This exercise demonstrated an unfortunate truism in society generally, namely, the inability of those who most need identification and support to attract it effectively. It is interesting that on the list of people currently under represented on some local authorities, ranging from young people, women, black and ethnic minorities through to disabled people, no mention is made of anyone who could represent mental health awareness issues. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w73

Anyone who has been through the whole diagnosis, treatment, recovery and resolution process in mental health would be expertly placed to represent the views of those whose areas of experience lay within these fields. My wife and I are currently in process of relocating to North Devon, to support her recently widowed father. This will necessitate a fairly drastic reappraisal and reduction of, my voluntary activities. For instance my work with students will need to be modified to permit significant but limited interaction. I will therefore, be redefining my interest in local affairs and activities such as they impact on where we live. I hope to take as full a part in local community activities as possible. This could extend to being available to stand as a local councillor if appropriate. I am aware that choosing such a course of action not only comes from an innate desire to be useful/helpful ,but a recognition by those one seeks to represent that they feel this would be of value. This can only be established once the move is made. July 2012

Written evidence from Suzanne Fletcher (CC 53) I am sorry this submission is late, I have only just found out about the consultation now via a friend at the WEA. I hadn’t heard anything from the Council I used to serve. I was a Councillor of nearly 30 years, having been elected in a by election in 1981, when I was 36 years old, and had a teenage child. I retired in May 2011. Whilst it was a huge privilege to represent the people of my ward, and much was achieved for both individuals, the local and wider community I was relieved to have retired, and find it difficult to recommend such service to others. For the whole of the time I was a Councillor I was in a “minority minority” group, and although I was Mayor for a year, I only ever had the opportunity for any position of any influence, as a chair of a select committee for a year. My reasons for not being happy with being a Councillor: 1. Inability to be any part of setting an agenda. Only the party in power, and the more powerful of those, had influence of what was scrutinised, discussed, or had a say in what policies would be formulated. This was very frustrating as a representative of a community whose needs could never be dealt with in the proper way, and imagination and hard work was the only way of getting any issues raised. 2. Inability to do scrutiny properly. The whole scrutiny process was dominated by officer set procedures which were lengthy, and tied the hands of the committee. Recommendations were only allowed if the Cabinet member agreed to them, so there was no real opportunity for constructive challenge. 3. Skills which I had, and able to be used in other fields, were not able to be used for the simple reason I was of an opposition party. It was frustrating. 4. Training by the Council was centred on what they wanted us to know and to do, not on the needs we had to best represent our constituents. 5. Recognition for ideas and work was never given. Ward Councillors of opposition parties were never allowed to be in an official press release, even on issues in our own wards where we had worked hard to achieve things. Raising an issue with a Council officer led, if successful, to a press release quoting the Cabinet member as taking the initiative. 6. Not being in perfect health was not taken into account. Meetings in uncomfortable chairs are thankfully something of the past now I am retired from the Council. As are painful walks at times, and some difficult venues. 7. When I was younger, with a teenager to be responsible for, there was no allowance or tolerance for not being able to make some meetings with difficult timings. 8. Finance would have been a complete barrier in the early days before we had a basic allowance instead of attendance allowance, if I had not had a husband in a good job that could afford to subsidise my Council activities. After nearly 30 years of service I have a pension of around £900 a year. Again I can afford to live as my husband’s pension is greater, but it is important that lack of financial back up does not deter those willing to serve who do not have such support from a partner. This does not read as though I had a happy time. I did enjoy the work, and as I said it was a privilege. I loved the people and working for the community and had an excellent working relationship with many council officers, as well as friendships, some of which continue with those of other political parties. However I find I can achieve a lot more effectively in the community now released from the constraints of the Council. August 2012 cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w74 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

Written evidence from the Association of Democratic Services Ofﬁcers (ADSO) (CC 54) 1. Introduction 1.1 This submission will highlight the training, development and support being provided by local authorities to councillors and prospective councillors. It will look at member development budgets, development programmes, good practice and case studies and put forward a number of suggestions for improving the provision. 1.2 The evidence will cover the following questions: (a) Have member development budgets been ring fenced in recent years? (b) What are Councils currently doing to support members? Is it “ﬁt for purpose” given their changing roles? (c) What could be done differently? (d) What is being done to support people thinking of standing in local elections?

2. About the Association of Democratic Services Ofﬁcers (ADSO) ADSO is the professional body representing all staff who work in Democratic Services, encompassing councillor support, executive, area committees and scrutiny. We currently have over 900 members across 220 authorities. ADSO’s aim is to provide a voice, guidance and best practice for the sector, as well as professional development and qualiﬁcations to those who work in democracy roles in local government and other related organisations.

