[[electing Councillors]] What could be better?

[sandGroundZero]

Broadly speaking, what do local councils do?
Councils administer a variety of services:

1. social care;
2. road maintenance;
3. libraries;
4. & formerly, much more

…in many cases initiated by local councils.

For a quaint view of mid-twentieth century councils, see: Local Government (1943)

A contemporary view of Councillors' role courtesy of Cllr. Tony Dawson:

Since Cabinet government was imposed on local councils, taking away decision making from ordinary elected councillors, formal Council meetings are anyway possibly the least effective uses of councillors time.

— Call for Sefton Council Meeting COVID 19 Suspension
[ex; On The Spot News, 20 March 2020 (link misbehaving)]

…just shows how times change in 70+ years!

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There are better ways!

Another round of Council elections is scheduled for May. Wannabe Councillors have declared themselves: Sinclair D'Albuquerque, Lee Durkin. Doubtless the other candidates will appear soon.

It's not unreasonable to wonder about party affiliations. What is the motivation of national political parties embedding themselves in the administration of local services.

[sandGroundZero]

Sefton has 66 Councillors

…what if one third were selected by sortition¹ ?

Note:

1. 22 Councillors selected by a lottery from among eligible voters; the remaining 44 Councillors elected in the usual fashion.

[sandGroundZero]

• | •
~
22 of 66 Sefton Councillors chosen randomly from all eligible voters

What effect might that have?

• Labour, Liberal Democrat and/or Conservative elected Councillors would be hard-pressed to dominate the proceedings, short of a two or three way alliance.

Some modifications to the procedures might be in order. One or other leader of the respective party groups would not necessarily chair Council meetings or otherwise control the agenda.

Though not an especially radical innovation, one third of the Council chosen by lottery would necessitate rethinking administrative details. Support for the one third (who would presumably not have contemplated Council matters beforehand) could be made available to elected Councillors and residents, generally, by means of well designed IT applications. Encouragements to all residents to take an interest in matters of personal interest or concern should be an objective of all Councils in any case.

[sandGroundZero]

Residents desirous of well run services have ample reason to reform local government. As things are, municipalities are severely constrained by the whims of central government(s). Revenue raising options are limited. Council Tax bands are regressive. Other revenues available to Councils are likely to disproportionately impact low wage earners. Everything is, ultimately, regulated by central government.

Whitehall and the Palace of Westminster intrude into every aspect of local government. The UK is excessively centralized and the centre has no motivation to disburse its overall control; certainly, MPs are not our agents or allies in the matter.

Local government must be made to be democratic, efficient, effective and transparent before it can hope to become the inheritor of decentralized functions.

[sandGroundZero]

1. Council Tax and finance arrangements, generally, are not equitable
2. [judging from turnout at local elections,] voters do not appreciate the important and necessary role the Council plays
3. national party politics intrudes, not least in the composition of the Council
4. policies decided in Whitehall are too remote from local priorities
5. government in England is too centralized and
6. the current setup is too ineffective to warrant devolved powers

[Chris R]

No one is taking you on Sandgroundzero

[sandGroundZero]

I believe the leader of one of the Council 'groups ' Liberal Democrat's Cllr. Pugh has observed from time to time that 66 Councillors are too many and therefore that the Council should be reduced in size.
In view of Cllr. Tony Dawson's observation:

Since Cabinet government was imposed on local councils, taking away decision making from ordinary elected councillors, formal Council meetings are anyway possibly the least effective uses of councillors time.

…it does appear there is some redundancy.

A question follows from that, namely:

What do [non-cabinet] Councillors actually do?

I do not dispute that some, at least, spend a good deal of time liaising with individuals and groups from their respective wards, sometimes usefully achieving some small accomplishment or other.

If, instead of reducing the Council by a third, one Councillor in each ward was chosen by lottery with of course,

• a commitment of appropriate support; and
• an undertaking to participate from the selected resident,

then there would follow a significant shift in the political 'dynamics ' of the Council.

Needless to say the proposal is an experiment; a test of concept, if you like. Other experiments in Councils elsewhere could similarly test different configurations. The object of the exercise is to develop new institutional arrangements which will effect greater interest and involvement of residents in their local Council.

[Alikado]

I believe the leader of one of the Council 'groups ' Liberal Democrat's Cllr. Pugh has observed from time to time that 66 Councillors are too many and therefore that the Council should be reduced in size.
In view of Cllr. Tony Dawson's observation:

…it does appear there is some redundancy.

A question follows from that, namely:

What do [non-cabinet] Councillors actually do?

I do not dispute that some, at least, spend a good deal of time liaising with individuals and groups from their respective wards, sometimes usefully achieving some small accomplishment or other.

