Module 4: How to Advocate
Joshua Artus
Centric Lab
Featuring:
David Smith
Little Ninja UK
Councillor Claire Williams covers the role of a councillor, what a councillor can achieve and the limitations of the role. She shares important context on the mechanisms of engaging with council processes and gives helpful insight on how best to get your councillor on side and advocating for you.
Key Learnings: Definitions
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Councillors are elected to local councils to represent their community. They should provide community leadership and serve and represent everyone in their ward.
They are responsible for:making decisions about the local area
representing their ward
developing and reviewing council policy
scrutinising decisions taken by other councillors
other administrative and legal duties
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A Code of Conduct sets out how councillors are obliged to work and represent constituents and the standard to which they must comply. They all rest on the following seven principles serving in public office - selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership.
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To act in accordance with a set of principles and standards. In this context set out by law in the UK.
Key Learnings: Our Thoughts
A councillor’s role is in supporting people to solve operational day to day issues, this is where they are most effective. Secondly, their role is in advocating for the wider community, for example, implementing a play park. And finally, in taking constituent voices into the council to feed into council priorities. Check the councillors code of conduct to ensure your councillor is acting in a compliant way.
Individual councillors don’t necessarily hold a lot of power, it depends on the party and if they are part of a majority.
They have more power to get things done where there is an identified problem. If the issue is not acknowledged by the council, then it is much more difficult. You will be able to find council priorities and council-identified issues in their corporate strategy, local plan and other policy documents found on your council’s website.
Councils need to be compliant, so will prioritise their statutory duties. Many councils also deliver discretionary duties, an explanation can be found here.
Don’t assume councillors are experts and don’t assume they have background knowledge in the issue you are bringing to the table. Come with evidence or a plan, for example “this is a problem and this is what I would like you to do on my behalf”. Councillors have a duty to respond and reasonably carry forward what they are asked by their constituents. Presenting a solution and coming with specific questions to take forward means the councillor has something concrete to act upon and represent.
No matter the autonomy or political persuasion of the councillor, the councillor still must represent your views or give you a good reason as to why they won’t. Challenge their points.
You can find your councillor’s contact details on the council website, ideally you want to email so there is a paper trail.
Partner with, or find common ground with, statutory planning departments, community groups, and development trusts. The more voices you have saying the same problems, the more chance there is for something to be done, the petitions process also means relevant departments must respond.
Engaging with these councillors and council departments are long term mechanisms, this is not a pop in pop out process, it is a long haul journey. You have got to be committed to co-producing the solution.
Ensure you have a strong evidence base and data collection so that those representing you have all the information they need.
What in this lesson stood out for you?
Prompts
These questions are framed to help you apply your own experience and perspectives to points raised in this lesson.
What, if any, are your experiences of engaging with Local Councillors? Does your message align in any way with the headline policies and acknowledged priority areas of the council?
What has been the role of your evidence base in collaborating with partners? Have you found it to be an important factor? What role did narrative and framing play in its importance?
Review the Local Plan of your local council, it is one of the few policy documents of the council that is legally binding and holds statutory obligations. Do any of your concerns overlap with priorities laid out in the plan? If so, you will have strong grounds to advocate against your council going against its own commitments. Likewise, you can do this with other strategic policy documents that guide decision making, though they are not statutory commitments.
Consider keeping an online diary of your journey. It may feel small at first but there are multiple benefits to this. Firstly, it can act as a time recorded evidence of your experience. Secondly, it offers you the chance to research and craft your communication skills. Thirdly, it can be a powerful tool in finding partners and allies you didn’t know were out there.
When taking a concern to your councillor, prepare by briefly laying out the context, the issue, the evidence base behind the issue, the request you would like to make to them and the solution you hope to reach. In keeping with the point above, finding where the council has committed (even if at a surface level) to your cause can support the councillor in taking your voice forward.
Ask your councillor what other collaborations and actions they are involved in, and if they can support you in connecting your struggles together.
If you are concerned you are not being taken seriously by your councillor, refer to the local authority code of conduct and press the councillor on their duty to represent your voice and challenge them if they do not. If they breach their code of conduct you will be able to file a complaint to the council.
Next Lesson:
Module 4 Lesson 3.2