Leading in public
Decisions, budgets, public voice and personal safety.
Two and a half hours on leading in public as a councillor: how decisions and budgets work, using your public voice within the rules, and staying safe and well.
- Level
- Focus
- Learning time
- 2 hours 30 minutes
- Where
- Being a Councillor
- Price
- £69
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
Councillors in Wales and England and the officers who support them
Overview
Four modules examine the public side of the councillor's role. It begins with the machinery of decisions: the scheme of delegation under section 101 of the Local Government Act 1972, key decisions and call-in, revenue and capital budgets, the balanced budget duty, section 114 reports and the line between predisposition and predetermination under the Localism Act 2011. It then covers public voice, including section 2 of the Local Government Act 1986, the pre-election period and local media. Next, with care, it addresses abuse and intimidation in public life, drawing on the Debate Not Hate surveys, and the protections and habits that help. A capstone closes the Focus with civility, job-share cabinet roles in Wales and a planning row.
Aims
The aim is to help councillors take part in decisions and budgets with confidence, use their public voice fairly and within the rules, and protect themselves and their staff so that they can sustain a long and healthy public life.
In summary, you will be able to:
- Explain how schemes of delegation, budgets and statutory officers' advice shape council decisions, and apply the line between predisposition and predetermination in quasi-judicial work.
- Use your public voice within the rules on council publicity and the pre-election period, keeping campaigning and governing voices distinct across media and social media.
- Plan personal safety and wellbeing habits, and identify the protections and duty of care steps available to councillors in Wales and England.
What you'll develop
Through this Focus course, you will build the ability to:
- Outline how a scheme of delegation, the decision cycle, key decisions and call-in shape who decides what and how decisions are held to account.
- Apply the distinction between predisposition and predetermination to the decisions you take, especially in planning, licensing and other quasi-judicial work.
- Distinguish your campaigning voice from your governing voice, and apply good practice to local media and your personal social media accounts.
- Identify the protections and support available in Wales and England, and the practical duty of care steps councils can put in place.
- Plan personal safety and wellbeing habits, including boundaries, peer support and switching off, that will help you sustain a long public life.
- Plan your next year in public life using the ward and whole area matrix, honest questions and a five-step personal development cycle.
Built from 2 parts.
2 hours 30 minutes of learning.
- 01Decisions in publicBudgets, officer advice, the media and the code of conductBitesize2 modules
- 02Safe, well and readyStaying safe in public life, with case studiesBitesize2 modules
Go deeper, and pay only the difference
- You are hereFocus, 2 hours 30 minutes, £69
- The whole topicExplore, Elected to serve, 5 hours 30 minutes, £129. Already own the Focus? You pay £60.
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. Prices per person. Read the full terms