The local elections on 7 May will impact many areas across England and you may need to build new relationships with local councillors or use it as an opportunity to refresh existing ones. This pack contains information and resources to help you do this including:
- Identifying newly/reappointed elected representatives
- Template email to send to ward councillors and cabinet members
- Housing briefings
- Link to sign up to a webinar on working with councillors.
Background
Local elections will be taking place in many areas across England on 7 May. Some local authorities will hold elections where all seats will be contested (some of these are due to boundary changes taking effect) and for others, only a proportion will be up for election. You can use this online tool to find out about elections in your area.
The elections provide a good opportunity for housing officers and providers to inform new councillors about some of the key housing issues at play and the impact that housing providers can have in local communities. Recent analysis and polling suggest there may be significant changes to the political make-up of councils in some areas so building new relationships will be important.
Identifying elected representatives
After the election you may wish to contact both the ward councillors serving the area your service is based in, and the new council cabinet (sometimes also called the council executive) member with responsibility for housing.
To find your ward councillors (councillors who represent the area where your service operates), enter the postcode where your service is based in this government website.
Details on appointments to cabinet/executive roles are sometimes not confirmed until several weeks after the election so it’s worth keeping an eye on your local authority website.
Template emails
Use our post-election template letters to contact your council cabinet or executive member with responsibility for housing or relevant ward councillor. These are written as if coming from an external partner, e.g. a housing association or ALMO. Council staff looking to brief newly elected councillors will be able to draw on LGA resources when making initial contact.
Housing briefings
We’ve put together a set of briefings which you may find helpful to share:
[links to each one by topic – Chloe collating]
For further information: policyandpractice@cih.org.