3. Have member development budgets been ring fenced in recent years? 3.1 From a survey of 52 authorities across England, evidence shows that 38 have ring fenced their budgets for member development in recent years. Seven have increased them and seven have reduced them. Some councils “top load” their budgets in the year following elections for induction purposes. We know also that a number of councils even with relatively small budgets do not spend their allocation year on year. 3.2 This however only tells us part of the story. Increases, reductions or the status quo do not tell us whether authorities and members are getting value for money and whether programmes are relevant to the modern day councillor. We need to dig deeper to look at what the budgets are being spent on and whether they are linked to the authorities’ objectives, the delivery of services and the needs of members both corporately and individually. 3.3 Nor do the figures tell us whether staffing support in relation to member development has been reduced. ADSO’s experience is that it has. National and regional associations are cutting back on their member support roles. Staff numbers are being reduced within local authorities, posts are being merged and there is undoubtedly less staffing support for member development than previously. One council in the south of England has advised us: “We have been largely untouched by budget reductions over the last few years. Although staff resources available to manage member development have been depleted over the same period. From the equivalent of one Service manager with specific responsibility, plus an organisational development officer and admin support, we are now down to part of an officer’s time with admin support being provided within my members’ services team…”. In ADSO’s experience, this is not uncommon. 3.4 Whilst attributed to budget cuts, this could also be seen as a reflection on the priority (or that lack of it) which some councils afford to member development. ADSO is happy to undertake further research for the Committee on this subject if that would help. 3.5 The mechanisms authorities have in place to allocate funding are important too. For example, some councils do not have a structured or formal process in place for prioritising and allocating funds for their development programmes. It is almost a case of who shouts the loudest being given priority or it is officer driven. Some on the other hand have a more planned approach and allocate funding on a cross party basis to ensure equality of access. ADSO feels that members must take a more proactive role in this regard to ensure quality and access to development opportunities. 3.6 To cut costs, development sessions are being reduced in length. We have evidence to show that an increasing number of councils are asking for training to be curtailed into two hour sessions or less. This can lead to some sessions being rushed or incomplete, thus reducing their effectiveness, particularly in relation to skills development.

4. What’s currently provided in terms of member development and support? Is it “ﬁt for purpose” given their changing roles? 4.1 Member development is provided in many ways nationally, regionally and locally. The Local Government Association (LGA) for example runs the national Leadership Academy which is now recognised by the Institute cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w75

of Leadership and Management. The LGA in partnership with regional employers’ organisations holds regional events free of charge aimed particularly at newly elected councillors. The same organisations also for example provide events to explain community budgeting and to explore its implications and benefits to councillors as community leaders and facilitators. 4.2 Regional employers’ organisations administer the member development charter which accredits councils as good practice providers. Councils are encouraged to commit to the charter. Evidence shows that charter councils have better motivated and supported councillors. Also, there are clearer links between development and the achievement of corporate strategic priorities within such councils. 206 councils in England are committed to achieving or have achieved the charter. 4.3 ADSO is already seeing a reduction in provision in all the above areas as budget cuts bite and organisations such as the above are forced to downsize. This is placing more pressure on local councils to fill the gaps and is proving a high risk to effective member development. 4.4 Locally, member development and support will vary depending on the culture of the authorities and the priority they place on such programmes. More and more are providing these programmes in-house, primarily for budgetary reasons, perhaps calling on external providers only if the expertise is not available internally. This has many advantages, but hearing an alternative view from an external expert or a “good practice” authority can add value to the development of members. So a “mix and match” approach is, in our view, preferable. Good practice authorities will involve members in identifying development needs, drawing up suitable programmes and reviewing them afterwards to shape and improve future events. This is crucial to the success of any development programme. 4.5 From our experience, there are various components of member development. These can include: — personal skill development of councillors relevant to what the general role entails (eg time management, speed reading, presentation skills, casework management); — skill development for specific councillor roles (eg chairing, leadership, finance); — corporate or organisational requirements (eg code of conduct, regulatory, diversity, recruitment); — knowledge based (key areas of legislation); — political group requirements (how to be a good party councillor); — council service awareness/briefing sessions; — conference attendance; and — mentoring/buddying. 4.6 Examples of good practice are as follows. In the appendix to our submission, we expand on some of these by way of brief case studies. — Events focussing on developing members as community leaders and identifying the skill sets required—emphasising the role of a “front-line councillor” as opposed to a “backbencher”. — Ward walks for new councillors, with officers, to increase understanding and knowledge in their wards, particularly those issues of most interest to local residents. — Holding ward surgeries in supermarkets, shopping centres and other busy public places—again helping members to increase their profile as well as improving their knowledge of wards and constituents. — Experiential development for members—through scrutiny reviews for example, members can experience council services first hand both from the customer and service provider perspectives. — Council “market places” where departments display their services for members to see the what’s provided and engage with key staff. — Personal development programmes for members—identifying key skills previously acquired and agreeing a programme of future development needs. — E training modules enabling councillors to fit their development into their already busy lives. — Focussing member development on key local issues to enable members to better recognise and reflect the needs of their residents. This can include enabling and empowering residents to address local issues themselves. — Phased and varied induction programmes over a longer period to enable members to better absorb the information they require. — Accredited qualifications in leadership—nationally recognised at foundation degree level. — Member development charters. — Inter and cross council mentoring/partnering. 4.7 National and regional associations plus local councils are working hard to reflect the changing roles of members in their development programmes. In the authorities surveyed, there was an emphasis not only on essential knowledge required to be a councillor, but also on the “softer” skills necessary for successful community leaders such as communication, listening, networking, dealing with challenging situations/people, cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w76 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

