My New Year’s Resolutions for a year in local government

Around this time last year I asked around for some suggested New Year’s Resolutions. Amongst some anguished cries from both Twitter and my real-life nearest and dearest – “Tweet less than your every waking thought!”, “Stop purchasing cats!”, “For the love of God, do some washing up!” – came a voice of serenity from Salford council leader John Merry, setting a mercifully low bar: “Why don’t you just resolve to enjoy local government?”

A year on, I’m tempted to say that local government is not something to enjoy. Our budgets slashed, our services depleted, 2000 Manchester City Council staff made redundant (none compulsorily), the remaining staff reorganized so that for my first six months as a councillor every officer I met told me their job title followed by “…well, that’s what I do for now”, Lib Dems blaming the council for cuts imposed by their own Government – if local politics is the coalface of democracy, this is the sort of thing to put a humph in your Hi-Ho song.

But most of the time, all that is just background noise. Have I enjoyed learning more about how the council works with other agencies to make my city what it is? Helping a local resident get an operation after it was wrongfully delayed, and another to get the adaptations to his house he needed for his autistic son? Being a member of Greater Manchester Fire Authority and campaigning for better fire safety (and occasionally dressing up as a firefighter)? Going along to the LGA conference and learning more about how other councils are using new media? Visiting the People’s History Museum with a local housing association and a group of residents interested in learning more about their shared history? Did I enjoy watching the Manchester Lib Dems lose every single seat they contested in May? If I was Sarah Palin I’d say ‘you betcha’, although if I was Sarah Palin I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed any of those things. But I did.

So this January I’m making New Year’s Resolutions that I hope will make my first full year as a local councillor more productive, more enjoyable, and more valuable for the people I represent. If you’re a councillor too, or a candidate, or even just thinking about putting your name forward for selection this year, I hope you find these useful too

1. Find better ways to use social media.

It may be an uphill struggle selling the benefits to some Manchester Labour councillors, but we’re better at it than a lot of councils. The officers have been learning from other councils in order to get more creative and clever about engaging with the people we represent. Accept, however, that the leader will never believe that anyone outside the city centre is on Twitter. Resist facepalming at this.

2. Vote no on the referendum for a directly elected Mayor.

Mayor of Greater Manchester – good idea. Mayor of Manchester – what’s the point?

3. Be on time for surgeries

OK, so I’m never more than five minutes late, but when I can literally see the room where I hold my surgeries from my kitchen window there is really no excuse for that. Accept that most queries will be about bins (although in eight months as a councillor no-one has yet told me they want full weekly collections back. Give it up, Pickles) or rehousing. Note to all political leaders: yeah, sure, crack down on illegal subletting. You know what else would ease the housing shortage? BUILD SOME MORE HOUSES. AFFORDABLE ONES. PLEASE

4. Ask the officers to send me all meeting papers by email

These agendas are pretty heavy. Literally. I’ve gone through two satchels in the last year. Also, stop reading them in the bath. No-one can afford three hours of hot water with the price of gas these days

5. Take Full Council more seriously

Yes, it’s annoying when the Lib Dems bring up casework in a public meeting. Yes, the meeting is for show rather than for any real purpose. Yes, heckling is fun. But, as John Bercow points out every week, the public are thoroughly uninterested in heckling. And it will never be acceptable to bring popcorn

6. Support the new councillors when they are elected in May.

They’ll probably figure out what they’re doing more quickly than I did (I was slightly late for the last Council meeting because I got lost on the way back from the loo), but still: I’ve benefited hugely from the support of some of our more established councillors and hope to be able to do the same for the new generation after they wipe out still more Lib Dems

7. Never, ever go drinking with members of the executive ever again

Enough said.

Happy New Year, Labour List – I hope you all have a good one.