It's been six months since I was elected as a District Councillor at Newark and Sherwood District Council for the Rainworth and Rufford Ward, and I'm still trying to catch my breath.
When I first agreed to stand in the elections I was assured it would be a couple of hours per week, that the skills, experience and relationships I had meant that I'd make a great Councillor and all my cheerleaders agreed that I should go for it. Except for my Husband. He knew that I was already over committed in terms of time, and that I'd end up doing more than just a few hours a week.
I didn't think I'd get voted in to be honest. I figured I'd be supporting other local candidates with their campaigns and as long as they got in, my job was done. Then May 5th came and I'm voted IN!! Yikes.. better start googling "What do District Councillors do?"
What do councillors do?
Decision making (hence all the reading and talking). You can't blag your way though making a decision on whether or not a national infrastructure project to install acres and acres of solar panels is a good idea for the district or not!
Councillors are responsible for ensuring the council has a clear direction and accountability and appropriate working arrangements in place to ensure that it achieves what it sets out to do. ...(more reading and talking, trying to establish and fully understand what the arrangements are, how they are monitored, who is accountable, why its important and how much it costs - not just financially but the social, economic and environmental impact of each decision we make) - Crikey, that's pretty HUGE!
Developing and reviewing policy. ...(more reading and talking - see above point)
Scrutiny. ... (as above, above that and above that)
Representation. This is the more face to face stuff, finding out what people think and why, how decisions affect them and do a good job of (more) 'talking' about it to others.
Respond to residents queries and investigate their concerns (casework)
Communicate council decisions that affect them.
Know your patch and be aware of any problems.
Know and work with representatives of local organisations, interest groups and businesses.
Represent residents views at council meetings.
Fast forward six months and here I am, a Councillor, learning how to perform this role. It's been uncomfortable on occasion. There's
been way too much reading and way too much talking at times. I've experienced lots of positives and met lots of interesting, kind and inspirational people. And it's definitely not just a few hours a week - he was 100% right.
What have I been up to?
Initially there were weekly induction workshops and training, on everything from understanding the Council budget, to professional codes of conduct to understanding the various roles of committees, members and officers. Information overload! The challenge in the first 3 months was to absorb as much information as possible about my new role and balance time commitments alongside my other jobs, my Masters and my homelife. It's taken time to adjust.
I'm extremely grateful for the support and encouragement I've received from everyone.
Highlights:
Working with my fellow councillors Tom and Linda, we successfully challenged the council's recommendation to approve planning to build a food store in the centre of Rainworth. We presented a really good case to the panel, detailing how this would disadvantage residents and why it was a poor application. Together we gathered views from residents, collated facts and figures and scrutinised the planning application to identify the specific issues that presented problems. Although not everyone in the village agreed with our objections, most people felt that the outcome was a good thing for the villlage.
I joined the councils Audit and Governance committee. We meet monthly and scrutinise the decisions and operations of the council and includes Audit, Governance, and Standards including the Standards Complaint Hearing Panel. The Committee provides independent assurance on the adequacy of the risk management framework, the internal controls of the council and the integrity of the Council’s financial reporting and governance processes.
I became the Council's representative on the East Midlands Council's 'Strategic Migration Partnership'. We meet every 2 months. The aim is to provide a regional advisory function for the co-ordination and provision of advice, support and services for migrants. Really interesting, and not at all what we see presented in the national news.
I've been visiting the villages within my ward, getting to know the people and local organisations; understanding their concerns, addressing and supporting residents with their issues and the learning about the priorities for each community and how these link to council strategies and government agendas.
It's been great to get out and about in the ward, although I've still got a lot more work to do here. Inevitably trying to attend 5 Parish Council meetings a month is difficult with many of them overlapping/conflicting with other commitments. Luckily, I work alongside Linda (our patch is so big there are 2 of us), and between us we attend all of them as often as is practically possible. Linda and I speak weekly to keep each other up to date on what's happening locally and our case work.
A lot of my case work has been focused on residents planning applications. During the summer months there were lots of requests for support with overgrown grass verges, hedgerows, reporting fly-tipping and of course...the state of roads and pavements. I've realised just what a complicated and confusing area of work this is. A lot of time is spent finding out which council body is responsible for which bit of land.
The rising cost of living crisis is having such a devastating effect on many households within my ward. Much of my case work is concerned with connecting residents to support and services that are essential to their health, wellbeing, housing and financial security.
I've set up bi-weekly drop-in's at The Social Action Hub for local residents so they can pop in and see me for a chat a cuppa.
Residents of the ward can book a face to face, online or telephone appointment here or by visiting the Book Online page on the website.
You can also get in touch by using the web chat function on the website or send me an email to claire.penny@newark-sherwood.gov.uk
Finally, one thing I'm really proud of is that we have a 'group' of local proactive councillors from Mansfield District Council, Newark and Sherwood District Council and Nottinghamshire County Council, and Parish Councillors with responsibilities for this patch who all get on well, communicate regularly and are willing to work together - regardless of the parties they are affiliated to - and have genuine desire to do our jobs well and create a better future for our residents.
Good partnership work is particularly important for a village like Rainworth that geographically falls into 2 Districts and in 2 separate wards (with 5 councillors). I hope we can create a more cohesive approach to the decisions made by the council and fully represent our local residents views in making these decisions.
So that's all for now. I'll do my best to keep you all updated on projects and activities that I'm involved in and I'll try to take more photo's for the next update.
Comments