This is the first in a series of five blogs on political culture and scrutiny. Over the course of the next couple of months we will explore what political culture is, what its practical implications are and how members and officers at a local level can work together to identify deficiencies in how people act and behave to promote a more positive and productive approach to politics and local democracy at a local level. Some of this work intersects closely with work that the LGA has been doing on civility in public and political life – and it also links ...
The Councillors Commission, launched by the Local Government Research Unit in partnership with the De Montfort University and the Municipal Journal, has produced an interim report on the role of councillors based on the 20 round tables and 147 written submissions. The report identifies the constant themes with which councillors are continually engaging, such as their political and policy roles, relationships with constituents, tasks at the council, time commitments and the various pressures generated by both the wards they represent and the broader council of which they are members. The report also highlights new challenges to the councillors ...