Residents sometimes ask me, ‘what’s it like being a councillor?’. It’s a good question, and with elections on the horizon, I thought I’d develop this blog to give an insight into what we get up to. After all, you might be interested to stand as a councillor yourself one day!
So, when considering our work, I would split the role into three parts:
- Resident casework
- Council policy formation
- Championing the community
Casework
Residents are often in touch needing help, sometimes because they don’t know who to go to at the council to get something done, and sometimes because they want to challenge a decision the council has made. Councillors can help with both.
Casework can cover anything a council is involved with, but most commonly requests include missed bin collections, potholes and pavements, anti-social behaviour concerns, school issues or local planning objections.
A hard-working councillor will tend to be more accessible than the council - picking up the phone, replying to an email or responding on Facebook. Being organised is a big help!
I typically get 5-10 bits of casework in a week. Some are very quick and easy to resolve. Others are harder and require liaison with council officers and the residents concerned for an extended period of time. But I have found that almost always the resident is grateful for the councillor input, even if the outcome is not always the ideal one initially sought.
Policy
A councillor will usually sit on a couple of committees, for example Planning, Licensing or Scrutiny. Each committee meeting will have an agenda published a couple of weeks in advance, and reviewing these papers will take an hour or two so that you are prepared for the meeting.
Committee meetings take place in the council chamber (the Guildhall in Canterbury) and are a chance to ask questions, debate the topic and put forward amendments that you think will help make improvements for residents, local businesses and visitors to the area. Often you will find your casework to be a good source of inspiration for these discussions.
Occasionally the Council will take a ‘deep dive’ into a topic by setting up a working group to which a small number of councillors are invited. By way of examples, my most recent one was the Biodiversity Working Group, which sought to create policies which boosted nature in our district, while Cllr Grace Paget has recently worked on the South Quay task and finish group.
Taken together, I would say that councillors would average one meeting per week, mostly in the evenings. However, if you have a leadership role on the Council, such as my colleague Rachel Carnac who is Chair of Scrutiny, you can expect this part of your workload to grow considerably.
A Community Champion
Perhaps the least defined part of the councillor role is being a cheer-leader for your town or village. After all, it’s unlikely you’d want to stand in the first place if you were not passionate about your local area, wanting to improve it.
So you might find yourself attending community fairs, litter picks, church services, business get-togethers – or whatever goes on in your area! These events are a great way of showing support for the cause and meeting local people.
Similarly, you might get involved in campaigning for a specific topic – both online through social media and through running in-person petitions. For example, I have recently led campaigns to save the bandstand (which needed repair work) and advocating for lower car parking charges. The point is that you love your community and you want to make it a better place to live, work or visit.
Conclusion
As for the overall time requirement… how long is a piece of string? Some weeks it can be 5 hours but others it can be 20 or 25. It also depends how active you are – and how diligent. But certainly it is a fascinating and rewarding role, one which makes the hours dedicated very worthwhile.