negotiating, facilitating, managing and ensuring change, plus team building skills. The skills of a particular councillor do not always suit the role they have been given by their political groups. This creates additional challenges for member development with members often required to “learn on the job in Committee” with support from Democratic Services Ofﬁcers. Members also have much more statistical and demographic information available at their disposal relating to their wards and authority, giving them a much better understanding of the areas and people they represent. This can include for example health, crime, education and housing statistics. 4.8 So, in ADSO’s view, local authorities, plus national and regional associations, are trying to recognise the changing roles of councillors and the increased knowledge and skills they require. Many are working hard to ensure that their (often) small budgets stretch as far as possible. However, member development is no longer “ﬁt for purpose” in too many authorities and more can and should be done.

5. What could be done differently? 5.1 Despite the good practice identified above, it is ADSO’s view that member development is still very traditional in some areas and not as effective as it should be. Whilst there may still be a requirement for this traditional approach in some cases, there needs to be a shift in culture for members to respond to the challenges and emerging roles brought about for example by the Localism agenda and Act 2011. 5.2 The traditional “face to face” classroom type sessions do not work in many instances. We all have examples where only a handful of members have turned up even after members themselves have requested the training. This even happens when training is free. This is becoming a real problem for local authorities. It is not only poor value for money but equally sessions are of less value for those few members who do attend. 5.3 Development should be more targeted. Those who need it most often don’t receive it. Members also need to be clearer as to what they want to get out of the training they attend. Co-ordinated and planned programmes, responding to identified need and driven by members, are required. 5.4 Authorities need to be more creative in the type of development they provide. Methods that suit the modern day councillor and the busy lives they lead will be much more effective. More use should be made of social media and on-line resources. A number of Councils have e learning for officers but, in our experience, this is yet to be rolled out in any numbers for councillors. We have seen examples of top quality use of modern day technology but they are very much the exception rather than the rule. Tools already in place (such as the LGA councillor workbooks) are a good starting point but on-line learning can be used to much greater effect. Too often, it is left to individual members with a particular interest in social media or technology to “do it themselves”. 5.5 Development in whatever form is not sufficient in itself. Councils must then be prepared to support members to put their increased skills and knowledge into practice. Some of the good practice examples above (ward walks, surgeries in public places and experiencing front line service delivery) help to achieve this. 5.6 Many councillors want better training in matters relating to their ward work and helping them be more effective “on the ground”. Some councils have regarded this type of development as part of the political process and therefore have left it to the political parties. Plus member development is too often seen as supporting the internal decision making process rather than the ward councillor role. ADSO feels that this is an important element of a member’s development and should be prioritised by authorities. 5.7 More use should be made of cross authority training. Members in our view would benefit from sharing experiences and skills with colleagues from other councils. This already happens to good effect in parts of the country but it could and should be more widespread. It could also drive down costs whether provided in-house or externally. This is even more relevant now that councils are looking to share services and maximise value for money. 5.8 Commissioning of member development could also be more effective and provide better value for money. Not enough competitive procurement takes place. More councils should adhere to the following simple steps: — identify need; — agree the best way of meeting this need; — write specification; — identify suitable providers; and — select the best ones through a competitive process. 5.9 There also needs to be better evaluation of development sessions and improved organisational learning as a result. Members attend expensive conferences for example but the knowledge and information they gain is not shared within the authority. Similarly, it’s surprising how many councils fail to evaluate the effectiveness of the sessions they provide. They should be asking: — Were the sessions what members wanted? — What difference has it made to the individual receiving the training? — What benefits are accruing to the council? cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w77

5.10 Unless councils evaluate their member development effectively, they cannot say whether they are receiving value for money. 5.11 Championing member development from leading political ﬁgures within an authority can improve both provision and take up. Those councils who have member champions and a member group charged with member development responsibilities, tend to be those who are more successful. 5.12 Councillors should look for 360o feedback from partner organisations, peers and the public. Councils and councillors should make better use of the Political Skills Framework when selecting councillors; for personal development planning; and appraisals. Appraisal of councillor performance should become an integral part of the role, linked to a role proﬁle.

