Working with Your Council

‘Working With Your Council’ is a high quality information pack with easy-to-follow exercises, appraised by a Regional Training Manager and closely monitored by a university. As a vital part of the National Training Strategy, ‘WWYC’ offers fully supported learning.

You won’t be studying on your own. Every student has the support of an experienced clerk who acts as a personal or group mentor, also the opportunity to join a national tutored email group. You will also have the opportunity to network with your peers as well as share in their learning experiences.

Flexible learning allows you to balance your studies around your work and home commitments. The Society of Local Council Clerks offers this user-friendly tool-kit entitled ‘Working with your Council’ to help support you in your local council role.

The programme is both relevant and practical, enabling you to apply the principles in your workplace. Our course is divided into ‘bite-sized’ chunks which will help you to perform your duties more effectively and efficiently. It is a tool-kit for anyone who is:

• Working full or part time
• A Clerk, Deputy Clerk or administrative officer
• Newly appointed to the profession
• More experienced, but intending to put together their CiLCA portfolio
• A Councillor who wishes to find out more about how their Council works

The course consists of six core knowledge topics, which can be studied at a time and place of your choice, covering:

• Roles & Responsibilities
• Law Procedures
• Finance
• Planning
• Community Action
• Procedures

Who is the package intended for?

Whether you:

• Were appointed within the past year or two but have, meanwhile, not undertaken any formal training, OR
• Feel apprehensive about putting together a portfolio of your work for CiLCA, OR
• Wish to improve your professionalism, however long you’ve been in the post

You may well need ‘Working with your Council’ because it offers:-

• Supported learning with a Regional Training Manager, and a mentor often in learning groups
• Membership of the WWYC national email group – where the willingness to help one another is very evident – and you can ask for basic assistance with your WWYC studies
• Access as a quick reference, indexed guide
• Regular updates (loose-leaf)
• A bursary for smaller councils with an annual budgeted income of less than £25k
• Exemption from one module of the ‘University of Gloucestershire’s Local Policy’
• Guidance on the assembly of your CiLCA portfolio (of your work)
• The opportunity for Councils to invest in your training. Nowadays, the vast majority of councils maintain a training budget!

Download the Working With Your Council application form