“GIVING ASSISTANCE TO THE ASSISTANTS”

26 June 2008 Leave a comment

The lack of professional support for political assistants is the focus of an article by LocalGov, published today.

“Giving assistance to assistants“ notes that last year’s Councillors’ Commission urged local authorities to provide more help and encouragement to councillors, but asks, ”…who will support the helpers and encouragers?”

Local Gov reports that whilst a growing number of local authorities now employ political assistants, the majority still don’t have such roles.

The IDeA is therefore running a new intiative aimed at raising the profile “…of this vital, but under-used post”.

One of the political assistants involved in the intiative is CPON’s Richard Coates, who is currently employed as the Political Assistant to the Conservative Leader of Gloucestershire County Council.

Richard said, “The job has changed a lot because we were in opposition for three years and we have been in administration since 2005. It’s like I have had two different jobs.”

He describes his role as supporting members, research briefings for members and working on long-term policy formation, but he admits ‘political restrictions’ are a ‘bug bear’ for political assistants and can hamper career progression.

Pascoe Sawyers, IDeA’s programme manager, said, “I run a leadership programme to encourage councillors to do a better job, so it seemed a logical step to do one for political assistants.’

The first event was held in April, and Mr Sawyers says it soon became clear there was a tremendous variation in what the term ‘political assistant’ actually meant.

“Once I started, one of the things which came out was there is a huge difference in the role,” he said. “Being a political assistant for “X” council is not the same of being a political assistant for “Y” council. Some of them are seen as glorified PAs, but others run the party group.”

Mr Sawyers says the assistants who came from councils all over the country and from different political backgrounds all benefitted from a chance to talk to each other and share experiences.

“The whole point of the leadership academy is to get people from different backgrounds, different parties and different areas and cross fertilise ideas,” he said.

One important issue for them was to the look at the legal issues around the role. “There are a lot of grey areas in terms of the nature of the role,” added Mr Sawyers.

The IDeA’s political assistants’ course will take place on the 21st and 22nd October.

For more information contact Grace Collins on 020 7296 6563, or email: grace.collins@idea.gov.uk

Filed under Legislation, Published articles, Testimonials, Training Tagged with , , , , , , ,

“BRIDGING THE GAP”

31 May 2008 Leave a comment

LG First reports on the IDeA‘s new course to help local authorities and political assistants get the best out of their role.

The article, entitled “Bridging the gap” and written by the IDeA’s Pascoe Sawyers, claims the role of political assistants can be a useful and important one, and is one of the ways in which the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA), part of the LGA group, is encouraging councils to support their elected members. Currently less than 100 councils employ political assistants, but providing this role is something councils might want to consider when thinking about how they can improve elected member support. The IDeA has extended its successful Leadership Academy to include a training programme for political assistants. It is the first time the Academy has targeted a course to include an officer role.

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The move is one of the ways the IDeA is responding to recommendations made by last year’s councillors’ commission, led by Dr Jane Roberts, a former leader of Camden council. It looked at the incentives and barriers to serving on councils, and made 61 recommendations to the government – some of which look at how councils could better support their elected members.

When used correctly, the role of a political assistant can be a good way of supporting councillors. They provide political support and advice around strategy and policy. They do research and gather information for politicians to use in their campaigns. Sometimes they take a lead on media issues, and the role always involves being a conduit to other officers in the council. Some get involved in case work or manage a support team, while some play a group organising role.

But most councils currently do not employ political assistants and those which do sometimes don’t know how to make the best use of them. Feedback from political assistants at sessions the IDeA ran at the recent party spring conferences suggests that there are a number of other challenges they face in trying to carry out an effective role.

“Bridging the gap between your role as an employee of the council, and an open supporter of a political group is one of the major difficulties for me,” was a view expressed by one political assistant, but shared by many others.

However, another political assistant was very keen to point out a more positive dimension to this bridging role, “In my experience, when it works well, by having a foot in both camps political assistants can add real value to the process of building relationships between councillors and senior officers. We are often seen as a sounding board because we can usually see things from both perspectives.”

The Leadership Academy programme will provide political assistants with a networking opportunity to enable them to share thoughts on how to deal with some of these challenges and learn from each other. The two-day course also aims to teach an understanding of the personality styles of politicians in order to work with them effectively, as well as giving tips on communicating with council staff and the general public. An overview of the way local government is structured and financed, and media skills are also covered. There are opportunities for group work with a politician where people can bring up issues they may find difficult to raise in their own council.

The first course last April filled immediately, showing the demand for the training and support of these officers. Another course has been scheduled for 21-22 October. For more information telephone Grace Collins on 020 7296 6563 or email grace.collins@idea.gov.uk

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CPON DOING VALUABLE WORK – BORIS JOHNSON

26 September 2006 Leave a comment

The work of CPON and its membership has received a glowing endorsement from Boris Johnson MP, just days before he is set to speak at the Network’s conference fringe event in Bournemouth.

Commenting on his forthcoming engagement, the Shadow Higher Education Minister, said, “I welcome the opportunity to speak at CPON’s fringe meeting. I value the job the network’s young membership is doing to support Conservative Groups across the country, and I’m looking forward to outlining my vision of Conservatism in the 21st Century.”

