Most people’s impression of what a councillor does is that they just attend council meetings. Nothing could be further from the truth. The duties of being a local councillor are many and varied. The most important of which is the ordinary day to day contact with local people in their own community.
A Parish Councillor signs a Declaration of Acceptance of Office and thereby undertakes to observe an ethical Code of Conduct when dealing with matters on behalf of their community. A councillor also completes a register of pecuniary interests.
Listening: One of the most important tasks of a Parish or Town Councillor is listening to and understanding the views of people in their community. Many public bodies or organisations acknowledge this is the hardest information for them to capture and they in turn use the skills and local knowledge of the parish or town councillors for advice to assist and inform their own services.
Meetings: A councillor agrees to attend all meetings (reasonably possible) that he or she is summoned to. In Sherfield Park we meet monthly on the second Wednesday of each month in our Parish Office on Sunwood Drive. And members of the community are welcome to attend. In addition, there may be subcommittee meetings of Finance or Working Group meetings if we are undertaking specific projects.
Representation: Parish Councils also need representation at other local government meetings or on local bodies/organisations and councillors may be asked to serve on certain groups or attend functions on behalf of the Parish Council. Councillors act as ambassadors for their community keeping everyone aware of local needs and concerns and reporting back on Borough and County changes.
Responsibility: All councillors are expected to abide by the Parish Councils Code of Conduct. Each local council must adopt and publicise a Code of Conduct that is in line with the Nolan principles. The Code deals with councillors obligations about their conduct, including the registration and disclosure of their interests.
Councillors represent the voice of their community as a whole, whilst being aware of and considerate to, specific minority needs.
Ceremonial Duties: In some councils there will be times when councillors are asked to attend civic functions as part of their duty to the community. This may entail Remembrance Parades, civic dinners or attendance at public functions.
Extra skills: Through all of these functions councillors will draw on their own skills and experiences learned through their profession or life skills and it is the sharing of these skills and learnings that make a strong team.
Parish Councils provide a focus for the community – to identify concerns and projects and then endeavour to solve them locally for the benefit of the community. Councillors working as a team will need to deal with employment issues, budgeting, asset management, staff management, project management or grant funding and probably lots more if they are creative and involved. All councils must be aware and owe a duty to their community, to manage staff considerately, whether it is employing one parish clerk or a whole host of office and grounds’ maintenance staff.
Accounting: Accounts must be kept and whilst a clerk (or Responsible Financial Officer) will be employed to carry out this duty, councillors together as a team are responsible for the financial decisions made and implemented on how the precept is spent in the community. A Clerk is employed to advise and seek advice on behalf of councillors to assist them in their decisions. Councillors are there to consider the information gathered and make a group decision on all matters. No individual councillor is responsible for any single decision. This is democracy at its best.
Training and support: Training is available to any council, large or small. Legislation allows for councils to pay for training and ongoing training for councillors is sound business management. Hampshire Association of Local Councils are able to provide details of professional training programmes designed specifically for councillors.
For more information on Hampshire Association of Local Councils click here