As many readers will already know local government in Ireland is organised on the basis that Councillors have responsibility for what are called reserved functions while the County and City Managers are responsible for what are called executive functions. While in law there is a clear definition of what is reserved, given the collegial nature of much local government there has been a considerable blurring of this legal dispensation. Nonetheless, in broad terms, councillors are generally responsible for the adoption of policy while managers are broadly responsible for day to day matters. Some elected members have argued in the past that policy never got anyone elected. Voters may be less inclined to remember the person who guided a spatial strategy through council but might think about the person who sorted out a problem or who spoke passionately about the local issues of the day, whatever the actual relevance to the efficient functioning of the local authority!
Given these factors and the reality that there are relatively few councillors in the Country, electoral relationships can tend towards meeting the immediate needs of the local population rather than on the long-term impact of council policy. Despite this, and notwithstanding the importance of caring for the immediate needs of local constituents, policy does matter! The elected body does ultimately make decisions which influence the functioning of society. This includes determining where people will live, work, recreate and raise families. In common with local government systems throughout the OECD what Councillors think and do therefore matters. This is something long recognised across most OECD members and therefore it does not come as a surprise to find on-going emphasis on the provision of continuous training and development programmes for councillors in many other countries. This is much in the way that one might expect to have a continuous professional development programme for planners, architects or other staffs in local government.
Belfast City Council recently became the first local authority in Northern Ireland to receive the Member Development Charter, a UK wide initiative of the IDeA.( http://www.idea.gov.uk/) In achieving this distinction, of being the first council on the Island of Ireland to achieve the designation, it joins over 200 other local authorities in the UK. The thinking behind the Charter is that Councillors need on-going support and development if they are to address the many challenges confronting them in their policy role. It is not cheap but given the policy impact there is the argument that expecting people to adopt complex policy documents, in the absence of training, is an unfair burden. Councillors in Belfast can now expect to undergo a continuous development programme, with the support of the Northern Ireland Local Government Association, ranging from the leadership role of the councillor to the practical application of policy processes.
Councillors in New Zealand can also expect similar developmental support. Local Government in New Zealand has a long established, continuous development programme for Councillors and more recently directly elected mayors. The Know How Programme deals with everything from financial management to corporate governance. Practical skills based training is also an inherent part of the programme, delivered by professional staffs drawn from Local Government in New Zealand.
This enlightened thinking is something of a contrast with the ad hoc training of elected members in Ireland. Notwithstanding the considerable progress, since the publication of Better Local Government, in developing continuous professional development for both staff and management, councillor training remains under developed. In that light it surely cannot come as a surprise that many local elected members simply see themselves as local ombudsmen and not as the policy leaders that their role clearly calls for. Given the many current, mainly financial, pressures confronting local and national government it may be the easy option to limit opportunities for training and development, not just for councillors but also staff and management. However, if we are to be serious about achieving greater effectiveness and efficiency, in the public service generally, and local government specifically, we will require people with the confidence and capacity to make hard decisions over whether certain services can be continued. Equally, expecting elected policy makers to take an enhanced role in economic and local development, while a welcome opportunity, will be a challenge in the absence of adequate preparation, and the acquiring of development skills and knowledge. The now considerable experience of the local development sector did not come about by accident. Experience from the sector suggests the need for animation and capacity building when the strategic planning of a community is being undertaken. How much more necessary therefore, is such developmental training for councillors, people who are expected to have an overall vision for their communities?
The current US Secretary to the Treasury once suggested that a good crisis should never be wasted and there is evidence which indicates that people tend to seek to up-skill in such times. Given current circumstance, the likely re-configuration of the public service generally and the local government sector specifically, is it not opportune to begin thinking along similar lines for the elected body at local level or are we simply content to leave it to individual initiative to be up-skilled? If so, it will be a missed opportunity which will come back to haunt us when times get better.
