The Good Councillor's Guide 2024

It gives me great pleasure to introduce the 2024 version of the Good Councillors Guide. This revised edition is a welcome and much needed resource.

It is essential guidance primarily for new councillors but also for those thinking about becoming a local councillor. New councillors have a lot of information to take in when they join a council, and the guide can help them understand this.

If you are reading this guide as a new councillor, I congratulate you on joining the council and thank you for taking up a civic office that can make a real difference to the community that your council represents.

Once the excitement of being elected or co-opted has subsided you may begin to feel a little daunted by the responsibilities you have taken on and your part in the democratic framework of local government. I hope this guide will help you understand more about your role, the difference you can make and help ensure you are acting within your council’s powers and duties.

Cllr Keith Stevens, Chair of NALC.

ACRONYMS AND GLOSSARY

ACV	Assets of Community Value
AGAR	Annual Governance and Accountability Return
ALCC	Association of Local Council Clerks
CALC	County Association of Local Councils
CIL	Community Infrastructure Levy
DPI	disclosable pecuniary interests
GDPR	General Data Protection Regulations
GPC	general power of competence
JPAG	Joint Panel on Accountability and Governance
NALC	National Association of Local Councils
RFO	responsible financial officer
SAAA	Smaller Authorities’ Audit Appointments Ltd
SLCC	The Society of Local Council Clerks
SPD	supplementary planning document
VCFS	voluntary, community and faith sector

INTRODUCTION

This guide is an essential tool for all councillors, whether new, aspiring, or existing members of a local council. It will help with understanding how this unique sector of local democracy works and how they can best contribute to it. Training and learning are a crucial element of being a good councillor and this guide is just the start of the process. Where relevant, this guide will show where more resources can be accessed, namely from your local County Association of Local Councils (CALC), which can supply essential training and development opportunities.

Throughout this guide, all community-level civil councils are referred to as local councils because, regardless of their formal title (Town, Parish, Community, City, Neighbourhood or Village), they all have the same tier of authority and duties. In effect, Combe Hay Parish Council (population 147) has the same duties and authority as Northampton Town Council (population 137, 000).

The duties of the local council as a corporate body are not onerous, but respect should be paid to their long history – going back to 1894 – while staying relevant to a fast-paced modern world. Well-informed councillors find the role can be extremely rewarding and that they can make a difference in their communities. Accepting the unique role of a councillor at this tier of local democracy (which is different to those at principal tiers of the democratic system) can be a challenge, but new councillors are not expected to know everything when they start.