How to be a councillor! Who can be a candidate at Parish, Town or District Council elections? How do I stand? What kind of things do these councils do? How much time is involved? How much will it cost me? Useful Links

• Be over 21 years of age

• Be a British subject, a citizen of the Irish Republic, a commonwealth country, a UK dependent territory or another country in the European Community.

• Be an elector for the area in which you would like to stand, or if you are not on the Register of Electors, then you must have either owned property, lived or worked in that area throughout the 12 months immediately before you are nominated. (In the case of parish and town council elections, you may be eligible if you lived, worked or owned land within 4.8 kms of the boundary of that area).

• Not be disqualified for standing, for any reason. These reasons include being employed by that council, being declared bankrupt within the last five years if you have not repaid your debts, having been convicted of a criminal offence and sentenced to not less than three months imprisonment within the last five years.

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Eligible to stand
OK, so I'm interested, eligible to stand, but how do I go about getting elected?

You will need to complete and return a nomination paper. These will be available about 6 to 8 weeks before polling day. They are available from the Returning Officer at North Wiltshire District Council, and will also be sent to Parish clerks to hand out.

The nomination paper pack contains all the information you will need relating to key dates, the information you have to supply, and a summary of some of the main legislation relating to being a candidate. Many candidates choose to use apolitical description (although you do not have to), and if that is the case, the political party affected has to confirm that you may use their name, in which case you may also use their logo on the ballot paper.

Your nomination paper will also require you to obtain two people from within the area for which you are standing to act as your proposer and seconder. In the case of nominations for District council, another eight people from within the ward will need to support your candidature on the nomination form.

The way in which you then publicise your candidature, in order to obtain support, is largely a matter for yourself, although there are a number of rules relating to how much you can spend on this. There are also a number of quaintly described "Corrupt and Illegal Practices" which you must avoid, covering things like bribery, corruption and the use of undue influence. Again, the nomination pack will point out some of these pitfalls.

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What do councils do?
It is impossible to provide a full list of the powers and duties of parish, town and District Councils, and to the outsider it may appear confusing at first, especially as County Councils also have yet another range of functions. Examples might include the following:

Parish and Town Councils
Allotments, By-laws, Bus Shelters, Cemeteries, Footpaths, Sports and Leisure facilities, Parks,

District Councils
By-laws, Car Parks, Community Safety, Concessionary Travel, Conservation and listed buildings, Council Tax and Benefits, Housing, Leisure centres, Local planning, Public conveniences, Refuse collection, Street cleaning, Tourism

County Councils
Education,, Highways, Libraries, Registration of Births Deaths and Marriages. Social Services, Trading Standards, Youth Clubs

However, many of these can be shared responsibilities, and will vary from one part of the country to another, particularly where "Unitary authorities" mean that many of the District and County functions are combined under one roof.

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How much time is involved?
Let's assume you have been elected. Before you can act as a councillor you must formally accept office and sign up to a national Code of Conduct which has been designed to ensure that anybody holding a public office acts impartially and without financial impropriety.

It is impossible to answer the question of how much time is involved, because all councils are different. For example, a parish council must hold at least an annual meeting and three other meetings per year. In a quiet rural area there might not be a need to hold many more meetings than this. In other areas, especially in the urban areas, the only way a busy council could get through all of its work is to break it down into committees, meeting probably every three or four weeks.

As well as the formal meetings, councillors may have a lot of contact with their electorate, either attending local meetings or surgeries, or listening to their complaints and making enquiries on their behalf. A good way to find out how things work at the council for which you are thinking of standing is to contact the clerk and ask a few questions.

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How much will it cost?
There is a limit on how much you can legally spend on your election campaign, but these are costs which you (or maybe a party) will have to pay. Misleadingingly, these are known as election expenses, but please be advised that these are not re-imbursable, as the name might otherwise imply. You do not have to spend anything on your campaign, and at local level there is no deposit to pay -a deposit is only required at Parliamentary and European elections.

Once elected, then in theory it should not cost you a lot. There is usually cover for subsistence and travel allowances, but this is something for your council to determine and has to be within a maximum laid down by the government.

If you would like any further information, please do not hesitate to contact your parish clerk:
Ms Aileen Murphy, 23 Webbs Court, Lyneham, Chippenham, SN15 4TR Email lynehamclerk@yahoo.com

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Useful Links
	North Wilts District Council www.northwilts.gov.uk
	The National Association of Local Councils www.nalc.gov.uk
	The Standards Board www.standardsboard.co.uk
	The Electoral Commission www.electoralcommission.org.uk
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