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Unitary Councillor Role Description

Purpose and Background

This is a description of the role that all councillors will be expected to perform.

Councillors may have additional regulatory, licensing or scrutiny responsibilities or be a member of the Cabinet – there will be specific role descriptions drawn up for them, and each of these responsibilities is likely to attract additional time commitments.

1. Size of the Role

1.1. The number of voters in each division will be in the order of 3700, you will be accountable to them for any issue relating to the Council’s activities and, through the Area Boards, for the much broader concerns of the Community.

2. Breadth of the Role

2.1. In your division you will be responsible for resolving problems associated with, amongst other things;

  • Planning
  • Housing
  • Licensing
  • Environmental Health
  • Car parking and enforcement
  • Protecting the environment
  • Leisure
  • Refuse collection and recycling
  • Community Planning
  • Council Tax collection
  • Housing Benefit
  • Education
  • Social Services
  • Libraries
  • Roads
  • Consumer protection
  • Children's Services
  • Health Scrutiny
  • Transport
  • Economic Development

3. Allowances

3.1. Initially this will be the same as for the current County Councillors (£9,875 as at 1 June 2008 plus defined expenses). These will be reviewed by an independent body once the Unitary Council has been working for a period of time.

4. Anticipated Hours Required to Perform the Role

4.1. The time unitary councillors will need to carry out the role will depend on many things;

  • If you have a rural division, you will spend more time travelling
  • If you are a new Councillor you will have to spend a lot of time being trained to enable you to carry out the role
  • If you have a particular interest you may choose to become more involved in committees associated with these matters
  • If there are important or controversial issues in your division they may occupy a lot of your time.

4.2. National figures show that Unitary Councillors spend on average 27 hours a week on the role. There are formal meetings you will be expected to attend but much of the work will be in your division when constituents contact you with a problem. The work includes

  • Resolving problems raised by your constituents
  • Attending Council and policy making meetings
  • Being a member of an Area Board
  • Attending Town and  Parish Council meetings in your division
  • Representing the Council on outside bodies

Members who have additional regulatory, licensing or scrutiny responsibilities or who are on the Cabinet will be expected to work additional hours.

5. Timing of Meetings

5.1. Day time meetings at Trowbridge;

  • Attendance at Council meetings eight times a year
  • Attendance at Cabinet, quasi judicial and regulatory meetings when items of interest to the division are under discussion.
  • Approximately two meetings a month

5.2 Evening meetings within an area or on a District basis;

  • Attendance at monthly Area Boards
  • Attendance at planning committees and other regulatory committees when items of interest to your division are under discussion
  • Attendance at Town and/or Parish meetings
  • Attendance at meetings of outside bodies, some of these might be in the day
  • Approximately four meetings a month

Note that frequency of unitary meetings have not yet been finalised

6. Principal Roles

6.1. To Champion your division

  • To represent your constituents and to act as the link between them and the Council
  • To keep up-to-date with local concerns, including those of  hard to reach groups
  • To identify and help to resolve local concerns

6.2. To be a community leader

  • To mediate fairly and constructively between people and groups with conflicting needs
  • To create effective partnerships with all sections of the community
  • To work with partners to build strong and cohesive communities with a long term vision and direction
  • Act as the focus for consultation and discussion of local issues

6.3. To keep in touch with constituents

  • To regularly communicate with the community using newsletters, emails, phone or local media and through local surgeries and meetings
  • To create opportunities to communicate, including hard to reach groups
  • To provide regular feedback

6.4. To contribute to decision making

  • By contributing to and informing debate at Council meetings
  • Through membership of a Community Area Board by
  • influencing and shaping services
  • monitoring performance of local services to ensure that they are held to account
  • providing for more effective working between the Council and partners

6.5. To act as a “corporate parent” for children in the care of the authority

6.6. To represent the Council externally

  • By sitting on outside bodies and attending seminars on behalf of the Council

6.7. Unitary councillors will be expected to

  • Commit to a programme of continuing learning and development provided by the Council
  • Comply with the Council’s code of conduct and other protocols set out within the Constitution and to maintain the highest standards of conduct and ethics in the performance of your duties

7. Personal Skills

7.1. To fulfil the role of an effective unitary councillor, candidates should have:

  • Knowledge of current issues for constituents
  • Good advocacy and listening skills
  • Good communication, presentation skills, mediation and conflict resolution skills
  • Integrity and the ability to set aside own views and act impartially
  • Good awareness of equality and diversity issues
  • An understanding of the roles of officers and members
  • Knowledge of meetings rules and conventions
  • The ability to challenge ideas and contribute positively to policy
  • A desire to learn

Contact Details

By Post

Corporate Communications
Wiltshire County Council
County Hall
Bythesea Road
Trowbridge
Wiltshire
BA14 8JN

By Email

onecouncil@wiltshire.gov.uk

By Telephone

01225 713110 / 713003

By Hand

County Hall, Trowbridge

Opening Hours

Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm