Purbeck District Council

What is Peters role?

Job Description for a District Councillor

In 2004 I chaired a review of the role of Councillors which recommended that we clearly define the role of a District Councillor which we have now (finally) done!

Representation
(1) To participate constructively in the good governance of the District, ensuring the effective running of the Council, and accepting overriding responsibility for the whole District.
(2) To act in a community leadership role by representing the Council to the community, and the community to the Council, using all appropriate means.
(3) To be a channel of communication for the ward and ensure constituents are informed of services available, decisions that affect them and the reasons for those decisions.
(4) To represent all members of the public within the ward and deal with constituents’ enquiries and representations fairly and impartially.
(5) To carry out casework for constituents and represent their interests, or enable the constituent to take action to deal with the matter themselves and to perform similar duties in a neighbouring ward when the ward councillor has a personal or prejudiced interest.
(6) To represent the Council on outside bodies as agreed and report back on their activities as appropriate.

Relationships
(7) To develop and maintain effective working relationships with officers and other members of the Council to promote the Council’s objectives.
(8) To maintain effective working relationships with local County councillors plus Parish Councils and Parish Meetings within the ward by keeping them informed about District Council activities and discussing ward matters with them as appropriate.

Decision Making
(9) To attend and effectively participate in all meetings of the full Council and other meetings as appropriate, contributing actively to the formation of the Council’s policies and strategies.
(10) To assist in the scrutiny of all Council policies, objectives and activities and to assist the Overview & Scrutiny Group in the achievement of their objectives.
(11) To take part in the Council’s regulatory duties as appropriate, by taking objective decisions, based on the evidence available.
(12) To keep up to date with all developments affecting the District and the Council including Government policies and prospective legislation.
(13) To keep up to date with the corporate priorities of the Council, its policies and procedures and to read the relevant paperwork prior to participating in any meeting.

Conduct and Ethics
(14) To comply with the Code of Conduct for Members, the Council’s Constitution and the law relating to councillors, and to ensure that no conflict of interest occurs which might undermine the integrity of the Council.
(15) To maintain the highest standards of conduct and ethics, particularly by seeking to serve the community without personal gain and to show respect for fellow councillors, staff and the public. And in support of all the above
(16) To participate in training and development for councillors according to personal need and the needs of the Council

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