A guide to lobbying at Local Government and Devolved Parliaments and Assemblies in the UK.

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Supporters Directthe supporters’ trusts initiative
Guide to Lobbying
Local Government...
As a supporters’ trust, you are a local campaigning organisation,
and you can be very effective at putting pressure on local
government.
Local councils make decisions that affect almost every area of our day-to-day lives. For example, they
deliver services, make important decisions on planning matters, and provide mechanisms of bringing
together local community interests.
At ward level, local councillors can win or lose an election on a few hundred votes or less, and so your
campaign could have a tangible effect.
You might find that often you will have to undertake a very swift campaign that means you do not have
significant time for planning, so you also need to know how to quickly and easily establish the right
campaign, with the right materials, and using the right methods. There is a separate section headed
‘Reactive and Short-Term Campaigning’ further on in this guide’.
The guide is broken up into the following sections:
1. About local councils
2. What is lobbying?
3. Long term & relationship building
4. Reactive & short-term campaigning
This guide is not exhaustive by any means, and you will still need to find out a lot of information pertinent
to your own campaign or lobbying effort.
The internet is always an excellent source of information, and most of the material on your local authority
and how it works can be found on its own website. You can find this and other relevant information on
the Government’s own website for services and departments, on www.direct.gov.uk
In Scotland
Because of devolution in Scotland, each section provides appropriate information for the particular
circumstances applying there.
www.scotland.gov.uk/topics/Government/local-governent for information on Scottish only councils.
In Wales
The Government of Wales Act 2006 has introduced the ability of the National Assembly for Wales to make
its own legislation on devolved matters such as health, education, social services, local government. These
will be a new category of Welsh laws called Assembly Measures.
Before making Measures in relation to a particular area of devolved government, the National Assembly
for Wales will need to obtain ‘legislative competence’ – the legal authority to pass Measures – on a case by
case basis by the UK Parliament.
For more information, visit www.direct.gov.uk or www.wales.gov.uk

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What types of council are there?
In England and Wales in 2000, local government was reorganised, requiring that all local authorities move
away from the traditional committee style of decision-making, where all members had a formal decision
making role. The new models require one of four executive models, i.e. leader or cabinet; mayor or
cabinet; mayor or council manager; or alternative arrangements.
In England and Wales there is county government as well, or in the case of London for example, the
Greater London Authority and executive Mayor.
In some cases, a coalition cannot be formed, and the largest party governs without a majority.
In Scotland
In Scotland since 2007, local councillors have been elected by Single Transferable vote. The number of
wards was reduced leading to an increase in size, and now 3 or 4 councillors represent each ward.
Councils tend to operate in a committee style of decision-making.
As well as local councillors many wards will also have a Community Council. Those serving on the
Community Council are obliged to work in the best interests of their community and ensure that their
views are heard. They are statutory bodies whose rights and powers have been granted by various
different laws including Local Government Act (2000) and laws and regulations of the European
Parliament. They are not a tier of the local council but independent of them.
How are councils elected?
The council is made up of councillors and officers, with councillors generally elected by their constituents
in local elections held every four years. In some local authorities in England & Wales elections take place in
three out of four years with a certain number of councillors standing for re-election.
What do councillors do, and what is the difference between a councillor
and a council officer?
The job of a councillor is to represent people in her or his ward. Councillors are usually members of a
national political party, though independents do exist in a significant number of councils – even running
some authorities. Councillors usually operate on the council in party groupings, with the work of the
council carried out by staff called officers. Their job is to carry out the daily work of the authority, to make
policy recommendations to the councillors, to administer and implement them. They are appointed, not
elected. In the same way that there are MPs in Parliament, ministers in government, and civil servants who
do the work of the government, it is the same with a council, and officers are the ‘civil servants’ of the
council.
Whilst they are ultimately responsible to councillors who are the more senior, as with ministers and civil
servants, on many issues the officers write the proposals and the councillors agree to them. The opposition
of the councillors will see these proposals change, but the majority of policies put forward locally will be
developed by the officers and approved by the councillors.
www.ombudsman.org.uk - Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
www.lgo.org.uk - Local Government Ombudsman
In Scotland
www.spso.org.uk - Scottish Public Services Ombudsman
www.cosla.gov.uk - Convention of Scottish Local Authorities
What about your MP?
One of the key features of an MP is their status. In a local area there is more than one councillor, but there
is usually only one MP – certainly if there is an issue regarding, for example, the location of a ground, the
local MP will have a role to play, the key feature being their influence. It is much more difficult for a public
1. About Local Councils

