Community Leadership

Councils have a unique power of community leadership. As democratically accountable bodies with wide reaching powers, functions and influence, councils are central to the lives and futures of the communities they serve.

Community leadership means defining a vision for the community and working in partnership with a range of public, voluntary, community and private sector partners to fulfil that vision. In practice this is achieved through partnerships, mutually agreed strategies, joint working and the pooling of resources.

Councils have a statutory power to promote the economic, social and environmental well-being of their areas which is usually expressed through the Community Strategy. The council has a duty to produce a Community Strategy which should bring together all partners and provide the long-term vision and direction for the whole of a local area. Underneath this overarching plan, the council also prepares a number of other key strategies, including a Local Development Plan, Children and Young Peoples’ Strategy and a Heath and Well-being Strategy.

For the individual councillor, being a community leader can mean a number of things. Acting as an advocate for the best interests of one’s ward; lobbying for local concerns; influencing partner organisations to work to a common vision; conflict resolution amongst community organisations; supporting the self-development of community organisations to develop solutions in their own communities; balancing competing demands for resources when making decisions in the best interests of the whole authority area.

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