From the Leader: Improving the Council Processes

Everyone deserves the chance to contribute.  Individuals feel happier and more fulfilled, and we all benefit from tapping the talent available in our community.

Most of us accept this idea in principle. Since I became leader of Wokingham Borough Council in May 2023, I have tried to put it into practice.

It has shaped the administration’s thinking on initiatives such as the Community Vision, which empowers the people of the borough to establish the priorities for the next ten years.  It has been influential in our approach to building inclusive communities across the borough, where everyone feels that they belong and can play a part.  And it has been at the heart of the emphasis we have placed on partnership working – pooling the experience, knowledge, and resources of the borough council with other councils, the University of Reading, the voluntary and charitable sector, faith groups, the Youth Council, and local businesses, so we can all better serve the community. 

Giving everyone the opportunity to contribute is important within the council, too. When I first became leader, I called for a less tribal form of politics – a more grown-up approach, which recognized that no one party has a monopoly on good ideas.

My executive colleagues and I have tried to play our part to further that ideal.  Over the last couple of years, the way the council’s overview and scrutiny committees operate has changed for the better.  

Until recently, the overview and scrutiny committees engaged with the council’s ruling executive in an almost wholly adversarial way. The executive made decisions and then the overview and scrutiny committees reviewed those decisions after the event.  The process was almost inevitably confrontational, with opposition councillors feeling excluded and supporters of the ruling group feeling the need to defend the executive.  

The process was also unproductive. Decisions made by the executive were rarely, if ever, modified.  Minds had been made up and changing tack, or even modification, was seen as a sign of weakness.

But in the last two years, reports due to go to the executive have been taken to the overview and scrutiny committees first. There is a real opportunity for councillors of all parties to suggest improvements, and a much greater willingness to accommodate their suggestions.

Several recent policy documents have benefited greatly from the contribution of overview and scrutiny committees before the council’s executive made a formal decision.  

Last week, I suggested a way we could build on this success.  Speaking at the Overview & Scrutiny Management Committee, I asked committee members if they would like to be involved in helping with policy formation at a much earlier stage.  There are subjects on the horizon that the council needs to form a view on, and to me it seems obvious that bringing more councillors into the conversation must be a good thing.

Councillors of all parties have a wealth of experience and expertise that they can share.  My hope is that we can tap their talents for the public good.

It takes two to tango, of course.  I hope my plea for all councillors to work together for the betterment of our community, and to put aside party differences whenever possible, will be responded to positively.

Cllr Stephen Conway is the Leader of the Council, Executive member for Housing, Partnerships and the Local Plan, and Ward member for Twyford, Ruscombe and Hurst.