Radical programme to
strengthen local democracy - councillors commission backs action at
local level to rebuild trust between citizen and state
COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENT News Release (239) issued by The Government News Network
on 7 December 2007
A significant
package of reforms to raise the game of local councils and
strengthen local democracy throughout England and Wales is
proposed in a ground-breaking report published today.
Innovative action to boost understanding of local government and
the role of councillors, to attract new and more diverse
candidates to stand in local elections and to deliver better
quality support to those elected are among the proposals.
At the heart of the recommendations from the Councillors
Commission is the demand for an explicit duty to be placed on
local authorities to disseminate clear information about how
councils and other local agencies work as well as promote the role
of councillors and the activities of elected members, including
raising interest on how to stand for election.
Councils need to support more active participation through groups
such as tenant and residents' associations and school
governing bodies and provide the tools and organisations to equip
councillors to act as essential two-way links between the
authorities and their communities.
"Councillors carry into the council the views of the public
and explain the decisions of the council to the public. As such,
they must be given the tools to work effectively," the
Commission's report "Representing the Future" urges.
The report sets out 61 proposals to transform local councils as
well as encourage greater participation in local elections
including lowering the voting age to 16 and creating regional
Local Government Days when all seats for authorities in those
areas are contested on the same day.
Significantly, the Commission says that in order to ensure as
many people as possible can play their part in local
representative democracy, the role of a councillor must be
compatible with full-time employment and the role of most council
leaders should be compatible with part-time work.
Dame Jane Roberts, Chair of the Commission, said: "Our
democracy faces a major problem of disenchantment and
disengagement - at times, even mutual incomprehension between
citizen and the state.
"The Commission's key message is that building
effective and vibrant local democracy is a vital part of the
solution to this wider malaise. We have a real opportunity to
strengthen democracy in this country - we cannot afford to ignore it.
"Elected councillors are an essential part of that mission.
If we are to attract new and able candidates it must become less
daunting to stand for election and councillors must feel better
supported once elected.
"Furthermore it must become less daunting to stand down -
and for that reason we recommend that political parties should be
allowed to publish a list of reserve councillors who can replace a
councillor of their party who stands down without the need for a by-election."
The Commission concludes that councillors are most effective as
local elected representatives when they have similar life
experiences to those of their constituents yet councillors
increasingly are failing to reflect the communities they serve.
Today's average age for a councillor is 58.3 - a significant
increase since 10 years ago when it was 55.4 - and the
overwhelming majority are retired or self-employed. Younger
councillors are becoming a rarity with just 3.5 per cent under 30
and fewer than one in three are women. Only 4.1 per cent of local
representatives come from ethnic minority backgrounds.
The Commission calls on the government to amend legislation to
include councillor equalities targets in race, gender and
disability equalities schemes. It proposes the Equality and Human
Rights Commission (EHRC) work with the bottom 10 per cent of
authorities who least reflect their communities supporting
initiatives to improve diversity.
Legislation should also be introduced to limit councillors to
serving five consecutive terms and to limit leaders to three
consecutive terms.
National political parties are urged to adopt fresh thinking
about candidates to local government; they should encourage local
parties to recruit people who share their values but may not have
a lengthy record of party activity and work with a range of
organisations such as Operation Black Vote and the Fawcett Society
to develop presentational and political skills in
under-represented groups.
And the EHRC and Electoral Commission should work with political
parties to reach a voluntary agreement that they behave as if they
were bound by positive duties to promote equality.
Disabled candidates should be offered assessments of their needs
in advance of their arrival in post and those elected should have
the same right to support as council employees with
disabilities.
Other proposals include:
* Parachute payments equivalent to statutory redundancy for
councillors in executive positions who lose their seats in an
election and access to the local government pension scheme for all councillors;
* Introducing a national framework for allowances for councillors
with minimum levels according to size and type of authority but
with powers for Local Authority Standards Committees to suspend
and claw back part of the basic allowance when councillors
measurably fail to fulfil their role description;
* Incentives to vote in local elections such as offering entry to
a free lottery;
* Promotion of the role of councillors and the enhanced skills
they bring to workplaces to employers and compensation for small
businesses whose employees have to be absent from work for
councillor duties;
* Government departments to work with the Qualifications and
Curriculum Authority to ensure the role of councils and
councillors and the value of local democracy is built into the
citizenship curriculum;
* A dedicated fund from public money for political parties to
spend at local level for projects to improve the recruitment,
training and selection of candidates linked to enhancing diversity
of local councillors;
* A call for public service broadcasters to fulfil their remit to
facilitate civic understanding, including better coverage of local government;
* Changes to the "far-reaching" restrictions that
prevent council employees standing as councillors or engaging in
political activity.
Dame Jane said:
"Local government has shown some of the most impressive
improvements in performance within the public sector over the last
decade and the best of local government without question far
outstrips the work of much of central government.
"But this is not the view of the public, who too often see
councillors as out of touch and acting out of self interest. We
cannot ignore some real problems in the culture of local
government and local political parties which means that in a
number of areas there can be a reluctance to attract new blood.
"There is inevitably no single magic bullet to sweep away
the confusion about councils and councillors and encourage more
talented people to put themselves forward for election to local
government. The Commission has proposed a package of reforms that
we believe will renew and reinvigorate local democracy. We intend
them to open up a wider debate about meeting the urgent challenge
for change."
Notes for Editors
The Councillors Commission was set up by the Secretary of State
for Communities and Local Government to seek ways of encouraging
suitably able, qualified and representative people to be
candidates to serve as councillors of principal authorities and
make recommendations for their retention and development in office.
The Commissioners are: Chair: Dame Jane Roberts; members: Yaseer
Ahmed, Councillor Cathy Bakewell, Jessica Crowe, Councillor
Margaret Eaton, Ben Page, Matthew Taylor.
The Commission is seeking responses to its report. People can
log on and join the debate on: http://haveyoursay.communities.gov.uk/forums/
Full copies of the Report are available on http://www.communities.gov.uk