How to be a councillor

Oxfordshire has a new set of councillors – and over half of them are freshers.

On Friday, the new intake of county councillors will have their first meetings at County Hall – a full day of inductions, with group meetings afterwards. Their collective votes have an impact on 750,000 people in Oxfordshire, and a budget this year of £1.2bn. Their decisions affect adult and children's social care, education, public health, highways, communications, infrastructure and so much more; things that have a material impact on every person living in Oxfordshire (though you might not have guessed this from some of the leaflets). Every minute spent debating at full council or scrutinising in a committee has an impact on real people, sometimes people that live far away from a councillor’s own division.

Damian Haywood was councillor for St Mary’s & Iffley Fields in Oxford from 2018 until this year’s election, when he stepped down. We asked him for his advice for new councillors.

It could be argued that I was both lucky and unlucky in being elected at a by-election. I didn’t have to compete with other new councillors for the attention of officers. However, on the downside I didn’t have a formal induction process and therefore was “thrown in at the deep end”.

The roles within the Labour Party Group, which I joined, were already formally established; as they were in opposition they had assigned briefs, I did not. Not having a dedicated brief was a help and a hindrance. It helped as I did not need to have an in-depth understanding of a specific area (e.g. children’s social care), yet it was a hindrance because without a brief, officer support is more difficult to obtain. I felt obliged to know everything, as this is what I thought my residents expected of me. It soon became apparent that this is impossible to do; the county council is a vast place with an array of varying responsibilities.

I took it upon myself to ask questions, lots of questions. This is my first piece of advice: there is never a daft question! You are bombarded with information, acronyms, names, there is a lot to learn, and as you need the right information, without asking those questions you will never receive it.

One way to overcome this problem is to buddy up with an old stalwart. There are many of these around County Hall – councillors who have been there for decades who know everything and everyone. If you have one in your party, use them. If you are not in a party, there are many councillors of all colours who are willing to offer newbies advice and support. We are all public servants, after all. Get to know your opposing councillors: you will be working with them in scrutiny and planning committees, and you may even need their vote if you wish to get a motion through full council. 

Once you have a sound base of the workings of council (which you will need to aid your casework), find yourself a niche. You may already know your niche as it may be what drove you to stand in the first place. I went into politics because of being the parent of a profoundly disabled child, and seeing the need to fight his and others' corner. However, my political journey took a turn and I decided to also focus my attention on Public Health, as this is what I am trained in professionally. 

Finding information can be a nightmare. You may have to email several people before you find the right person. My advice here is to push, be polite, but push and escalate if need be. I would advise not to email the generic address but try to find the responsible individual. However, within my email signature I had a line that read “n.b. I do not expect a response outside working hours”, removing any obligation an officer may feel they have to respond outside working hours. Try to use email wherever possible, as it provides a record of the information provided to you and what you provide to residents. Most residents have email so even if they call you, ask for their email address to respond to.

Use technology. Have a method for monitoring your casework. The county IT setup equips you with many tools; ask other councillors how they do it. 

Be responsive. If you receive an email from a resident, respond to it as soon as possible. A holding email may suffice, suggesting you will get back to them with the information. Residents will appreciate this. Remember, we are here to serve the public and you are their representative.

When dealing with residents, be honest. For example, if they are asking for something that you do not think is reasonable, tell them so. They may not like your answer, but they will respect you for it. Similarly, if a resident brings an issue to you which is against the policy of your political group, but you think it is reasonable to ask, challenge this within your group. You may have stood on a party platform, but they elected you as an individual, your values, your beliefs. Discuss this with your group and explain to them that you cannot vote with them on a particular issue. But do this before the vote. Honesty and openness should be welcomed within the group. 

I found one of the most enjoyable areas of council to be scrutiny. It provides you with the opportunity to scrutinise and challenge the administration in a non-political manner. It also gives you the most in-depth and up-to-date information regarding council business. I would highly recommend joining a scrutiny panel. The added bonus to joining a scrutiny panel is that, although as a councillor there is a lot of reading, if you are on a scrutiny panel it gives that reading an added purpose – not simply reading 500 pages of council business for your own benefit.

As there is so much information, I suggest you find dedicated reading time within the week. Not doing so will mean you are chasing your tail prior to any important meeting. A vital document is the forward plan: it will provide you with the information of what is coming up and when, and therefore you can plan if you wish to speak on an item at, for example, Cabinet. It also allows you to plan your open questions for full council.

Finally a few general recommendations, mainly to keep your sanity! Give yourself time and space. Being a councillor is very rarely a full-time job. You will have other commitments, including family, work and friends. Do not lose these in favour of council, you will not be thanked.

Listen – to other councillors, officers, residents, and especially public speakers. They have given their time to come to speak to you. You may not agree with them, but please give them the courtesy of listening; do not look at your phone whilst they are speaking!

Thank the council staff. This should go without saying. They are there for you, and they are very helpful, and they appreciate a little thank you from their elected representatives.

Be pragmatic. You can and will do a lot of good for your community but you ain’t going to change the world in a month.

And finally, good luck. It is a special thing being a representative. Enjoy it!