Wiltshire Council campaign to support positive democracy

Wiltshire Council is supporting local councillors and clerks as it aims to help Wiltshire be the leading county on promoting positive conduct and democracy.

The council has launched its Positive Conduct equals Positive Democracy campaign for local councillors and clerks. The campaign builds on the good work already happening in the county and looks to support the sharing of good practice, facilitating honest conversations and looking to collectively find solutions to any issues or barriers that might be preventing positive local democracy from taking place.

Tonight (7 July), Wiltshire Council held a webinar, hosted by Wiltshire Council's Monitoring Officer Perry Holmes, Leader of Wiltshire Council Cllr Richard Clewer, Chairman of the council's Standards Committee Cllr Paul Oatway, and Cabinet Member for Governance Cllr Ashley O'Neill. They were joined by special guest Jackie Weaver, who made international news last year due to her handling of a somewhat unorthodox and heated local council meeting.

The council has also produced a toolkit, full of hints, tips and useful links to help support the smooth running of local council meetings and good practice for dealing with challenging local issues in order to achieve positive and productive outcomes for local communities. It has also unveiled its Positive Conduct equals Positive Democracy Charter, which it is encouraging local councillors to sign up to, in order to show their support and commitment to be a positive conduct ambassador in their role and embody and promote high standards in public life.

Leader of Wiltshire Council, said: "As local councillors, clerks and officers, we are in a privileged position to represent our local communities throughout the county - something that on occasion can be forgotten in the hustle and bustle of local government and politics.

"Given that position, the public rightly have high expectations of us and entrust us to represent them in a fair, transparent and professional way. I don't think we should ever stop learning and developing, and the aim of this campaign is to provide support to build on the good work already happening in the county so that we can all be as effective in our roles as possible, which ultimately will benefit our communities."

Jackie Weaver, said: "If we want to see a greater diversity of people engaging in local democracy we have to make sure we are creating an environment that they feel comfortable in and able to contribute to debate in.

"Therefore I welcome Wiltshire Council's efforts to support councillors and clerks with this, and I'm pleased to play a role and provide my perspective on a topic I'm very passionate about."

More information can be found at https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/positive-conduct-democracy.