Councillors (also called members)
are elected by local people to plan, run, monitor and develop
Council business and the services provided to the local
community. They work to improve the quality of life for people
within the district and make decisions about local issues.
They must balance the needs and interests of their residents,
voters, political parties and the Council.
The role of a councillor can be very varied and individual
councillors decide how they work. However, there are three main
areas of responsibility:
Representation
The primary role of a councillor is to represent their ward and
the people who live there. They can do this by:
- Helping individual constituents in their dealings with the
Council and dealing with enquiries about aspects of Council
business.
- Campaigning on local issues and championing the causes that
further the interests, quality of life and development of the
community.
- Listening to the needs of local people and taking these views,
as well as their own local knowledge, into account when considering
policy proposals and in decision-making.
- Supporting local partnerships and organisations and encourage
community participation and citizen involvement in
decision-making.
- Explaining Council policy and ensuring that the policy has been
carried out fairly.
- Making sure that local people are informed about services in
their area, decisions that affect them and the reasons why the
Council has taken decisions.
Community leadership
Councillors can exercise community leadership by representing
the Council and constituents on outside bodies such as local
partnership panels, local management boards or school governor
committees. They also facilitate partnership working at local level
with other public and voluntary agencies.
Appointments to outside bodies are made by both the Cabinet and
Full Council:
Decision making and formulating policy
Full Council meets once a month and gives
individual councillors the opportunity to raise important issues.
It is a forum where councillors can exercise their representative
function, and one which can underpin policy formulation and
performance review. It deals with matters such as:
- agreeing the Council's budget;
- setting the Council Tax;
- approving the Council's policy framework
- adopting and changing the Constitution;
- electing the Council's Leader.
Most day-to-day decisions are made by the
Cabinet (the Council's 'executive'), which
consists of nine councillors appointed by the
Leader of the Council, or by individual Cabinet
members, who are each responsible for a particular area of the
Council’s work. Some decisions are delegated to Council
officers.
The Council also has a number of
regulatory committees which make what are
called 'quasi-judicial' decisions to do with planning, licensing
and rights of way. Some councillors will sit on the Council’s
development control committees, which make decisions on some of the
planning applications received by the Council. Others will sit on
the Council's licensing committees, which are responsible
for licensing policy and the granting and reviewing of various
kinds of licences, and some will sit on the Rights of Way Committee
which considers issues to do with public rights of way.
Councillors can influence policy as members of
committees which scrutinise decisions and hold
the Cabinet to account for their actions or as members of task
groups which help the Cabinet develop policy.
Membership of outside bodies such as regional, health or local
partnership groups, local management boards, local community bodies
or school governor committees also enables councillors to influence
local policies.
More information about the role and responsibilities of the
councillor, the Cabinet and committees, and how decisions
are made can be found in the Council's
Constitution.
Register of councillor interests
A register of councillor interests is available for inspection
at our Woodbridge
offices during office hours.
Register of gifts and hospitality
Offers of gifts and or hospitality made to councillors and
officers are recorded in the Council's official register which
is available for inspection
at our Woodbridge
offices during office hours.
If you would like a copy of the register or any of the
individual entries contained in it please email
committee.section@suffolkcoastal.gov.uk
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