The phrase ‘not waving but drowning’ could have been written with Boston Borough Council in mind – but has Worst Street now launched the distress flares in the hope that rescue might be at hand?

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A recent Tweet from a senior figure in the Local Government Association said “Brilliant afternoon spent with Boston Borough Council …

“So excited for to be spending four days with them in autumn – roll on September.”

The message highlighted hashtags – which identify messages on a specific topic – for local government, and the “Local Government Association Improvement.”

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The writer is an adviser in the LGA’s Local Government Support Team, responsible for improvement in councils in the East Midlands, Yorkshire and Humber and the North East of England.

“This involves: developing, commissioning and delivering improvement support to councils, as well as developing and maintaining relationships, partnerships and networks.

“This work experience is coupled with a commitment to supporting and delivering better outcomes for local communities, a strong work ethic and a proactive focused approach, with excellent communication, analytical and research skills.”

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The LGA describes itself as “the national voice of local government, working with councils to support, promote and improve local government.”

Specifically, its “improvement” offer “provides a range of practical support … to enable local authorities to exploit the opportunities that this approach to improvement provides.

“This includes support of a corporate nature such as leadership programmes, peer challenge, LG Inform (our benchmarking service) and programmes tailored to specific service areas such as children's, adults', health, care, financial, culture, tourism, sport and planning services.”

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It’s a big list, but we can’t think of a local authority in greater need of a kick up its civic bum than our very own West Street.

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Whilst it remains to be seen whether anything will result, we won’t holding our breath for any good news.

Whilst the LGA takes its job seriously, there is existing evidence that – when it suits our powers that b’aint – they feel free to ignore sensible, sound and honest advice if  adopting it might upset the apple cart.

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Why do we say this?

In recent months, we have had sight of the response to a number of complaints about the conduct of councillors – all of which have been rejected.

Part of which is almost a pro forma reply says:

“The Local Government Association advises as follows: -

“A Councillor’s primary role is to represent their ward or division and the people who live in it.

Councillors provide a bridge between the community and the Council. As well as being an advocate for your local residents and signposting them to the right people at the Council, you will need to keep them informed about the issues that affect them.

In order to understand and represent local views and priorities, you need to build strong relationships and encourage local people to make their views known and engage with you and the Council.

As a local Councillor, your residents will expect you to:-

 Respond to their queries and investigate their concerns (casework).

 Communicate Council decisions that affect them.

 Know your patch and be aware of any problems.

 Know and work with representatives of local organisations, interest groups and businesses.

 Represent their views at Council meetings.

 Lead local campaigns on their behalf.

Good communication and engagement is central to being an effective local representative. Working with local organisations, such as the Parish or Town Council, is one way to keep in touch.”

In the same breath, Worst Street declares: “This is what is advised but there is no formal mechanism to enforce such behaviours.”

And it goes further by saying: “There are no formal requirements for a District Councillor in terms of a job description or any legal requirements as to how much engagement they much make with their constituents. Indeed, the only legal requirement for a Councillor to attend meetings in that they must attend at least one meeting in a six-month period or this will lead to automatic disqualification.”

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It's not as if these recommendations are in any way excessive or unreasonable – in fact they are precisely what taxpayers believe that they are electing their councillors to do.
So why is is that these recommendations have not been integrated into the so-called code of conduct for Boston Borough councillors?
Because the Worst Street administrators don't have the guts to make the council members do their job as they should if they can't be bothered – which is shameful beyond belief.
If Worst Street deliberately can be that disinterested and dismissive of the way that councillors should or should not deliver the promises they make to get elected, then imagine the likely response if they are told  by the Local Government Association that Worst Street is a crock of merde that needs a good overhaul.

We’re afraid that everyone –  councillors and officers alike – are having it too cushy to consider improving anything for a single moment.

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