Councillor in the Community

What’s on this website?


Community leadership resources
This document provides links to existing community leadership tools for councillors.

A guide to the governance of health
This document gives councillors an overview of how decisions about health services in London are made and where they are open to influence.

Includes: diagrams, a glossary, useful data sources and a list of organisations to refer citizens to for help.

A guide to the governance of crime and policing
This document gives councillors an overview of how decisions about crime and policing in London are made and where they are open to influence.

Includes: diagrams, a glossary, useful data sources and a list of organisations to refer citizens to for help.

A contact book for London-based councillors
This document contains a list of the key decision-makers in health, crime and policing who councillors may want to influence.

Why is community leadership important?


Local areas are increasingly cluttered by a vast and complex myriad of government bodies such as: quangos, formal partnerships, service providers and publicly funded lobbying bodies. Many of these directly impact on the lives of local people; the constituents of local councillors.

While formal channels of influence are limited, councillors hold the power to convene and give voice to the concerns of the community in many ways. This may be through campaigning, collaborating with voluntary and community organisations, or lobbying through the local media.

Understanding how local public institutions work can enhance a councillor’s ability to influence decisions across the local area.