Want to be a Rugby Borough Councillor? (16 Jan)

There is a shortage of people wanting to represent their neighbours on Rugby Borough Council. In the recent Bilton Ward by-election only one of the candidates actually came from Bilton itself - see http://rugby.lib.dm/a0NPN .

Bins, stray dogs and public toilets - what is not to like?

Nothing could be more glamourous than the life of a Rugby Borough Councillor.

Their responsibilities include:

Bins - back in the bad old days everything was thrown in the same bin and dumped in a landfill site. Then Cllr Chris Holman rolled out a paper collection scheme. Remember the red boxes? Now Rugby has green, blue and black bins along with the Hunter's Lane tip/recycling centre.

Stray dogs

Public toilets

Council houses - as well as a general duty to help the homeless the Council runs its stock of Council houses and decides on repairs and rents. Critically councillors set the policies which decide who gets to the top of the housing waiting list.

Caldecott Park and the smaller play areas.

The new Crematorium

Grass cutting of our verges and green spaces.

Planning how many new homes should be built and where. Rules for putting up new shops, factories and offices.

… this is not a complete list. Lots of little things which are taken for granted. If they get it right Rugby will be a clean, green, pleasant place to live but very few people will thank their councillors for it. If they get it wrong, Rugby will be a dump and everyone will moan about them.

(Lots of other things that are done by "the Council" like highways, social services, libraries and country parks are done by Warwickshire County Council. Some things that used to be done by "the Council" like the police are no longer their responsibility. We will not even start on the responsibility for schools in this article.)

Financial reward

The basic allowance paid to councillors is £6,227 a year. The number of hours a councillor puts in is up to them. For a decent hard working councillor putting in 20 hours a week that is about equivalent to the national minimum wage. If any councillor just did the bare minimum and turned up to just two meetings a year it would be a very nice earner indeed.

True reward

The true reward is the opportunity to represent your neighbours on Rugby Borough Council.

Want a go?

Rugby Borough Council are holding an information session for people considering whether or not to stand for the Council - see http://www.rugby.gov.uk/site/scripts/news_article.php?newsID=1183 .

What skills are needed?

Lots of people think that councillors need to be skilled at public speaking. This is not so. The last meeting of Rugby Borough Council took just forty minutes and most councillors did not speak at all.

Liberal Democrats think the most important skill is the ability to speak with your neighbours and find out what they think about the services provided by the Council. It helps to be able to read official reports and understand maps. Councillors who are members of a group can share out the tasks to meet individual skills and preferences.

A lot of it is what you make of the role. Nobody says that councillors should organise a snow warden scheme for their ward but Cllr Bill Lewis just saw a need and went for it - see http://rugby.lib.dm/a2Rfs .

You don't need to be a member of a political party

Rugby Borough Council has a proud tradition of independent and ratepayer councillors. However if you are a liberal and want to represent your neighbours on the Council why not give one of Liberal Democrat Councillors a ring and talk about it.