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body, for example, to ignore a request from an MP. In the initial stages of an application – or at least as
soon as you are aware of it – it is always sensible to arrange a meeting with him or her.
Remember: MPs have a huge number of demands on their time, and so you will need to be clear and
concise about what it is you are asking them to do.
An MP might also be able to act as an intermediary in a problem between you and the club, or the council,
or another organisation in the local area you might be having problems with, or might want to discuss an
issue with.
Many supporters’ trusts have asked their MP to use something called an ‘Early Day Motion’. However, this
has become a very widely used method of gaining attention for a campaign, and many MPs believe it to
be far less effective as a campaigning tool.
You can find out more about your MP and what (s)he is doing by going to the website below:
www.theyworkforyou.com
In Scotland
What about your MSP?
In Scotland, MSPs are elected by using the Additional Members System. This system combines the
traditional first past the post system and Proportional Representation. This means that each constituency
will have several regional MSPs as well as a constituency member. The Scottish Parliament deals with
devolved issues including health, education, justice, rural affairs, transport and sport.
www.scotland.gov.uk - Scottish Government
www.scottish.parliament.uk - Scottish Parliament
In Wales
What about your AM?
In Wales the function of an Assembly Member (AM) is slightly different to an MSP, as devolution has not
meant the same amount of power being in the hands of the Welsh Assembly.
However, the Welsh Assembly and Welsh Assembly Government does deal with the many of the same
areas as the Scottish Government and Parliament.
www.wales.gov.uk - Welsh Assembly Government
www.assemblywales.org - The Welsh Assembly

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What is lobbying?
In essence, it’s about building relationships with people who are important to what you do. People make
decisions at all sorts of levels, one level that you will find these decisions affect you on a day-to-day basis is
with your local council. Just like building relationships with journalists is important to you, so is building
relationships with local politicians.
As a supporters’ trust, you might need to talk about a planning issue around your club’s ground, or you
might want to establish some connections with other local community organisations. Whatever it is,
lobbying is what you do to establish and maintain these relationships. It’s just like having a relationship
with anyone else: if you do not communicate with them, neither of you will know what the other one
thinks, wants, likes, or needs.
When a proposed action or policy is successful it is often because it is something that many people can live
with, and people find helpful to their own, often divergent, interests. Lobbying is not just showing why
you think your case is right, but also showing how your case can help lots of other people achieve
something they think is important, bringing to the attention of councillors an issue that there may be a
groundswell of support on.
This approach is one you will use when you are trying to improve the relationship with your club, or
attempting to ensure that the local authority can see you as a partner in a potential project. If what you
want to know is how to carry out a more reactive, short term campaign, see the section beneath this,
titled ‘Reactive & short-term campaigning’.
Some ways of lobbying
I Face-to-face meetings
I Letters
I Phonecalls
I Public events (meetings or other formal occasions)
Picking the right method
There will be times when a public event will be appropriate, but think carefully. Here are some questions to
consider: what is the event; what are you inviting the person there for; and what do you expect to achieve
by having that person/organisation there?
2. About Lobbying
3. Long-term and relationship building

