Could you be a District Councillor?

A note about Parish Councillors

This leaflet gives you information about becoming a District Councillor. When the elections are held to North Shropshire District Council on 3 May 2007, elections will also be held to Parish and Town Councils. There are different rules concerning becoming a Parish or Town Councillor and they have their own particular set of responsibilities.

An exellent web site to visit for more information is the National Association of Local Councils (www.nalc.gov.uk).

What is a District Councillor?

Councillors are ordinary members of the public who are elected to run the District Council. There are 40 Councillors who together make up North Shropshire District Council. They are elected all at the same time, every four years and the next election will be held on 3 May 2007. Each Councillor is elected to represent a specific section of the district called a ward. In some wards, more than one Councillor is elected and they jointly represent the ward.

North Shropshire District Council is responsible for refuse and recycling collections, cleaning the streets, collecting Council tax, paying certain types of benefits, finding accommodation for people made homeless, planning the future use of land in the district and assessing applications to develop land and property, licensing all sorts of activities from taxis to pubs, promoting health and safety in the local area, and providing a wide range of other services.

Councillors take the most important decisions about the way the council is run. They represent their wards on the Council and on other bodies. They take up issues on behalf of their constituents and help local people access support and advice that they are entitled to. Councillors are also the local representatives of the Council in the local area. Their constituents will expect them to be aware of what the Council is doing and to be able to explain Council policy and decisions.

Sometimes decisions are taken by the full Council, sometimes by smaller committees of Councillors. For all meetings, Councillors are sent reports in advance of their meetings outlining the issues they need to decide and giving them relevant information. At the meeting they will normally be given a short presentation summarising the report, they will hold a debate and will then reach their decisions by holding a vote. Council meetings are held in public unless there are matters being discussed that the law requires should be discussed in private.

In order to stand for election you must ask the returning officer at North Shropshire District Council for a nomination form. You will need to put your full name and address on it and it will need to be signed by 10 people who are registered to vote in the ward that you want to represent.

Nomination forms will need to be returned by 12 Noon on 4 April 2007.

If more people are nominated for a ward than there are seats available, an election will be held on 3 May 2007. Everybody registered to vote in that ward will be entitled to vote. The candidate with the highest number of valid votes will be elected. If there are two Council seats in a ward, the candidates with the highest and the second highest number of votes will be elected.

When North Shropshire District Council sends you a nomination form, it will include information from the Electoral Commission about standing for election. You should read this information carefully. Some key points to bear in mind include:

If you want to stand for election to North Shropshire District Council you

™ must be at least 18 years old and

™ must be a British citizen, a citizen of a member state of the

European Union or a qualifying citizen of a Commonwealth

country and

™ have lived in North Shropshire during the whole of the last

12 months or

™ be registered to vote in local elections in North Shropshire

or

™ have owned or rented any land or premises in North

Shropshire for the whole of the 12 months before the day

you are nominated or

™ have had your main or only place of work during the last 12

months in North Shropshire

There are some circumstances under which you would not be able to stand as a Councillor even if you meet the above criteria. Circumstances include

™ if you work for North Shropshire District Council

™ if you have been in prison for certain periods

™ if you are bankrupt

™ if you have been disqualified from standing

You do not need to be a member of any political party to stand for election to the Council and you do not need to represent a political party. If you claim to represent a political party you will need to prove that the political party is properly registered and that you are allowed to represent it.

Yes North Shropshire District Council has a programme of training and induction for newly elected Councillors. It was put together under the direction of a group of existing councillors and will make sure you have the skills and knowledge necessary to undertake your role as a District Councillor and make a full contribution to the work any committees or boards that you are elected to.

District Councillors are provided with a laptop PC, a printer, a telephone line, a fax machine and a broadband connection. Most Council business relies on electronic communication. The Council has two Members' Support Officers who provide some administrative support to Councillors.

Each Councillor receives a Basic Allowance of £3,450 per year. In addition if councillors are attending certain meetings on behalf of the Council, they will be entitled to claim expenses. Some Councillors with particular responsibilities receive larger allowances.

The Council is holding a drop-in session for people who are considering standing for election to North Shropshire District Council. It will be held between 1830hrs and 2000hrs on 27 March 2007. If you come to the event, you will be able to speak directly to people who are currently serving as District Councillors and to some of the people who work for the District Council. They will be happy to answer your questions about any aspect of the work of a Councillor.