6. What is being done to support people thinking of standing in local elections? 6.1 Traditionally, recruiting and preparing people to stand in local council elections was seen in the main as the responsibility of the political parties. Now however Councils see themselves as having a legitimate role in: — issuing publicity in advance of elections; — engaging with prospective candidates; — explaining the election “do’s and don’ts”; and — setting out members’ duties, responsibilities and support services if and when they are elected. 6.2 Many councils hold “be a councillor” campaigns or events often in Local Democracy week to highlight the above and encourage people to come forward. 6.3 Publicity is often targeted in particular at the under-represented sections of the community to encourage members of those communities to think about standing for public ofﬁce. It can also be broadened out to include information about standing for election as school governors, tenants associations or getting involved in volunteering generally. Youth parliaments and school councils are also used to engage with young people who, by their very involvement in such organisations, may have interests and ambitions to be councillors or holders of other public ofﬁces.

7. Conclusion 7.1 ADSO welcomes the opportunity to present this evidence to the Select Committee. Our research has shown that much good work is taking place in member development. In the main, budgets have been protected from recent cuts in expenditure but staffing support has been reduced, significantly in some cases. Much more can be done to ensure value for money and to meet the needs of the modern day councillor and we have given some pointers as to how this can be achieved. 7.2 In the current climate, some may see member development as a luxury. ADSO believes that it is essential to ensure we have first class representatives with the skills and support to undertake their challenging roles for the benefit of their citizens. 7.3 We hope this submission is helpful to the Committee and we would be pleased to assist your work in the future. September 2012

APPENDIX CASE STUDIES 1. CouncilA Complementing ward information packs, one authority arranged ward walks for each new councillor elected in the May 2010 elections. Each informal ward walk, led by senior officers from across the council, was designed to give the new councillors a chance to better understand the dynamics of their ward, particular issues those residents may be facing, and learn about any past issues that may influence future developments the councillor may wish to champion. Following each walk, officers provided follow-up information to all the questions councillors raised during the walk. All who went on these walks rated them very highly for the insight they provided at the start of their new term in council. Importantly, both the officers and councillors also believed these ward walks provided strong foundations for successful on-going partnerships for the good of the borough and its residents.

2. CouncilB This Council undertook a review of community transport in their area (Dial a Ride etc). Councillors had received a number of complaints about a poor service. As part of the review, some members travelled on a cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w78 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

community transport mini bus on its journey to collect elderly people to attend a luncheon club. In transit, they spoke to the users of the service as well as the driver. Some of the findings included: — Late pick ups were common as the bus got held up in traffic. — Delays meant that some elderly users were sitting on the bus for two hours or more—sometimes in very hot weather. — The driver felt under pressure and de-motivated as he saw first hand the effect this was having on service users.

As well as making recommendations for improvement, members learned a great deal by seeing ﬁrst hand the service in operation and talking to those most affected. Post review evaluation showed that this was much more beneﬁcial to their development and produced a better outcome for both the service users and the providers.

3. CouncilC

A major success of one Council’s recent induction programme was the “market place” where Council departments manned stalls displaying their services—Members were asked to visit each stall and engage with ofﬁcers and then vote on which stall they felt was best. Ofﬁcer and members both enjoyed this opportunity to interact and network, often resolving issues picked up on the members’ election campaigns. Key themes from the induction days are then explored more fully in the development programme during the remainder of the year.

Written evidence from Rebecca Lane (CC 55)

I am aged 37 with two boys aged 5 and 11. I am married and my husband works full-time as an Engineer for British Gas. We own our own home and an additional property which we rent out. I work as an Administrator part-time in Chepstow. I made the consious decision after having my second child not to return to work full-time so I could take and pick up the kids from school. I am White, Welsh and attend Church of England church every few months. Any spare time I have after being with the children I use to go to the gym and run. I run half marathons every few months and am a member of my local running club.

