Councillors have three main areas of work:
1. Decision-making: through attending meetings and 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. This often depends on what the councillor wants to achieve and how much time is available. The day-to-day work of a councillor may include:
- going to meetings of local organisations such as tenants’ associations
- going to meetings of bodies that affect the wider community, such as the police, the Highways Authority, schools and colleges
- taking up issues on behalf of members of the public, such as making representations to the principal authorities
- running a surgery for residents to bring up issues
- meeting with individual residents in their own homes
To View ‘The Good Councillor’s Guide’ see 2024 – The-Good-Councillors-Guide
Eligibility For Office
To qualify for election as a local councillor, and to hold such office, an applicant must be a Commonwealth citizen (which includes a British subject) or Euro national and on the relevant day (defined below) has reached 18 years of age AND
a) on that day is, and thereafter continues to be, a local government elector for the area or the authority;
or
b) has during the whole of the 12 months preceding that day occupied, as owner or tenant, any land or other premises in that area;
or
c) principal or only place of work during that 12 months has been in the area;
or
d) has during the whole of those 12 months resided in the area;
or
e) has during the whole of the 12 months preceding the relevant date resided within three miles of the parish or community.
The relevant day will be the day on which the person is nominated as a candidate and, if there is a poll, the day of election.
A person is disqualified for being elected as a local councillor or being a member of a local council if he/she:
a) holds any paid office or employment of the local council (other than the office of Chairman) or of a joint committee on which the council is represented; or
b) is a person who has been adjudged bankrupt or has made a composition or arrangement with his/her creditors
c) has within 5 years before the day of election, or since his/her election, been convicted in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man of any offence and has been sentenced to imprisonment (whether suspended or not) for not less than 3 months without the option of a fine; or
d) is otherwise disqualified under Part III of the Representation of the People Act 1983 for corrupt or illegal practices, or under the Audit Commission Act 1998 consequent upon audit proceedings.