If, instead of reducing the Council by a third, one Councillor was chosen by lottery with of course,

• a commitment of appropriate support; and
• an undertaking to participate from the selected resident,

then there would follow a significant shift in the political 'dynamics ' of the Council.

Needless to say the proposal is an experiment; a test of concept, if you like. Other experiments in Councils elsewhere could similarly test different configurations. The object of the exercise is to develop new institutional arrangements which will effect greater interest and involvement of residents in their local Council.

As far as I'm aware Councils only have a very limited choice of systems.

[sandGroundZero]

As far as I'm aware Councils only have a very limited choice of systems. — post #8

.

I do not say one third of the Council by sortition is something the Council can do off the shelf. There is no current legislative provision for Councils to experiment in this fashion.

I am saying there is a problem with English local governments' fitness for purpose.

This thread presents a case for voters to engage and advocate for better quality government at all levels; starting with local government. Central governments have tinkered with changes to local governance frequently in recent decades; always it seems with the intention of hobbling Councils while appearing to advocate decentralization and improved local democracy.

21^st century communications technology applied to the objective of greater voter engagement is a prerequisite for improved democratic legitimacy at all levels of government. Advocacy from the bottom, up is essential to make this happen!

[sandGroundZero]

Certainly, we need to scrutinize Councillors and candidates shenanigans
in their quest for our votes.

e.g. LOADSAMONEY! Sefton Council wants bigger payoffs for top bosses

• Are they spending huge efforts denigrating their opponents?
• Do they offer proposals to improve the accountability of local government?

[sandGroundZero]

Though the May local elections are months away, Q Local Southport news page has been awash with press releases from Councillors and prospective Councillors. These have been snipes at the Council — oftentimes about the Emergency Cycle Lanes, a policy (like all policies, these years) dictated from Whitehall.

1. Is this why we have Councillors?
   
2. Is this why we have a Council?

[sandGroundZero]

In the words of Oliver Escobar, public policy academic at the University of Edinburgh:

“….our current political systems too often struggle to cope with the pressing issues of our time. We need more problem-solving capacity, better policy and decision -making, and new ways of governing. In other words, representative democracy needs a substantial upgrade”.

[sandGroundZero]

On-line only retailers are scooping-up High Street brands and the central government is under pressure to devise some alternative to property-based taxation.

Clearly, there are implications for local government; and of course, all communities whose identity has been centred on their respective High Streets. In Southport, Lord Street is a particularly notable case. The formerly chic shopping street from our town's belle époque is, like other High Streets, in distress. Is Southport's seaside resort attraction likely to preserve a place for bricks and mortar retailers?

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Regrettably, the Council hasn't a great deal of room for manoeuvre, given stringent central direction and constraints. In any case as long as Councils are building blocks in the Westminster-focused political party system, electing Councillors will be an obstacle to constructive change.

Genuinely locally-based and popular agitation for change is required!

Is a mixed (elected plus chosen by lot) Council an attainable first step?

[Alikado]

On-line only retailers are scooping-up High Street brands and the central government is under pressure to devise some alternative to property-based taxation.

Clearly, there are implications for local government; and of course, all communities whose identity has been centred on their respective High Streets. In Southport, Lord Street is a particularly notable case. The formerly chic shopping street from our town's belle époque is, like other High Streets, in distress. Is Southport's seaside resort attraction likely to preserve a place for bricks and mortar retailers?

______________________________________________________________________

Regrettably, the Council hasn't a great deal of room for manoeuvre, given stringent central direction and constraints. In any case as long as Councils are building blocks in the Westminster-focused political party system, electing Councillors will be an obstacle to constructive change.

Genuinely locally-based and popular agitation for change is required!

Is a mixed (elected plus chosen by lot) Council an attainable first step?

Is not 'chosen by lot's an election?

[sandGroundZero]

Is not 'chosen by lot's an election? — post #14

The distinction is:

• choosing one Councillor per ward randomly from among eligible voters, versus
• the current, familiar style of election from among nominated candidates.

As we know, candidates not affiliated to a party are disadvantaged and rare.

It is worth emphasizing, the objectives are:

1. to engage voters in local government;
2. to greatly improve the effectiveness and democratic accountability of Councils; with a view to
3. decentralization of many government functions to local decision makers; that is, citizens /residents /voters.

To be clear, sortition as a means of selecting one third of Sefton Council seems to be a feasible first step in achieving point iii above.
Given a little thought, it is possible to conceive of other, perhaps better, ways to achieve that goal.
Nevertheless a mixed — sortition plus elected Councillors — proposal is comparatively modest, easy to understand first step.