Councillors in Crisis

Abstract

Public policy-making in Western democracies is confronted by new pressures. Central values relating to the role of the state, the role of markets and the role of citizenship are now all contested and the consensus built up around the Keynesian welfare state is under challenge. New social movements are entering the political arena: electronic technologies are transforming the nature of employment; changes in demographic structure are creating heightened demands for public services; unforeseen social and health problems are emerging; and, most disturbing, social and economic inequalities are increasing in many countries. How governmentsat international, national and local levelsrespond to this developing agenda is the central focus of the Public Policy and Politics series. Aimed at a student, professional, practitioner and academic readership, it aims to provide up-todate, comprehensive and authoritative analyses of public policymaking in practice. The series is international and interdisciplinary in scope and bridges theory and practice by relating the substance of policy to the politics of the policy-making process.

The Role(s) of County Councillors: An Evaluation

“…Many scholars stressed the positive attitude of councillors towards this aspect of their job (see, for example, Wilson and Game, 1994: 219). Similar observations were made by Barron et al (1991), however, these authors also noted a marked difference between the parties, in general Labour councillors had heavier caseloads than Conservative councillors. The authors argued that Labour councillors tended to be more proactive and inclined to generate casework and that differences in the volume of cases might be affected by the different social and economic composition of Labour and Conservative electoral divisions (Barron et al, 1991: 159-62).…”

“…Most of the other studies were dominated by urban data (Bochel and Bochel, 2000). There were only two through studies about the role(s) of county councillors, one of which was almost 40 years old (Lee, 1963;Barron et al, 1991).…”

“…Policy Spokesmen combined the delegate inclination with city governance and general policy preferences. Barron et al (1991) identified a distinction between minimalist and proactive councillors. Minimalists stressed attendance at council and committee meetings and attracted little casework.…”

Councillor effectiveness: What role for training?

“…In their study of the public and private worlds of local councillors Barron et al showed that councillors, on average, spent between 20 and 35 hours per week on council duties. 4 The effectiveness of an individual councillor will depend upon a number of factors, not least the role which they adopt for themselves and the demands placed upon them by the 'job' itself. Fudge 5 identified five broad aspects of council work all competing for the time and energy of councillors: handling the business of the local authority (both administrative and policy-making functions); constituents and individual problems including 'surgeries' and meeting pressure groups; representing the council on other organisations; party activities at group, ward, constituency and Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 22:49 11 April 2015 possibly higher levels; and 'serving in other ways' including attendance at local meetings, semi-social functions, school governorships and so on.…”

“…(3) to strengthen the business of standard setting and the review and monitoring process; (4) to strengthen the councillor's representative role and to develop a stronger community leadership capacity.…”