5.5 Working with council officers
If you are thinking about standing for election as a councillor, it’s important to understand how you will work alongside council officers. Both play essential roles but contribute in different ways, as shown in the following table.
| Question | Councillors | Council officers |
|---|---|---|
| What do you do? | Set the council’s overall direction Approve policies and budgets Scrutinise how services perform Represent local people if they need help |
Ensure that the council operates within the law Manage the resources that the council has delegated to them Deliver services to the standard agreed by the council Provide the professional advice that councillors rely on when making decisions |
| Where does your authority come from? | The democratic process – they have been elected by local citizens |
Having been appointed through a lawful recruitment process based on their qualifications, experience and professional position |
The two roles are distinct, but they overlap and depend heavily on one another if the council is to deliver effectively for communities. Effective councillor–officer working relationships rely on respect for each other’s authority. This relationship is often described as ‘strategic versus operational’ or ‘steering versus rowing’: councillors set the political direction (strategic/steering) while officers handle delivering it (operational/rowing).
In practice, the boundary isn’t as clear as that. For example:
- When undertaking casework, a councillor can find out detailed operational knowledge of how a service works. This could lead to that councillor considering how changes to council strategies, policies or budget could lead to a better outcome.
- If a member of the public hasn’t received the service they are entitled to, a councillor can ask officers why this is and what can be done about it.
You can go to officers and point your finger at them and demand this and that. I’ve found it’s better to say ‘I’ve got this problem, can you help me?’ Officers are human beings and you need to remember that.
The role of council officers is also more complex than implementing policy that councillors have developed and agreed. Officers contribute their detailed professional knowledge to policy development and budget decisions by advising on what is realistic, legal and deliverable. Officers therefore need to understand the politics of the council and be aware of what policies councillors are likely to support or oppose.
So the idea that councillors ‘steer’ and officers ‘row’ doesn’t convey the complexities of the relationship. If you choose to stand and are elected, it may take you some time to understand the distinctive but complementary roles of a councillor and officer.
Strong working relationships really come down to trust and respect. Officers need to get where the council is coming from – its priorities, its values and the political direction shaping decisions. And councillors need to feel confident that the advice they’re getting from officers is professional, impartial and grounded in evidence. Councillors bring the democratic mandate, officers bring the technical expertise – and you need both working well together for good governance.
The advice I give to any prospective councillors is: your leadership matters but you never lead alone. For the council to work well, councillors and officers need to work as a genuine partnership. Each will bring different strengths, but they should share a common purpose to deliver the best outcomes for local communities.
Have a go at the following activity to learn what actions are appropriate for a councillor to take when working with officers.
Activity: What can a councillor do?
a.
True
b.
False
The correct answer is a.
Answer
This is true, although a council officer may not be able to share certain information, such as legal advice.
a.
True
b.
False
The correct answer is a.
Answer
This is true, as long as it is done respectfully.
a.
True
b.
False
The correct answer is b.
Answer
This is false. It is a breach of the Code of Conduct for Councillors to instruct an officer to do this.
a.
True
b.
False
The correct answer is b.
Answer
This is false. A report is the responsibility of the officer who has prepared it.
a.
True
b.
False
The correct answer is a.
Answer
This is true. You are entitled to raise concerns about the performance of a service and ask what can be done to make improvements. You should do so respectfully and not publicly criticise individual officers who have no right to reply.
a.
True
b.
False
The correct answer is b.
Answer
This is false. While councillors have a right to access plenty of information held by the council, there are certain restrictions.
Activity: Reflecting on what councillors do
Use the space below or the Learning Journal to reflect on what councillors do. Did it match your expectations? Which areas would you need to investigate further?
5.4 Code of Conduct for Councillors
