Information about Councillors
Councillors are easy to contact - at their regular surgeries, by email, by contacting their offices in the Council or by calling them on their advertised telephone numbers. Details of surgeries, phone numbers, email addresses etc available by clicking on the members' name and are also shown on posters at libraries and community centres.
Please remember that Councillors have their own work, personal and family lives and are not expected to be "on call" 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
What is the job of a Councillor?
Councillors act as a voice of local people. They help individual residents, represent their local area and develop strategies and services for the city as a whole. Councillors also oversee the performance of one of Dundee's biggest businesses, employing 8,000 staff and spending over £500 million every year.
The job of a Councillor includes:
- giving residents advice and help, usually by holding regular "surgeries", where they make themselves available in places like schools and libraries to allow members of the public to come to them with their problems
- representing the local area, making sure its needs are taken into account e.g. when proposals are being discussed at Committees
- listening to local people and groups, encouraging their involvement and ensuring they are kept informed about things which affect them
- developing policies and planning services to meet the needs of the city as a whole
- representing the council on other bodies, including partnership groups involving the police and the health service, to ensure that local needs are met by all public services
- sitting as members of Council committees dealing with all the functions of the council and its departments
- making decisions about planning and licensing applications and policies
- setting standards for customer service and scrutinising the performance of the council's departments
You don't need any formal qualifications to become a councillor, but you do need to be a good listener, have an enquiring mind, have the confidence to speak in public and have a commitment to working with others.
Being a councillor is time-consuming and hard work. It involves lots of reading reports and correspondence and lots of contact with the public. Councillors have to make tough decisions faced with a number of conflicting interests. But being a councillor is also a very rewarding way of serving the local community, and there is support available. For example, the council will provide office accommodation, a venue for meeting constituents, secretarial services, telephone and computer facilities, access to research and information, induction and ongoing training, and advice from the council's professional officers.
Most council meetings take place on three evenings per month, but there are also some day-time commitments. How much time these take up depends on the responsibilities each member takes on, within the council (for example as convener of a committee) and on outside bodies. Councillors are entitled to out-of-pocket expenses and to an allowance which reflects their level of responsibility and the time they devote to council business.
Councillors have to follow a strict code of conduct which governs how they behave, particularly over matters where they have a personal or financial interest.
What can Councillors help with?
Councillors are elected to oversee the work of Dundee City Council, so are best able to help with matters such as:
- Schools
- Maintaining roads and pavements
- Youth work and adult education
- Trading Standards and Consumer Protection
- Libraries and Community Centres
- Parks, Museums, Swimming Pools and Sports Centres
- Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefits
- Car Parks and Traffic Management
- Social Work services for children, older people and people with disabilities
- Housing (e.g. applications for housing, repairs, anti-social behaviour
- Environmental Health (e.g. pest control, food safety, pollution)
- Refuse Collection and Recycling
- Council Tax
The Council also deals with matters such as licensing and planning applications, but please note that, in certain circumstances, councillors may not be able to discuss such matters because of the provisions of the Councillors Code of Conduct which is legally binding on them.
If your problem is not a Council responsibility - for example, if it is to do with things like:
- The Health Service
- Universities or Colleges
- Social Security and Pensions
- Immigration and Nationality
- Gas and Electric Companies
then it might be more appropriate to contact other elected representatives such as your Member of Parliament or Member of the Scottish Parliament, or to contact an advice centre such as the Citizens' Advice Bureau. If you do contact a Councillor about a non-Council issue, they may be best able to help by pointing you in the direction of someone who is in a better position to take up your case.
Even if your problem does concern the Council, it may often be worth contacting the relevant Council department or the Council Customer Services Team to see if staff can resolve this before you contact a Councillor. Contact numbers are in the phone book and on the Council's website and there are also numbers to call for emergency services after 5.00 p.m. and at weekends. You can also contact the Council through the website - www.dundeecity.gov.uk.
How can I become a Councillor?
If you are interested in becoming a councillor, the most common route is through becoming involved with one of the political parties. You can find their details in the phone book, from libraries and on the internet. It is also possible to stand for election as an independent. Either way, the Council's Electoral Registration staff would be happy to give you advice on standing for election.
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