Agenda item

Report from the Interim Director of Policy, Strategy and Engagement.

Recommendations:

That Cabinet:

1. Approve the approach of producing two strategies: A Neighbourhood Leadership Strategy, focusing specifically on the role of Ward Councillors; and a Thriving Neighbourhoods Strategy setting out the overarching ambition for how the Council supports local working.

2. Approve the Neighbourhood Leadership Strategy and the aspirations for Ward Councillors to play an enhanced role in bringing residents closer to council services, enabling more responsive and locally impactful delivery and note the accountability arrangements for services and enhanced focus on wellbeing and health inequalities.

Consideration was given to the report which summarised the new Neighbourhood Leadership Strategy, replacing the Thriving Neighbourhoods Strategy which expired in 2025.

The Neighbourhood Leadership Strategy, attached in draft at Appendix 1, covered a six-year period to include the 2032 local elections and was intended to be flexible, supporting an agile approach to Neighbourhood Leadership for Councillors and officers.  It dealt specifically with the role of Ward Councillors as neighbourhood leaders, building on the strong foundations which had been delivered over the last eight years. The Strategy set out new aspirations for Ward Councillors to play an enhanced role in bringing residents closer to council services, enabling more responsive and locally impactful delivery. 

This aligned with local, regional, and national policy ambitions to create stronger neighbourhood working. A complementary strategy (the new Thriving Neighbourhoods Strategy) would be presented to Cabinet in December 2026. This would deal with broader issues of neighbourhood working, including how the council worked with external partners within localities.

The Strategy, through a co-design process with Councillors and officers, provided new guidance on what it meant to be a ‘21st Century Rotherham Councillor’. Alongside the seven Nolan Principles, this had identified ten core

attributes of Ward Councillors as neighbourhood leaders. These were: Visible and Accessible; Trusted Listener; Advocate; Empower; Bridge Builder; Champion; Communicator; Responsible Representative; Connector and Problem Solver.

Six linked workstreams were identified to underpin the aspiration of the Strategy and these were:

1.    Ward Priorities and Plans - Providing evidence and insight to enable Ward Councillors to have information, to complement their local knowledge, to support leadership ambitions and plans.

2.    Devolved Neighbourhood Budgeting – Optimising the local budgets which can be made available to Ward Councillors and residents to respond to local need.

3.    Leadership in Support of Council and Partner Services – Developing new protocols and working arrangements to enable all Ward Councillors to be able to shape services specific to their area.

4.    Ongoing Support and Leadership Development – Supporting Ward Councillors to evolve as leaders.

5.    The Role of Residents in Neighbourhood Leadership – Supporting Ward Councillors to encourage residents to get proactively involved and have greater influence and agency in their area.

6.    Measuring Impact and Feeding Back - Better measuring the impact of the Neighbourhood Leadership and Neighbourhood Coordination functions. Enabling more frequent and centrally collated resident feedback to provide further influence over the core functions of the council.

The report was considered by the Improving Places Select Commission who advised that the recommendations be supported. An additional recommendation was that:

Cabinet considers the removal of the following text under “Action Area 4: Ongoing Support and Leadership Development” of the Neighbourhood Leadership Strategy:- “Within the strategy period, the 2028 local election

will be used to reallocate Neighbourhood Coordinators to new wards to ensure Councillors have access to new skills and perspectives. This will be repeated in future electoral cycles.”

Select Commission Members felt strongly that the proposed introduction of a cyclical rotation of Neighbourhood Coordinators at local elections could be detrimental to neighbourhood working and the aims of the Strategy, as significant local knowledge, connections and stability could be lost at a time of potential political change.

The Leader invited Councillor Allen, current Cabinet Member for Communities and former Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood Working to explain the history behind the Neighbourhood Coordinator role. The Leader then stated that Cabinet would not be accepting the additional recommendation. It was felt that the rotation of Neighbourhood Coordinators was important to ensure that the role and responsibilities of Ward Councillors was not blurred with that of Neighbourhood Coordinators. Further, it was for management to decide how best to allocate staffing resources, not Ward Councillors.

Resolved:

That Cabinet:

1.    Approve the approach of producing two strategies: A Neighbourhood Leadership Strategy, focusing specifically on the role of Ward Councillors; and a Thriving Neighbourhoods Strategy setting out the overarching ambition for how the Council supports local working.

2.    Approve the Neighbourhood Leadership Strategy and the aspirations for Ward Councillors to play an enhanced role in bringing residents closer to council services, enabling more responsive and locally impactful delivery and note the accountability arrangements for services and enhanced focus on wellbeing and health inequalities.