Minutes:
Senior Democratic Officer Samuel Ball, gave a presentation aimed at encouraging local people to consider becoming a Local Councillors. A paper presentation handout and a document titled ‘A Brief Guide to Becoming a Councillor in Oadby and Wigston’ were circulated to those present.
The following points noted from this presentation were:
· The Chief Executive of the Council has a duty to promote consultation and encourage people to vote and stand for local elections.
· Councillors manage the Council budget of some £6.6million.
· Notice will be published for nominations to become a local Councillor in March 2019. Local Elections take place in May 2019.
· BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) Councillors are currently underrepresented in proportion to people from BME backgrounds residing in the Borough and nationally.
· Only 4% of Councillors in England are from a BME background.
· Without a diversity of candidates it is unlikely that Councillors reflect the diversity of Oadby and Wigston Borough would be elected.
· Examples were given of voting apathy in other regions which led to seats being uncontested leading to seats being won by default.
· In the 2015 local elections in Eden District Council 21 seats out of 39 seats were uncontested. At Blaby District Council, 39 seats saw 9 of them uncontested in the 2015 local election.
· There is a decline in the number of candidates coming forward to stand for election as Councillors.
There are myths about being a Councillor. The following are examples:
· You need to belong to a political party.
· You need to be qualified.
· A prospective candidate needs to pay a deposit and candidate will not be able to get time off work.
Borough Council elections are held every four years.
Councillors are provided with a range of support information and guidance via an induction programme and are provided with IT to assist them to fulfil their role.
Council Officers administer the scheme as to how elected Councillors can claim expenses and pair them up with Senior Officers to help with support to ease them into their role.
Residents were invited to speak to Council Officers in Democratic Services if they wished to know more about the election process and how to put themselves forward as election candidates.
Prospective candidates were advised to think about speaking to their local Councillors to find out more about their experiences. The other options are to contact the local political party branch to discuss how the branch can support their campaign, or to attend a Council/Committee meeting to see how the Council operates.
Following a consultation report of Councillors in 2013 82.4% of those surveyed said they would recommend the role of a Councillor to others.
For more information residents were invited to contact Democratic Services on democratic.services@oadby-wigston.gov.uk or ring: 0116 2572775 or attend a candidate and agent briefing .The date for this is to be confirmed, however it is likely to be held in February 2019.
At the close of the presentation, the Chair thanked the Democratic Services Officer for the presentation.
Action:
A copy of the presentation slides will be circulated with the minutes.