Welcome to our forum. This is the last opportunity to air your views as the commission gets down to the serious business of turning the body of evidence it has amassed into a set of practical and co-ordinated recommendations/proposals. Therefore this question will run only until Monday 12 November, to ensure your comments can be considered by the commission.
Our final question concerns life after the council:
How could we provide better support for councillors in their transition out of the role, and recognise the contribution they have made?
While some choose to stand down, for others it can happen quite suddenly and it is not always easy to adjust to life back on ‘civvy street.’ How can we help people to make use of their transferable skills and what can we do to ensure those skills are recognised and valued by employers? And councillors, particularly leaders and cabinet members, may be faced with a sudden reduction of income. Are ‘parachute’ payments a viable solution?
On a similar note, how should society thank councillors for the contribution they have made to their local area? Would people benefit from being awarded some form of recognition of their service to the area? And could we make better use of former councillors in a civic role (visiting schools, mentoring new councillors etc)?
If we are to encourage more diverse people to stand for election we must be able to demonstrate how they will be supported in their role and that even if they would only wish to serve for one term, that there are structures in place to support the transition back into non-councillor roles - and also, that their contribution to society will be recognised.
These issues are crucial to the future role of the councillor so please let us know what you think.
Thank you for taking part.
Dr Jane Roberts DBE
Chair