Running the business

							Running the business

  Councillors and officers
    How to recognise a councillor
•   Informal dress – usually
•   Tea drinking – with biscuits
•   Bags
•   Late
             What are they?
•   Politicians
•   Elected
•   Unpaid but – ‘allowances’
•   Amateurs
          Councillor’s conduct
•   Code of Conduct
•   Declaring an interest
•   Standards Committee
•   Standards Board
       How to recognise officers
•   Suits
•   Ties
•   Early ( usually)
•   A patronising deference to councillors
            What are they?
• Appointed
• Paid ( very well for the top jobs)
• Professional – solicitors, architects, town
  planners, engineers, managers
                The structures
• The old system - now ‘alternative arrangements’
  for councils serving populations of 80,000 or less
• The majority party has majority on:
  – Committees running services
  – Meeting of all councillors to ratify committee
    decisions – the full council
  – The role of the ‘policy’ committee
  – The role of minority parties
     Cabinets,etc – the new way
•   Leader
•   Cabinet
•   Scrutiny committees
•   Area panels - Community Assemblies
•   Statutory committees – planning
•   Full Council
•   Delegated powers
        Directly elected Mayors
•   Referendum
•   Twelve
•   Mayor chooses and chairs cabinet
•   ( Mayor and council manager)
•   Not the Lord Mayor
•   Not quite the London Mayor
          All change - or not
• Drive for ‘executive’ decision making
• Drive for public identity of that executive
     So………….three choices
• Directly elected mayors - no referendum
• Directly elected cabinet
• Indirectly elected leader with four year
  tenure
              The rule book

•   The constitution
•   Standing orders
•   Proposing and seconding
•   Resolved not decided
•   Points of order
•   Recording the votes
•   ‘ resolved items’
                 Making policy
• Political parties –
  – National – local
     •   Ward/division parties
     •   Constituency parties
     •   District parties
     •   The manifesto – national – local
    Strategic partnerships
        ……a new emphasis
    Sustainable Community Strategy
+   Local area agreements
+   Community Charters
                   The voters
• Voting for/against what political party
  stands for
• Lobby groups
     •   Disability groups
     •   Chamber of Trade
     •   Trades Unions – Teachers/Unison
     •   Tenants and residents
     •   Cyclists
       Problem solving - events
•   Drop in the birth rate
•   Increase in elderly people
•   Collapse of local industry
•   Rise in the number of cars
         Professional advice
• National- local
  – Guidance, officer reports
• Research results
• Legal problems
• The role of the Chief Executive
            Government diktat
• Use of financial muscle to steer policy
• Legislation
• Policy “advice”
• Performance indicators - were reduced to
  200 and now to 35 ‘ priorities’
• Local Area Agreements
• The Duty of Best Value
• Citizens’ Charters
        Controlling councils
• Local Government Commissioners - the
  Ombudsmen
• Audit Commission - comprehensive area
  assessment
• The inspectors - Ofsted
• The Media
• The Courts
     and The Government