Just wondering what the views here might be as to whether residents should expect to receive replies from Councillors to emails. Are Councillors entitled to ignore difficult or uninteresting issues/questions?
There is a torrent of noise on se23.life - in the General Politics section - about POLICY, but remarkably little about provision of actual services and the responsiveness/effectiveness of elected representatives.
If you’re position is about our local councillors specifically then perhaps this might be better located in Local Politics. It would certainly have a wider audience than the many in General Politics who are consumed by policy and ideology.
For myself, I’ve always found at least one of my three ward Councillors responsive to emails. So not experienced the issue you suggest. But… I can also imagine the local Councillors can be on the receiving end of some bullshit too. Once upon a time you had to go visit a Councillor during their surgery. Now you can fire off and email/tweet between pints at your local boozer.
I think Councillors should at least respond in some form, but I also think residents should be more mindful of what they ask of Councillors… if that makes any sense.
[Thanks Starman and Chris, we’ve been moved to Local Politics.]
I feel we’re in an era where policies are irrelevant in local government, as the means of implementation are apparently absent. Politics becomes merely ‘what we believe’ rather than ‘what we will do’.
Generally I am very unhappy about the responsiveness of town hall staff and councillors.
One example: I asked (in email) one councillor if the Lewisham Council website could include information about public consultations regarding airport developments. This was in early August last year. I’m still waiting for an answer, despite a couple of follow-up messages.