FAQ

Is it all about long, boring meetings?

Meetings do define your life as a councillor to some extent because policies need to be developed, reports need to be given and strategies agreed. However, they vary wildly in format, purpose, style, tone and the people taking part: from community meetings with tenants and residents' representatives to formal committees with senior council officials and other councillors.

As a new councillor you can feel powerless to influence the way a meeting is going - it can seem as if everyone else knows how things work and you are the only one wondering what the point of the meeting actually is. In fact, the chances are that lots of other people feel the same way you do but are reluctant to challenge, so it's worth checking if everyone is clear about where the meeting is going and what it's achieving.

It's also worth remembering that you do not have to attend every single meeting that is called: you need to retain some of your own life too! If you are elected you will soon learn which are most important and how to prioritise. However, you need to check with Labour colleagues and the Group Whip [link] if you feel you need to de-prioritise certain meetings as your non-attendance might cause problems for other colleagues. For example, if you miss a meeting, it might affect the outcome of a vote causing a Labour policy to be defeated. Or if you miss an event, there might not be a Labour voice and ear in the community. This is another reason why being part of a Labour team brings benefits - you can share the workload around and take turns.

What is the Labour Group?

Where there are two or more Labour councillors on a council they can form a political group. This entitles them to places on council committees and to certain other things eg support for the group such as a political assistant or help from officers in constructing their budget. For Labour councillors, being part of the Labour group of councillors is an important part of their role:

• the Labour Group shares collective responsibility for implementing the manifesto promises on which all its members were elected
  
  
• it meets to discuss and agree policies and political positions on any matters that may come up that are not covered by the manifesto eg the detailed proposals for implementing pledges and the annual council budget and council tax level
  
  
• it's a way to share experiences with other councillors and to get support and ideas - if a problem is occurring in the area that you represent, it may be occurring elsewhere and other colleagues may have thought of how to resolve it, or it may be something that you all need to draw to the attention of the Labour group leadership for a collective decision and response.

The Labour group will normally meet monthly to take political decisions on major policy issues, to get feedback from the leader and cabinet (if Labour is in control) or lead spokespersons (if in opposition) and to discuss campaigning and other business. Some groups may meet more frequently, others less so. Its business and agendas are managed by Group officers, which are a different sort of political role from formal council responsibilities:

• Group Chair - an important position in holding the Labour councillors together and enabling all views to be heard and consensus reached in meetings
  
  
• Group Secretary - vital to ensuring the Group's political business is managed and that agendas are put together that reflect the key political priorities of the Group
  
  
• Chief Whip - formally responsible for ensuring that collective Labour Group decisions are followed in full Council meetings (known as "following the Whip") and for any issues of discipline, but also often plays a pastoral role in ensuring councillors with problems get any help that they need
  
  
• other officers who together with the main group officers form the executive committee responsible for planning and agreeing group business and agendas, such as Treasurer, Assistant Secretaries and Whips, Press Officer, Campaigns Co-ordinator and a range of other roles.