Richard Ashton, CPON’s Chairman, said, “I thank Boris for his kind comments about the valuable role CPON members perform across the country, and we equally look forward to listening to his vision in Bournemouth. Make no mistake, our fringe event is going to prove one of the most popular at the conference, all thanks to the presence of Boris.”

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POLITICAL ASSISTANTS PRAISED BY JOSEPH ROWNTREE

18 March 2006 Leave a comment

The Conservative Political Officers’ Network has welcomed an influential report, by the Joseph Rowntreee Foundation, that describes the appointment of political assistants as an ‘important development’ for political groups across the country.

The report, entitled, “Frontline councillors and decision making” was released this week, and claims that many political groups have found political assistants to be an ‘important development’ in aiding the improvement of group processes such as; casework, group communications and training.

The report also recommends the appointment of political assistants, as one option that would enable political groups to achieve objectives such as:

  • Ensuring non-executive councillors are well informed about group policy and the procedures for developing policies within group;
  • Creating an effective dialogue with individual councillors to allow input into group decisions;
  • Receiving regular briefings from senior officers;
  • Allowing the flow of information within the group;
  • Ensuring councillors have appropriate support knowledge and skills to participate in group decision making; and,
  • Enabling councillors to have positive attitudes towards the group decision-making process.

Richard Ashton, Chairman of CPON, said, “I welcome the report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and I completely endorse its findings in respect of political assistants.

“This report confirms what political groups of all distinctions across the country already know, that political assistants are an important addition to the decision making process at local government level.

“Not only do political assistants offer high class administrative support, they also act as invaluable research and advisory professionals; ensuring that local political groups are able to make the best decisions for the public, and that Council Taxpayers get better value for money from their respective local authorities.”

Filed under Published articles, Testimonials Tagged with , , ,

CPON’S RICHARD COATES IS A ‘STAR’ – OFFICIAL!

8 October 2005 2 Comments

County council leader Barry Dare has revealed the secret of the Tory party’s dramatic victory in May’s Gloucestershire county council elections – the appointment of a political advisor brought in under a flagship Labour policy. Cllr. Dare was addressing a Conservative Political Officers’ Network fringe event at the Conservative Party conference in Blackpool on how to win elections.

While Labour delegates at the party conference in Brighton a week earlier were keen to hear from Gloucester MP Parmjit Dhanda on his victory in the General Election, the Tory capture of Shire Hall on the same night has become a case study for the Conservatives.

Cllr. Dare told the meeting that while Gloucestershire appeared to be archetypal Tory territory, the party had been struggling until recently.

But the appointment of political adviser Richard Coates was to prove the turning point, according to Cllr. Dare, even though the Tories initially opposed the policy.

He had became a councillor in 1993, which he said was the “low point” for the party, with just 10 Tory councillors.

The party began to recover in 1997 and became the largest party in 2001 but had no overall control.

“In 2002 things changed. I was elected to the leadership which had an influence on the way forward,” he said. “But much more important than that, we had a long-ranging debate about the appointment of political assistants.

“We voted against the appointment of political assistants.

“We lost that vote and although we were critical we agreed to support it thereafter because we would not allow ourselves to be disadvantaged.”

Cllr. Dare told the meeting the Tories appointed a “star” in the form of Mr Coates.

“He has had a massive influence on the way forward between 2002 and our election win on May 5,” he said.

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CPON EVENT PROVES A WINNER

7 October 2005 Leave a comment

CPON are celebrating another conference success, with this year’s fringe event drawing in a huge audience. Conference delegates came in their droves to hear key Conservatives explain how they’ve successfully fought elections.

Three newly-elected MPs passed on their knowledge of electioneering:

  • Ed Vaizey, who increased the Conservative majority in Wantage;
  • Justine Greening, who regained Putney for the Conservatives with a 6.5 per cent swing; and,
  • Peter Bone, who won Wellingborough by just 687 votes. Peter’s election win was all the sweeter, as his campaign manager was CPON’s Vice President, Leigh Hooker. 

From a local government perspective Cllr. Barry Dare, Leader of Gloucestershire County Council, explained how his Conservative Group were able to increase their numbers from just ten in 1993 to take control in May 2005. The final hurdle had been cleared with the help of his Political Assistant, and CPON’s Legal Lead, Richard Coates, whom Cllr. Dare described as a ‘star’.

 

Cllr. Alex Williams of Trafford MBC made up the panel of speakers, and was able to relay how the Conservatives were able to storm to control in 2004, regaining the Conservatives’ first Greater Manchester local authority in a decade.

 

Chairman of the debate was Cllr. Merrick Cockell, Conservative Leader of Kensington & Chelsea. Cllr. Cockell added his own opinions throughout the debate, and chaired the event with great aplomb.

 

CPON Chairman, Richard Ashton, said, “With it being General Election year it seemed a appropriate theme for our fringe event. The Conservatives may have lost the big one, but across the country they have continued to win elections by using pro-active methods to get their message across to the electorate.

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