RoFTRA seeking to work closely with ward councillors

Reporter: David Bartlett- RofTRA
Date online: 03/01/2008

RoFTRA accepts that it has not worked, and is not working closely enough, with most ward councillors - and welcomes the opportunity of the new year, and the new role the government is indicating they should have - to change that.

The Local Government White Paper, Strong and Prosperous Communities stresses the importance of ward councillors as local political and community leaders and encourages local authorities to empower them to act on local issues and influence mainstream service choices.

In November the Joseph Rowntree Foundation published one its Findings series - ward councillors and community leadership - giving the results of research among councillors in Newham, Salford, Suffolk and Newcastle about how they see this new role. Importantly, among the characteristics they identified are those of Community Advocate, Community Leader, Service Transformer, Place Shaper and Knowledge Champion.

These are all going to get more significant as the government presses ahead with its commitment to local devolution and community empowerment, and RoFTRA needs to work with the borough's ward councillors as they explore what this can mean.