Background
It is essential that Councillors (also referred to as Members) are fully informed about matters on which they may be required to make decisions, or which affect their electoral division.
Councillors represent the views of communities. They must be told what is going on in their locality or area of responsibility and be involved at the earliest moment in designing services and the Council’s consultation and engagement activities.
As officers we should always bear in mind timely and appropriate communications with our local and Cabinet Members.
The Council’s Constitution
The protocol on Councillors/officer relations in the Council’s Constitution states:
"It is the duty of each Executive, Corporate and Service Director to ensure that all relevant staff are aware of the requirement to keep local members informed and that the timing of such information allows members to contribute to those decisions. Local members shall also be kept informed about matters affecting their divisions during the formative stages of policy development and discussion . . ."
Cabinet guidance in light of localism
Cabinet has highlighted that elected Councillors are expected to pay a more active leadership role in their divisions – especially with the localism agenda.
This requires the Council and its Councillors to engage more with local communities to help form priorities and policy. It also means new policies coming forward where communities and other organisations actively work with the County Council to provide resource or funding to meet local needs.
This means Councillors being more pro-active and promoting the vision of the Council and the successes of the authority.
Therefore our Cabinet expects:
- consultations to be discussed with the Deputy Leader first
- Councillors involvement at early stages of developing proposals
- Cabinet being more visible in the media.
Cabinet Members/Leader
It is vital that the Cabinet Members for your area and in some cases the Leader be kept up to date with the project or issue you are dealing with. Early warning of concerns, projects, public consultation are vital and may be done via regular briefings given by either you, or a line manager above you. However, there may be issues that need immediate consideration and therefore an e-mail/ phone call or early meeting is appropriate. Before doing this it is a good idea to make sure your line manager is aware of the issue and the action you propose.
Cabinet Members will want the opportunity to understand and influence projects. Ensure they are told before you start consulting or engaging publicly about an issue.
Local Councillors
Local Councillors have an important role to play in representing the County Council in their constituencies:
- responding to the concerns of their constituents
- in meetings with partners and serving on outside organisations
They should be involved in discussions on matters relating to their locality at an early stage. Simply inform them of issues of interest, or involve them in shaping projects or consultations you are involved in.
Issues may affect a single electoral division but others may have a wider – even sub-regional – impact, in which case numerous Councillors will need to be kept informed.
Whenever a public meeting is organised by the Council to consider a local issue, all the Councillors representing the electoral division(s) affected should, as a matter of course, be invited to attend the meeting. Consideration should also be given to neighbouring Councillors as well.
Similarly, whenever the Council undertakes any form of consultation exercise, the Deputy Leader, responsible Cabinet Councillor and local Councillor(s) should be notified at the earliest stages.
Particular care will need to be taken when dealing with local Councillor issues in two Councillors divisions, ensuring that both Councillors are afforded the same opportunity to receive information on and influence matters relevant to their local patch. Specific issues to look out for are:
- the need for both division Councillors to have equal input into consultation and planning local initiatives
- invites to official openings, public meetings and other locally focussed events to be sent to both Councillors
- where information is provided to one of the two Councillors, it should be copied to the other for information, where appropriate
- a local Councillor may be quoted in a news release if acceptable to the Cabinet Councillor. Officers should consult with the Corporate Communications Team on this.
If you are unsure whether to contact a Councillor or not – think to yourself – is the issue novel, contentious or expensive? If so, make sure the appropriate Councillor is informed.
How to contact or liaise with Councillors
Email or direct telephone call, and always giving a contact name and telephone number.
Alternatively, discuss the issue with your line manager; it could be that a face-to-face meeting or Meeting Exchange contact might be more appropriate in order to talk the issue over with a local Member or portfolio holder.
Other internal channel options
Corporately all Councillors are sent directly, or via a link:
- Daily Briefing (daily)
- to include an item an online form is available on Camweb
(the Council's internal website)
- e-countywide (every six weeks)
Deadlines and publication dates are on Camweb. To submit an article email countywide@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
Reputation, media and public relations
In order to fulfil their roles and democratic responsibilities successfully Members need clear, timely and relevant information to ensure:
- they feel informed
- they are aware not only of single, service specific issues, but also of cross-cutting activities and strategic Council issues
- they are briefed ahead of proactive media work.
Where services are considering proactive media or external communications, advice should first be sought from the Corporate Communications Team on how best to inform and engage with Councillors.
Services will be responsible for making sure the relevant Councillor(s) are aware of any proactive communication work in a reasonable time and where appropriate. They will be supported by Corporate Communications Team.
Where appropriate advice and support should be given to local Councillors to promote issues or successes in their geographical patch or area of responsibility.
Where possible, and appropriate, news releases will be sent to Councillors before they are sent to the media.
For further help and advice contact:
Corporate Communications Team Tel 01223 699280
Democratic Services Tel 01223 699183