Elected Members in their Ward Role and Officers
All Elected Members are entitled to raise matters of local concern either as representatives of the Council or on behalf of individuals or groups of constituents. Specific departmental protocols for dealing with such approaches may be introduced by the relevant Director or Chief Officer in order to facilitate an appropriate response to such enquiries. Wherever possible, a Member should raise their concern/matter using the Councillor Portal.
Information about an individual resident cannot be shared with a Member without the consent of the individual concerned. Similarly, an Officer cannot become involved in a situation without the consent of the individual, unless there is a cause for concern from a safeguarding perspective.
Elected Members will receive advice and assistance in their pursuit of local matters which is consistent with their responsibilities as Elected Members and local representatives. Individual Elected Members may not, however, seek to obtain a disproportionate amount of Officer time in dealing with ward matters. This provision is intended to avoid a situation in which the demands of a small number of Elected Members become so great that the interests of other Elected Members, or the Council as a whole, may be compromised or damaged. There are provisions in the protocol for discussing and resolving differences of view about how much input can reasonably be required from Officers in responding to issues raised by Ward Councillors. If a Director or Chief Officer feels that the demands of Elected Members in these circumstances are unreasonable, and this cannot be resolved informally, he/she will set out in writing the reasons, together with proposals for resolving matters. If agreement cannot be reached the matter will be referred to the Chief Executive to determine.
Consultation meetings with residents to discuss matters of local interest may be convened in a number of circumstances, for example by Elected Members, Officers or residents themselves. Officers shall only attend such meetings with the agreement of the appropriate Director or Chief Officer. When Officers convene such meetings, they will ensure that all Elected Ward Members and any other Members who might reasonably have an interest in the subject (e.g. relevant Policy Committee Chair) will be advised of the meeting and invited to attend.
Elected Ward Members and others with a particular interest will be invited as a matter of course to any public meetings called by Officers to discuss local issues. They may also ask to be kept informed of key developments relating to local issues in which they have a particular interest. Such requests must be reasonable and not conflict with Officers’ day to day management and decision making responsibilities. Elected Members are not entitled to insist that they be invited to all meetings which Officers convene in order to discharge their responsibilities.
Elected Members should not commit the Authority to Public Meetings until discussed and agreed with Chief Officers. When Elected Members or local residents convene local meetings, Officer attendance will be at the discretion of the relevant Director or Chief Officer and will take account of the purpose of the meeting as stated by the convenor.
In all circumstances, the role of Officers at such meetings is to provide information on the topic under consideration and any decision making process which might be relevant, but not to offer or share judgements. Officers will seek to assist in the effective engagement of the community in the consultation process but will be mindful at all times of the integrity of the formal decision making process.
Elected Members attending local consultation meetings, which may on occasion give rise to heated debate, should be mindful of the restrictions on the responses available to Officers and both Officers and Elected Members should act at all times in accordance with their respective codes of conduct.
Officers may not permit the use of Council resources on Ward matters unless authorised to do so for all Elected Members. The only basis upon which the Council can lawfully provide support services (e.g. stationery, postage, typing, printing, photocopying, transport etc) to Elected Members, is to assist them in discharging their role as Elected Members of the Council. Such support services must therefore be used on Council business only. They should never be used in connection with party political or campaigning activity or for private purposes.
Elected Members and Officers will be mindful and have regard to any applicable Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority publicity as issued by the Secretary of State under section 4 of the Local Government Act 1986.