Lancashire CC has just won The MJ’s Councillor Development Achievement of the Year Award in recognition of its tireless efforts to champion the work of its members. Nicola Carroll reports

Lancashire’s Think Councillor concept is not a single initiative, but a whole new approach backed by a range of measures enabling elected members to make the most of their community champion role.

And a visit to the county council headquarters in Preston reveals how closely councillors and officers have worked to embed Think Councillor in the organisation’s culture – and how pleased they are about winning The MJ’s Councillor Development Achievement of the Year Award 2011 as a result.

Lancashire CC’s chief executive, Phil Halsall, says: ‘Our job as officers is to make it as easy as possible for councillors to serve our 1.2 million residents.

‘A change in approach has provided better understanding of what members need, and winning The MJ award is a fantastic indication that we are on the right path to providing that.

‘We are a good council which has been quietly doing good things, and winning the award has been great for morale.’

Overview and scrutiny manager, Josh Mynott, explains: ‘It’s not just about one initiative or a logo, but about bringing a lot of things together to create an overall attitude. And it’s been successful because it has commitment across the whole organisation.’

New scrutiny arrangements in 2010 were the catalyst for this new way of supporting councillors. The authority was one of three which took part in a Community Development Foundation project exploring councillors’ community leadership role.

Cllr Val Wilson, who was among six elected members nationally to be involved, explains: ‘Enhancing community leadership is not about processes, but about having the right processes in place to engender the right culture.’

Think Councillor is embedding improved support for councillors in all aspects of the authority’s work. It has enabled Lancashire to cut bureaucracy while boosting local engagement.

Member development officer, Catherine Earnshaw, points out that no additional resources have been required, since new measures complement the existing member development programme. For example, the staff induction programme now fosters greater awareness of working in a political environment.

As the fourth-largest county in England, encompassing rural, coastal and urban areas, Lancashire’s politicians serve a diverse range of communities and require a range of tools for communicating with them.

A member development working group benefited from the involvement of three councillors who are particularly proactive in the use of new technology, and the county’s e-communications expertise has been used to enhance support for members and improve public access to information.

The Councillor First portal provides a ‘one-stop shop’ bringing all the information councillors need together in one place. All 84 councillors have their own websites, laptops and smart-phones, and have been equipped with appropriate IT skills.

The popularity of new media among the county’s residents was demonstrated with 1.35 million visitors to councillors’ websites in 2010. Councillors’ use of social media proved invaluable, for example, in keeping residents informed of gritting arrangements during last winter’s bad weather.

The authority’s decision management system includes webcasting of council meetings. Posting webcasts of briefings on a password-protected basis also enables councillors who have demanding day-jobs or live in remote parts of the county, to keep abreast of policy.

Think Councillor has, by its nature, been very much member-led.

So what do councillors think? Deputy leader, Cllr Albert Atkinson, says: ‘Feedback from members about the support they are now getting has been good, and we are delighted The MJ award recognises our work to help engage with local residents.

‘While new technology doesn’t take away from traditional communications, we also have to keep up with modern communication, if that’s what our residents want, and those of us who were not necessarily skilled at IT have been well supported to do so.’

Cllr John Shedwick, chair of scrutiny, says: ‘I could spend days working out who to go to with a question in the past, and now it will only take an hour to get an answer because all the relevant information is in one place.’

One aspect of the Think Councillor approach he has particularly welcomed is ‘Back to the floor’, which offers the opportunity to shadow officers.

‘We recognise that roles of members and officers are different, but this helps break down barriers,’ he says. Tours of each other’s constituencies also help councillors understand each other’s priorities.

The Local Member grants scheme has raised awareness of the local champion role among residents by providing each councillor with a £3,000 a year budget to allocate to community and voluntary groups. ‘It means groups doing excellent work now come to us, and decisions are made by county councillors who understand their issues at local level’, explains Cllr Shedwick.

With 12 districts and 190 parish and town councils in the county, communicating across the tiers is vital. Commissioning plans are now in place for districts. Elected members have been appointed as champions for parishes, disabled people, veterans and young people across the tiers of governance. Three-tier forums which have been piloted will also be rolled out across the county.

Says Debbie Thompson, senior officer in the localities and partnerships team: ‘These are all just tools. It’s the ethos that’s important. It all makes the councillor role more fulfilling and means we are well-positioned for devolving power under the localism agenda.’ Lancashire’s councillor development is award-winning, but its ethos is straightforward – clear understanding among officers that their job is to serve members, whose role is to serve residents.