5.3 Time commitment
The minimum commitment a councillor needs to make is to attend one formal council meeting every six months (Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973).
In reality, if you choose to stand to make a difference to people’s lives, becoming a councillor will involve a much more significant time commitment. Findings from a review into changes of councillors’ pay and expenses (Scottish Government, 2024) found that:
- more than half of councillors spend at least 26 hours a week on formal council duties
- almost half of councillors spend more than 16 hours a week on informal duties
- some councillors do far fewer hours but others reported spending more than 80 hours a week on councillor duties – especially if they held a leadership role
- 42% say their councillor role is full-time
- more than half of councillors have an additional full-time or part-time job
- nearly 60% of councillors are frequently approached for help whilst not engaged in council duties.
Prioritise your family and personal commitments, and make sure that you know how to manage your time. It can be all-encompassing and you need to ensure you carve out time for yourself so that you can give your best to the role.
Enjoy it! It is an enormous privilege. You will meet so many amazing people and be able to really make a difference to people’s lives.
A councillor’s duties include:
- reading meeting papers
- taking part in council and committee meetings
- holding surgeries and carrying out casework
- attending community council meetings
- attending local events.
There is flexibility as to when councillors can do their work, although this often means carrying out duties during evenings and weekends.
It can be a very stressful role that requires multi-tasking, so it is important to look after your health and wellbeing. I love the flexibility in between the different events, committees and surgeries. It has been a wonderful life learning experience.
5.2 Balancing your roles and responsibilities