If you have made a conscious decision not to stand for election: — What do you do to serve your community already?—Until recently I was a member of my son’s school PTA where I volunteered my time whenever they needed me. I have also contacted my local councillor a few times to have issues local to me resolved when I couldn’t get any help from the Local Authority. For example there was a zebra crossing by where I live that was half finished for months. The Local Authority wouldn’t listen to me and it took my Councillor to speak to the right person to get it finished. I have also contacted him about the problem of fly tipping near my home and a bin storage that was outside my house. I raised a petition to get it demolished and he helped me with getting that to the right people. — Why did you decide against standing for election? (Please be as specific as you can.) Was your decision related more to the practicalities of being a councillor or to what you thought the role would entail?—I don’t know enough about being a councillor to make the decision to stand. The hours for example to be able to know if I could do the role with having two kids & is there any office you work from or is it from your home, also what is the Job Description? In addition I have decided not to investigate into standing because it gives the impression of being very stuffy, generally for the older generation and male dominated. Also they seem very set in their ways and they seem to argue with each other. For example our councillors use the local paper to send messages to each other AFTER a meeting which I think is very childish and does not send the right positive message to the community. — What would need to change for you to consider standing in future?—It needs to be more open, see through with the role explained properly like any other job you would apply for. More professional as well. The councillors seem to get nominated not on their personal skills & qualifications or attributes but on how they sell themselves and who they know and how long they have known them for and how popular they seem to be.

If you have wanted to be a candidate: — Why did you want to stand for election?—I want to be able to do not just one thing for my town but many things. Instead of feeling like I am banging my head against a wall when trying to get any of the issues above resolved on my own I could help people get their issues solved. I also want to help drop the poor image that seems to surround local council by being as approachable and open as possible. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w79

— What, if any, speciﬁc barriers prevented you from standing?—of course having two boys one quite small with the logistics of childcare is one of the reasons (which was one of the reasons I couldn’t make the Commons on 17 September). September 2012

Written evidence from Jack Hopkins (CC 56) Training and Development for Councillors Development of Councillors is an area I have particular interest in having been a campaign organiser, political assistant, council officer and elected as a councillor in 2010. During my two years as the Chief whip in Lambeth I focused significantly on development of my group, delivering a bespoke programme with London Southbank University, developing training packages with various external providers and trying to organise a pooling of resource across London Labour Groups for Councillor development. I have written some of my experiences and understanding of this area, what we are considering in Lambeth as part of the cooperative council and some proposals which I think would be beneficial. At the outset I should state that I believe that the training and development of Councillors is an area which needs significant work and that the day of the “experienced amateur” councillor is or at least should be over.

Training and development happens by chance (or doesn’t) As an elected councillor your training and development needs very much rely on where you are elected. Whether there is a budget, who controls it and whether you have access to it. There is no consistency apart from the need for better training and supported Councillors. Budgets are borough based and therefore at the whim of the executive of that authority. This means in some cases that there is no standing budget for which minority parties have access or discretion. In some places they are divided by political group, others use it solely for cross party training. In many places executive members use the lions share of budgets due to access and knowledge. The group whip is usually the link to these funds, given their relationship with democratic services ofﬁcers where this generally ﬁts. Whether the whip views the development of their group as a responsibility often varies. If as a backbencher you get an email from a training and development company you can request to go on the training

TheAgenda andContentNeeds to beBetterDriven by Councillors At the moment I have not found sufficient evidence that Councillors are driving this agenda either in terms of content or delivery. This is in part because officers take a lead, and because Councillors do not. This results in training programmes being provided which support what offices need Councillors to know or think Councillors should know, and/or delivered in a traditional style which can limit effectiveness. The LGA and London Councils do have programmes which are useful and support Councillors effectively, albeit a focus on existing leaders as opposed to potential ones. The LGA next generation leadership course is excellent, as is the Planning Advisory Service weekends. In terms of content however I would say that providers very much focus on what officers think is useful. There are many providers who do scrutiny training, chairing training, etc... yet less who will do something related to being a frontline councillor. There should be more focus on either making a councillor more effective and progressing as a Councillor or providing some form of accreditation so that the skills and competences we develop are recognised in the wider job market.

