Developing Roles for Councillors
2.01 Composition of the Council and eligibility to stand for election
(a) Composition of the Council. The Council comprises 37 members, otherwise called councillors. One or more councillors are elected by the voters of each ward in accordance with a scheme drawn up by the Electoral Commission and approved by the Secretary of State.
(b) Eligibility to stand for election. By law only registered voters of the district or those living or working there are eligible to hold the office of councillor.
2.02 Election and terms of office of councillors
Election and terms. The regular election of councillors will be held on the first Thursday in May every four years beginning in 2003. By law the terms of office of councillors start on the fourth day after being elected (this calculation includes weekends and bank holidays) and finishes on the fourth day after the date of the next regular election.
Following an ordinary election of district councillors, it is a requirement that all political group appointments are reported to the Head of Customer, Legal and Member Services within ten days of the date of the election.
Following the election of a Leader of the Council it is a requirement that, within seven days of his/her election, the Leader shall appoint a Cabinet and shall report the names of the Cabinet members to the Head of Customer, Legal and Member Services.
2.03 Roles and functions of all councillors
(a) Key roles. All councillors will:
(i) collectively be the ultimate policy-makers and carry out a number of strategic and corporate management functions;
(ii) deal with individual casework and act as an advocate for constituents in resolving particular concerns or grievances;
(iii) collectively participate in the governance and management of the Council in the role of full council member and through scrutiny where appropriate;
(iv) be available to represent the Council on other bodies;
(v) maintain the highest standards of conduct and ethics (as set out in the Members Code of Conduct in Part 5, Section 1);
(vi) represent their communities and bring their views into the Council's decision-making process, i.e. become the advocate of and for their communities; and
(vii) balance different interests identified within their ward and represent their ward as a whole .
(b) Rights and duties
(i) Councillors will have such rights of access to such documents, information, land and buildings of the Council as are necessary for the proper discharge of their functions and in accordance with the law.
(ii) Councillors will not make public information which is confidential or exempt without the consent of the Council or divulge information given in confidence to anyone other than a councillor or officer entitled to know it.
(iii) For these purposes, "confidential" and "exempt" information are defined in the Access to Information Rules in Part 4 of this Constitution.
2.04 Conduct
Councillors will at all times observe the Members' Code of Conduct and the Protocol on Member/Officer relations, set out in Part 5 of this Constitution.
2.05 Allowances
Councillors will be entitled to receive allowances in accordance with the Members' Allowances Scheme set out in Part 6 of this Constitution.
2.06 Register of Interests
The Council maintains a register of the financial and other interests of councillors in accordance with Section 81(1) of the Local Government Act 2000.
The register is open to inspection at the Council Offices, Priory Road, Spalding.
2.07 Member Profile
A member profile is attached as appendix A. This is not a definitive description, however it gives an overview of the role of a member of the Council.
