What every councillor needs to know

What every Councillor needs to know is a lot as you will have no doubt found! The Councillors Guide produced by the Local Government Improvement and Development (LGID) is an excellent starting place and they offer an excellent series of useful workbooks on key topics whichyou might find useful.

The Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) has developed fully revised induction materials aimed at helping new councillors settle into their roles effectively and quickly:

• Making an impact
• Getting to know your ward
• Being part of a team
• Getting to know your council and beyond

In conjunction with the LGID, the Leadership Centre for Local Government has launched a social media guide for councils and councillors. It offers a brief introduction to social media and how it can be used to support leadership roles, encourage community conversations, and help keep a finger on the pulse of local needs and issues.

In 2009 the Member Development Gateway, in partnership with North West Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (NWIEP), launched the first of two accredited programmes for elected members in the region The BTEC Advanced Award for Elected Member Champions (Edexcel Level 3)

So far we ran two courses and are thrilled that members from the two groups successfully completed their programme and have each been awarded the BTEC Member Champions qualification. We are proud to say they are now fully fledged and fully qualified Member Champions!

To accompany the programmes we also developed a ‘North West Member Champion Guide' which features not only a whole range of information about the role of a member champion, but it contains six case studies taken from participants on the programmes which showcase some of the excellent practice that has emerged from members during the course of the programmes.

We have also published The Big Society an up to date policy briefing outlining the impact on councillors and their roles.

For further information:

Contact Mike Wharton 0161 214 7113.