What we’veTried inLambeth 1. Acting as a host for training for London Labour Councillors. In Lambeth we piloted the pooling resources and acted as a host for training and development for Labour Councillors from across London. Through buying in trainers from the Lambeth Labour Group training budget we were able to reduce head costs for our Councillors who attended, as well as offer discounted prices for those colleagues from other authorities dependent on their ability to pay. This is a model which could well be supported by London Councils or the Local Government Association. In part this was helped greatly by Cllr Clyde Loakes, Whip at London Councils, who convened regular meetings of the Labour whips giving me and others a platform to discuss training and development needs. 2. Bespoke course at London Southbank University for backbenchers cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w80 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

Our programme with LSBU was run over three Saturdays for backbenchers and focused on “how to be the cabinet member for your ward.” In part it was designed to explore the needs of backbenchers in becoming commissioners of services on a ward basis through a mix of theoretical and practical subject areas. The topics covered were: — Stakeholder mapping and management. — Negotiation and influence. — Exercising power. — Components of Delivery—successes and failures. — Levers of delivery. The sessions led to a series of recommendations to the Leader and Chief Executive about potential improvements to aid the Councillor in fulfilling their role, and these have influenced the thinking and proposals for the Cooperative Council commissioning model and role of the Councillor as a commissioner. As a first attempt at doing something difference, designed for Councillors by Councillors, we were pleased at the results and the fact we just did it. The next step for us is to develop a more formal and structured programme which could be accredited. One early thought is to follow the example of Oldham and allow greater responsibilities to Councillors who have undertaken and passed appropriate development or training, linked to community based commissioning, an enhanced and supported community leadership role and/or formal council role.

Recommendations — Dedicated training and development budgets for individual councillors as well as groups. — Accreditation for Councillors to demonstrate their skills in the “real” world. — Better range of training and development opportunities for Councillors based on their actual needs and new skills sets needed. — More focus on the needs of backbenchers and wider range of Councillors, not just executive members. September 2012

Written evidence from Ray Spalding (CC 57)

1. I am a volunteer with; Lincoln & Lindsey Blind Society. Vitalise (Charity providing sighted guides for Visually Impaired Persons). Deaf Blind U K. Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. Macular Disease Society, in various roles, including guide, tutor, speaker etc.

2. Committee member North Lincolnshire Twinning group.

3. I have mobility problems myself due to arthritis and Congestive Heart Failure, which may cause difﬁculty breathing.

I would like to stand as a councillor, but feel that my mobility issues would make doorstep campaigning awkward and may have an adverse effect upon the required successful outcome, BUT I would be delighted to be able to represent people with disabilities, whom, I believe are considered by people who do not have disabilities, who thus do not understand such issues as the provision of coat hooks in disabled toilets, the provision of disabled toilets not ﬁtted with RADAR locks, which are therefore denied to disabled people outside the 08.00–18.00 opening times applied to many public conveniences.

I would respectfully point out that victims of urological issues (of which I have been one for the last 20 years) do not have an off switch on their bladders operating at 18.00 hours. As has recently appeared in the press such devices as Pelican crossings, with a time allowance for pedestrians to cross allow insufﬁcient time for such as I, who need 6 times the time to cross that an able bodied person does. I have been told that emergency service drivers are not advised to be doubly alert when “on a call” where vision head is limited, as, if a person with a mobility problem, who has checked that the road is clear as far as they can see may be so slow to be unable to move out of the path of a fast moving vehicle. August 2012 cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w81

Written evidence from NAVCA (CC 59) NAVCA is the national voice of local support and development organisations in England. We champion and strengthen voluntary and community action by supporting our members in their work with over 160,000 local charities and community groups. We have a member serving every local authority area in England. NAVCA believes that voluntary and community action is vital for vibrant and caring communities. We provide our members with networking opportunities, specialist advice, support, policy information and training. NAVCA is a vital bridge between local groups and national government. Our specialist teams take a lead on the issues that matter most to local support and development organisations. We inﬂuence national and local government policy to strengthen local voluntary and community action.

1. Introduction 1.1 NAVCA has always encouraged our member organisations to establish and develop the best possible relationships with local councillors, recognising the natural partnership that should exist between those elected by the community as its representatives and bearing responsibility for the delivery of public services, and those organisations rooted in and owned by the local community to provide services to its people. 1.2 NAVCA members are known as councils for voluntary service (CVS), but other common descriptors include “voluntary action” and “community action” organisations. All provide local support and development and infrastructure services for the local VCS (voluntary and community sector). 1.3 For the purposes of this Inquiry, we contacted our member organisations to ask them about their experience of working with local councillors and what makes the experience more or less positive. 1.4 NAVCA members identify a common motivation with local councillors for the work they undertake: Most councillors “act out of a desire to serve their communities which is an important starting point for work with the VCS.” 1.5 One common theme can be expressed in a single brief sentence from one NAVCA member’s response: “A well informed councillor at any level is of great beneﬁt to the sector.”

