What
is a councillor?
Councillors are elected to represent an individual geographical
unit on the council, known as a ward or - mainly in smaller
parishes - the entire parish or town council area. They are
generally elected by the public every four years.
What
do councillors do?
Councillors have three main components to their work.
1. Decision making - Through meetings and attending committees
with other elected members, councillors decide which activities
to support, where money should be spent, what services should
be delivered and what policies should be implemented.
2. Monitoring - Councillors make sure that their decisions
lead to efficient and effective services by keeping an eye
on how well things are working.
3. Getting involved locally - As local representatives, councillors
have responsibilities towards their constituents and local
organisations.
These responsibilities and duties often depend on what the
councillor wants to achieve and how much time is available,
and may include:
1. Going to meetings of local organisations such as tenants'
associations
2. Going to meetings of bodies affecting the wider community
3. Taking up issues on behalf of members of the public
4. Running a surgery for residents to bring up issues
5. Meeting with individual residents in their own homes.
Visiting your council is the best way to find out what happens
there. Give the council a call and find out when its next
public meeting happens. By law, ordinary people are allowed
to be present at most council business. How
much time does it take up?
Quite often councillors say that their duties occupy them
for about three hours a week. Obviously there are some councillors
who spend more time than this - and some less, but in the
main, being a community, parish and town councillor is an
enjoyable way of contributing to your community, and helping
to make it a better place to live and work.
