Your first days in office
Councillor Induction.
A first day for newly elected councillors: how local government works, the political system, and the standards and rules of the chamber.
- Level
- Immerse
- Learning time
- 10 hours 30 minutes
- Where
- Serving the public
- Price
- £249
When you step up to a higher level, what you paid in the last 12 months for lower-level courses inside the bigger course comes off its price, in proportion to how much of each is inside it, whichever topic it's from. Courses at the same or a lower level don't give credit against each other. A Focus course or above always costs at least £15. Read the full terms
Certificate of Completion, or Certificate of Completion and Assessment with a short assessment
Overview and Outcomes.
Who It's For
Newly elected councillors, and officers supporting them
Overview
Local government touches every resident every day, yet its workings can feel opaque to those newly elected to it. Your first days in office is a first day for new councillors and the officers who support them. It sets out what councils do and how they came to be, the types of authority and governance models, the golden thread from corporate plan to doorstep, partnership working and the council budget. It then reads the political system: the councillor's many hats, political leadership, member and officer relationships, and chairing the whole room. Codes of conduct, interests, standing orders and asset-based community leadership complete the picture.
Aims
This programme aims to help newly elected councillors settle into the role with confidence, understanding how their council works, where they fit in its political system and what standards the public rightly expects. It also helps officers support members well, building the shared understanding on which good governance and good relationships depend.
In summary, you will be able to:
- Explain how your council is structured, governed and financed, and how its strategic framework connects political priorities to services residents receive.
- Navigate the political system, the many roles of a councillor and member and officer relationships with clarity and mutual respect.
- Apply codes of conduct, rules on interests and standing orders to act with integrity in the chamber, in committees and in your community.
What you'll develop
By the end of this Immerse, you will be able to:
- Explain the scale and breadth of what English councils deliver, using the four service categories of caring, educating and housing, shaping places and everyday essentials.
- Describe what a corporate plan contains and trace the five levels of the golden thread from vision to residents' lived experience.
- Describe the main sources of council income and distinguish what revenue and capital budgets should pay for.
- Describe the four dimensions of a councillor's role, representative, decision maker, community leader and case worker, and explain why they pull in different directions.
- Distinguish political from managerial leadership and explain where the two legitimately overlap.
- Distinguish actual, potential and perceived conflicts of interest and apply the fair-minded and informed observer test.
- Identify where the rules for your meeting come from and check that it is quorate, including when members leave part way through.
- Distinguish a wish list from a delivered community strategy using the four requirements of shared vision, narrow priorities, a named delivery mechanism and a review cycle.
Built from 8 parts.
10 hours 30 minutes of learning.
- 01How councils came to beTypes of local authority and council structuresBitesize · Foundations of Local Government2 modules
- 02Working for the whole placeCouncil strategy, partnerships and placeBitesize · Foundations of Local Government2 modules
- 03Where the money goesCouncil budgets, finance and service deliveryBitesize · Foundations of Local Government2 modules
- 04The many hats of a councillorCouncillor roles and the local political systemBitesize · Working in a Political Environment2 modules
- 05Two roles, one purposeMember-officer relations and leadershipBitesize · Working in a Political Environment2 modules
- 06Clear lines on interestsCodes of conduct, gifts and hospitalityBitesize · Ethics, Integrity and Standards2 modules
- 07Holding the whole roomStanding orders, quorum and interestsBitesize · Chairing Meetings, Boards and Committees2 modules
- 08Building on what is strongAsset-based community development (ABCD)Bitesize · Working with Communities and Partnerships2 modules