2. Engagement 2.1 NAVCA members clearly and unequivocally acknowledge the role of local councillors and the potential of that role for community development and transformation, and are more than willing to work with local councillors in achieving their common aims and objectives. “Councillors could have strong role in identifying and championing ward level priorities— especially in areas which are not parished—if they have resources to do so. CVSs could support this work.” “Local infrastructure organisations could play a much greater role in supporting community level action involving local councillors, especially if this was “designed in” as part of a councillor’s remit.” 2.2 NAVCA members report that district and county councillors generally take seriously their role as local representatives, seeking to engage their communities in a variety of ways including holding surgeries, involving themselves in local issues and attending local events. This work is very much valued: “The most important element is that councillors are connected to their local communities—in general they are accessible and will respond to genuine local concerns.” “Relationships between councillors and the VCS work best when they are personal rather than having conversations between sectors.” 2.3 Several NAVCA members recognised the significant amount of time that local councillors commit to their role, recognising that for many this is probably more than they may have anticipated when first elected. 2.4 Some NAVCA members also acknowledged the big steps forward that have been made in councillors’ understanding of the significance and role of the voluntary and community sector (VCS): “Three or Four years ago there would have been a much lower level understanding of the role and power of the VCS and the opportunities it presents to advance county council strategies.(10 years ago there was almost no understanding).” 2.5 This experience is not universal, however. One NAVCA member notes that “there is a lot of untapped potential here. This is because on the one hand the VCS knowledge and understanding of councillors, their role and engagement opportunities is not uniformly high and there can be a lack of confidence about this sort of work with councillors. On the other hand the need to improve a number of areas of local councillors’ relationships with their communities holds groups back from offering such opportunities.” cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w82 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

2.6 It was also noted that the opportunities for the local voluntary and community sector to engage with councillors diminish as the size of the geographic area increase: “County councillors cannot be expected to maintain the same relationships with the voluntary and community sector in their area as a town and parish councillor can.” “County council wards are so big that they tend to cross over several ‘natural’ communities leading to more “distance” between communities and councillor.” “Parish councillors tend to be the most community focussed of councillors as a group,” but “often feel threatened and unsure when asked to consult the wider community on specific issues.” They “do not readily understand their role in stimulating community wide conversations and action,” and “do not like moving to talk to those outside their immediate social circles… They tend to favour the status quo and are slow to adopt new ideas—this marginalises new communities and the disadvantaged.” 2.7 In some areas, county and district councils or unitary have sought to create structures to support the representative role of councillors, such as local area forums, area panels or community assemblies. These are designed to enable councillors to engage with each other and with the wider community. Their effectiveness varies greatly, however: “Some of the local area forums have sought to engage widely with groups and organisations within the local voluntary and community sector but this has not been uniform across all of the local area forums. It is also true to say that some of the local areas forums have struggled to overcome the perennial turf wars between county and district councillors over who has legitimacy to speak for ‘their’ patch.” 2.8 In other areas, however, councillors themselves report facing challenges to their representation work: [District councillors] “often report that the locally adopted cabinet structure means they have no real say over what happens locally—they feel they have no impact if they are not a cabinet member.” “Decision making by district council cabinet is not obviously or clearly linked to community wishes or needs leading to conflict and a view that the council ‘doesn’t listen’ to us.” “We have the impression that a lot of councillors do not feel that they are involved in local decisions and are very frustrated about this. For example in one meeting a comment from a councillor was ‘I am not having an officer tell me what to do’. This means that in turn they are not always the best champions for involving communities in local decision making.”

3. Funding 3.1 NAVCA members report that where councillors have been allocated funds, they have been better able to respond to local concerns and to support local needs and projects, leading to better relations with their local communities. 3.2 Where the local VCS has been involved in participatory or community budget events, these received enthusiastic endorsement from NAVCA members: [The council] “have involved us as the CVS in facilitating these events where local residents decide on the allocation of small grants to community groups in their area. It has been crucial to win councillors’ support for this process and the events in their area. Once they have had a chance to get involved and see how it works there has been a very positive response and councillors have been central to connecting local groups and residents to the opportunity to take part. This has been real participative democracy supported by representative democracy.” 3.3 It is also reported, however, that councillors fail to understand the potential for creative interaction of representative with participatory democracy: “In a one-party dominated borough there is a dominant culture of scepticism about more participative democracy and an insistence from some vocal councillors that as they are elected they are the proper/only voice of their communities. This has a drag on more empowering and innovative community involvement though there are enough councillors with a different view to mean this is not always prevented.” 3.4 The vital importance of good consultation practice to deliver a constructive combination of representative and participatory democracy was highlighted by some NAVCA members, particularly around the allocation of funding: “We are concerned about the competence of councillors to assess competing needs and to champion accountable decision making—I’m afraid we can point too many examples of groups being support because they have a link with the local councillor which is not supported by the business case or assessment of priority against local need. In recent months we have encouraged local authorities to make greater use of organisations, such as our local Community Foundation, who have signiﬁcant experience in objective assessment of applications for such delegated funds.” cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence Ev w83

3.5 NAVCA members are very concerned about the political and practical implications for councillors of having to implement central government funding cuts: “At a time of cuts there is not the space or willingness to be more honest about the impact this is having locally for fear of the electoral impact of this. This is a very short sighted attitude and is something that communities see straight through and ﬁnd very frustrating.”

