Local government

Local authorities, or councils as they are more commonly known, will often be a key target of campaigns.

According to Mark Lattimer’s ‘The Campaigning Handbook’ those with power in local authorities:

“wield an effective discretion that most national civil servants and even ministers – cogs in a complex machine – could only dream of. Local bosses are close to power.”

Even if your campaign goes beyond a local area, engagement with local authorities could be the best way to make an impact.

The following summarises just a few of the key considerations that Mark Lattimer suggests that campaigners need to understand about the dynamics of local power and how to exert influence.

Officers

Your first port of call in influencing a local authority to take notice of your campaign should be at officer level (i.e. staff at the council, who are non-elected, and non-political).

Lattimer suggests various things that you need to ascertain to get your voice heard:

• If you don’t know who the relevant officer dealing with a particular issue, write to the head of department or Chief Executive and ask for the enquiry to be referred to the appropriate person.
• If you are campaigning on an issue that the local authority is already actively involved in, establish if and when any decisions will be made.
• Establish who will make the decision.
• Establish the process by which the decision will be made. For example, will there be a public consultation?
• Will there be an opportunity to appeal against decisions?

If you do want your views to get noticed, ensure that you study any relevant published papers (and if necessary use Freedom of Information Laws to get them). Write to the relevant officer and be clear about your views, present them with any facts you have, any local consultation you’ve undertaken, and provide an alternative scenario or solution to the one proposed.

If you do this well, rather than being seen as an opponent, the relevant officer may actually further solicit your views and even invite you on to relevant advisory committees.

On significant matters (especially those relating to policy), it is unlikely that an officer will be in a position to affect change. They would need to refer the matter up to councillors. In this case the officer can still be an important lynchpin as councillors may well ask the officer to make a recommendation to them.

Councillors

While many officers’ recommendations are accepted by council committees, it can be hard to predict what way things will go. So you should ensure that you follow the issue as it passes through the council.

A local authority will usually be controlled by one political party or group, which holds a majority of seats on the council. The leader of that group then becomes the leader of the council (not the same as the local MP). The political power in the council sits in the leader’s office.

In ‘hung councils’, whereon party has an overall majority, the leadership would actually be shared. In some cases, parties may form a coalition to achieve a majority. However hung councils operate, lobbyists need to be aware of each of the parties’ interests.

Theoretically at least, a hung council is good for lobbyists (as it is for small parties), in that it increases their potential to effectively lobby.

In summary, if your campaign is targeting a local council, do some research so that you understand where the power lies.

Targeting MPs

The Member of Parliament (MP) for a constituency actually does not have any formal power over the local council. However, they can be an effective voice to the council on your behalf. They can be especially useful in helping you to achieve press coverage.

If you are making a complaint about a local council, an MP’s involvement could mean it is handled with greater care. MPs also raise issues in Parliament that affect their constituents e.g. by putting questions to ministers with relevant responsibilities. This will in turn have an effect at the local council level, as the Minister will probably ask a departmental civil servant to get more information from your council!

Don’t forget about prospective parliamentary candidates too. To nurture a relationship with parliamentarians can take time, and so you do need to look beyond who has influence now, to who might have influence in 12 months.