Transcript Member officer relationships

Member
officer
relationships
“Let’s be
friends”
Officer/Member relations
PAS Spring Conference
Birmingham
Seltzer Cole
LGA Associate Consultant
www.local.gov.uk
Planning 'under siege'
“Introduce a 'Presumption against Interference' in the
planning system with residents acting as quality control,
rather than officials. Change of Use restrictions should be
limited to clear externalities, and local plans should be
drastically stripped back – no density targets, or top down
regulation of minutiae like car spaces, bike standards or
the number of hotel rooms. If less than half of the people
in the immediate vicinity object, planning permission
should automatically be granted subject to appropriate
compensation.”
Policy Exchange 'Economics Manifesto' (February 2015)
Officers & Members: they're
all in it together
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Both are committed to public service
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Both try to deliver quality planning services
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Both deal with the same customers
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Both face the same/similar challenges and constraints
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Both have a community leadership role to play
However, things sometimes
go wrong. Here's why:
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The political environment, especially on planning issues
Sense of mutual suspicion
Balancing competing interests/demands
External pressures/challenges
Further complicated by:
 Cabinet/scrutiny relations
 Cabinet/backbencher relations
 Administration/opposition relations
Cultural differences
A sense of mutual suspicion
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“They have a tendency to be obstructive.”
“I don’t trust them.”
“What exactly is it that they do?”
“There’s always a legal reason to not do what we want.”
“They’re totally risk averse when it comes to regeneration.”
“The council would work much better without them interfering.”
“They have a tendency to let politics gets in the way.”
“Slagging us off in public reduces public confidence.”
“They get ambushed by a resident complaining about the new
Tesco, then come and give us a kicking.”
“They’re totally risk averse on developing brownfield sites!”
Range of 'influencers'
Cost / VFM
Past
experience
Family
Priority
Resources
Values
Wife/Partner
Religion
Staff
Professional
Officers reports
Self
Beliefs
Risk
Me
Senior
officers
Friends
Benefits
Leader
Image
Electorate
Community
leaders
Impact
Social/Media
Opinion
polls
Group
Party
Manifesto
Current events
Pressure groups
Timing
Colleagues
Policy
Member/Officer cultural differences
Characteristic
Politicians
Managers
Values and
philosophy
Political and party values
Professional and managerial
values
Conversation and
language
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Authority and career
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Performance
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‘What do you hear?’
Storytelling about real
events
Interests and symbols
Representatives who
make choices
Political allegiances,
experience and promises
Power
Conflict, compromise,
change
Rely on votes
Respond to the public
wanting practical results in
the shortest time
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‘What do you know?’
Reports based on data,
information, money,
people and things
Experts who organise and
deliver
Professional experience,
credibility and fit
Knowledge
Harmony, co-operation,
continuity
Rely on position
Respond to performance
indicators and longer term
Reasonable member
expectations of officers
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A commitment to the local planning authority as an entity
in itself, rather than to individual political group(s)
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A mutually beneficial working partnership
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A timely response to enquiries and complaints
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Professional advice, not influenced by political views or
preference
Integrity, mutual support and appropriate confidentiality
Reasonable officer
expectations of members
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Political leadership, direction and understanding of
the planning process
A mutually beneficial working partnership
Distance from the day-to-day management of the
authority
Not to use influence or pressure to gain special
treatment for themselves or others
An understanding of the need for work/life balance
Division of labour
Management deals with complexity – making
happen what should be happening.
Leadership deals with change – making
happen what wouldn’t normally happen.
Politicians
Managers
Leadership
Lead role
Negotiated role
Management
Negotiated role
Lead role
'Leadership vs Management'
What areas of leadership should managers
engage with and what areas of management
should members engage with, in planning?
Ground rules for success
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Invest in the relationship
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Establish protocols based on exemplary behaviour
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Recognize different strengths and perspectives
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Be clear about roles and responsibilities
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Emotional Intelligence
Partnership working based on:
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Mutual respect
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Honesty
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Openness and transparency
What to do when things go
wrong
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Acknowledge that conflict is inevitable (Humans!!!)
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Identify the source(s) and cause(s) of the conflict
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Avoid 'bad communication'
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Agree a commons set of values, goals & purposes
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Use established procedures, 'institutions', channels
& forms only as a last resort!
Action plan: 'less conflict, less
'competition', more collaboration'
“A collaboration is a purposeful relationship in
which all parties strategically choose to cooperate
in order to accomplish a shared outcome….
….You are a collaborative leader once you have
accepted responsibility for building – or helping to
ensure the success of – a heterogeneous team to
accomplish a shared purpose.”
Hank Rubin, President – Institute of Collaborative Leadership
Member officer relationships
Thank you for listening!
Seltzer Cole
Associate Consultant, LGA
www.local.gov.uk