4. Diversity 4.1 NAVCA members, especially in rural areas, report concerns that their local councillors do not adequately reﬂect the diversity of their constituencies, even where this diversity is not great: “In our area councillors remain predominantly retired or semi-retired and white. Although the gender balance is more equal there is little diversity in relation to ethnicity, age or disability.” “District councillors tend to be over the retirement age and therefore have certain age related biases, and often lack energy or vision—favouring the status quo and are anti-change.” “There are far too many white, old men whose cultural and political understanding are not up to date. In particular a paternalistic attitude to the community is very frustrating.”

5. Training andSkills 5.1 NAVCA members appreciate that principal local authorities provide training to councillors on a range of skills. Our members value the opportunity offered in some areas to be involved in this training. 5.2 NAVCA members also report a perceived conflict between their duties to the communities they represent and their political party loyalties which might be addressed by better training: “Some local people and groups can be unwilling to engage with councillors because, with a great deal of justification, they see their activities as ‘political’ rather than representative, participative and empowering. Councillors need to be encouraged and skilled up to see that encouraging and supporting participative democracy isn’t in conflict with their representative democratic role and in fact over time is greatly to its benefit.” 5.3 Some NAVCA members offer their local councillors support for their role as community leaders but the response is not always positive: “This has not had the take up that we expected and there remains a minority of councillors with the view that ‘I’ve been elected to represent, I don’t need to consult as a result’.” “Firstly, I would want to encourage a broader sense of what it means to be a community leader, which for me is about including, listening and having a strong sense of proper process to ensure opportunities for involvement, rather than a traditional view of robust decision making and leading from the front. Secondly, I would want to encourage an approach of meeting groups where they are rather than requiring them to fit into your way of doing something. I’m afraid I still come across councillors who operate with the view that if they are not doing something, then nobody is and so something needs to be done—invariably the answer is that there is a group who are doing something it is just that the local councillor (and the local council) are not aware of them.” 5.4 There remains, however, almost unanimous willingness among NAVCA members to continue to engage and work with local councillors. “There is a fantastic opportunity for us to continue to build the relationship with Parish councils by offering them infrastructure support services.”

6. Localism 6.1 The general feeling expressed by NAVCA members and applying to both councillors and their communities unsettling theme can be summarised in two brief sentences from one response: “Localism is not understood. It is slightly feared.” 6.2 Several NAVCA members also expressed the view that, while the community rights enshrined in the Localism Act 2011 and the provisions of the Best Value Statutory Guidance and National Planning Police Framework might have provided communities with opportunities in other circumstances, the signiﬁcant cuts to public funding which have impacted on the VCS at least as much as on local authorities mean that the priority for both community organisations and communities is simply survival. 6.3 There is also a widespread feeling that the new rights and powers are too complex, and that the community rights have been watered down so much during their passage through parliament that their use would involve too much time and effort with no guarantee of any successful outcome: “At a recent event on the community rights as a community member said the fear is that these are rights for the articulate minority only. I also believe that very few councillors in this borough are aware of these opportunities and even if they were as mentioned above a lot of them would take some convincing that more participative democracy is the best thing. And this doesn’t cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [08-01-2013 11:16] Job: 024883 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/024883/024883_steve_w043_024883CC 59 - NAVCA.xml

Ev w84 Communities and Local Government Committee: Evidence

even mention the complexities of working with council ofﬁcers in this area! Sorry to be so down beat but at a time of cuts in all sectors it is very hard to see where the capacity for engagement with such ‘opportunities’ is going to come from.”

7. Conclusions 7.1 Our research clearly shows that there is widespread appreciation of the role of councillors by NAVCA members. 7.2 There is concern in some areas that councillors do not reﬂect the diversity of their communities, and NAVCA members ready to be involved in addressing this issue. 7.3 NAVCA members recognises the enormous pressures that councillors are under and are very willing to support local councillors in their decision making by providing information and intelligence, promoting engagement and facilitating consultation with local communities—especially vulnerable and excluded groups and individuals—and offering or contributing to induction and training. October 2012

Printed in the United Kingdom by The Stationery Ofﬁce Limited 01/2013 024883 19585