Councillors continue to be ‘stale, pale and male’ despite pressure to make them more representative of the public according to latest figures.
But elected members remain enthusiastic about their roles with 82% saying they would recommend it to others. Just under half said they would welcome a formal qualification to be a councillor.
The fifthIDeA/LGA census shows that almost 97% of councillors are white, with just 3.4% from an ethnic minority, the same percentage as in 1997, and about half the actual rate in the population.
The number of women councillors has increased to 31%, an improvement of almost 8% since 1997, but still well below the 52% of women in the adult population.
The average councillor’s age has even increased from 55 in 1997 to 59 in 2008, while the proportion under 45 has fallen from 18.4% to 13% over the same period.
LGA chairman Margaret Eaton said: ‘The political parties, who sponsor the majority of councillors, also have to address how they recruit and select candidates.’
At a seminar last week at Birmingham’s Institute of Local Government Studies on political parties, research author, Michael Thrasher, said: ‘If you got the councillors out the way, then behind them are candidates who are exactly the same.’
l The LGA should have more ethnic leaders, Lord Ouseley told the IDeA’s Get ahead seminar last week.
The former chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality and former LGA president said: ‘The LGA has had one black president in its lifetime, and I don’t see another one on the horizon. And that tells you something about representation, because it is not just about the LGA, it’s about all the local authorities in the country because they appoint the representatives to go on the LGA.’
Protecting the public realm without shutting it down
As Martyn's Law approaches, this free special report from LocalGov and Hill & Smith sets out how councils can protect public spaces without shutting them down.