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Tips to make your lobbying a success
I Councillors influence other people’s views, and with their support you might find it easier when trying
to win the support of a local MP or local businessman, for example. Crucially, with many decisions
being proposed by officers, councillors are much better placed to change officer’s minds than outside
bodies (this can also often happen the other way round). A combination of pressure within and from
outside can be very powerful.
I Identify ‘pressure points’ – so keep an eye on the local council’s agenda, both through formal
documents and the local paper. Then, when they are discussing business that may affect your club, you
can capitalise on the relationships you have built to make your case to them, and affect their decisions
on these issues. Councils often have national policy targets they have to implement regardless of
which party they are. Two such examples are ‘Economic Development and the Environment (England &
Wales), or ‘Safer and Stronger Communities’ (England, Wales & Scotland) and promoting healthy
lifestyles; all councils need to work to targets set under these strategies, so working out how your
proposal can help them achieve such things can be crucial.
I Do not forget there are a number of parties on any local council, and they will need to be aware of
your case. If one side does not support you, the other may well do. Issues often go beyond the ward
boundary of where the club is sited in anyway. Whilst support for you might end up splitting on party
lines, start from the assumption that this is an issue you see as something everyone can get behind.
Obviously, it makes sense to lobby people from the group or groups in control of the council.
I Use local election campaigns to your advantage, to gain undertakings from all of the candidates for a
particular ward. Be proactive – why not host a candidate’s hustings where you can give the event the
flavour you are looking for? At election time, all politicians of every type will be looking for ways to
meet voters, so meetings organised by a trust can be of wide interest. In addition, in the period
leading up to and during an election, everything is up for grabs. Parties are more likely to agree to
things which a year earlier they were less in favour of.
I Councillors often have a role in the national parties they are a member of – and may chose to take up
any of the issues you are raising within that arena, which might be used to the advantage of SD’s and
the trust movement’s wider work.
I Establish good relationships with council officers. They can have a large amount of influence in what
policies are formulated and established.
And don’t forget...
I Think about what you want to get out of the meeting
I Have you got any appropriate literature available, e.g. Supporters Direct Magazines, supporters’ trust
guides etc?
I Visit the SD website, or call a Development Officer
I Be clear and concise
I Tell the councillor why the issue is a concern to you
I Ask the councillor how they are going to deal with this issue, or how they are going to take it further.
Councillors get lobbied by lots of people, so your chances of success are likely to be higher if you give
them concrete actions they can take, rather than ask them to think of ways they can help you.
Remember, you are asking for them to help you by using their power, so it’s your job to think of ways
their power can be used to help you. It’s easy for anyone to say they agree, and they will see what they
can do, and then do nothing. Give them several options for what they can practically do to assist you,
and explain how the idea may also assist them in their aims and objectives as councillors (mutual
benefit).

6. Carrying out a campaign that has to be organised quickly and efficiently, and where you have to
disseminate complex messages, or convince influential groups of people in a short space of time is a
different challenge to the long-term, relationship building we have already looked at.
Here is what you need to do if you are fighting a reactive or crisis campaign. These are not exclusive to this
sort of campaigning, and many of these are good tips for any kind of campaigning.
High profile or low key?
Is your campaign going to be one that needs big public support for, or are you going to be more ‘discrete’?
Sometimes, the best results come from lobbying the decision makers by talking to them and having one-to-
one meetings. Sometimes, the best method is to do it very publicly, by inviting the key decision makers to a
public meeting or event. You need to think carefully which approach will be most suitable.
Ensure clear points of contact
Ensure that your board have got a main point of contact for all enquiries from key figures that you are
approaching: This should also apply to contacts from the press and media. It is usually advised for this to
be the Chair and/or Vice Chair and press or communications officer respectively.
Clear messages are crucial
Draw up your key messages and how you are going to communicate them: Clarity is absolutely essential:
You cannot communicate if you are unsure what it is you are trying to say, and you cannot communicate a
message if you do not know who you are communicating it to, or how you are communicating it. SD has
some simple communications and media plans that might help, so get in touch.
Make sure you have nominated spokespeople
Identifying who is speaking on your and your members behalf is essential: any organisation that has a
public face will have only a small number of people entitled to provide public comment. Most
organisations will have a nominated press and publicity officer who will be the principle contact, and most
supporters’ trusts will also use their Chair and Vice-Chair too.
Create easy-to-use campaign materials
If you have decided that a letter writing campaign is going to be a campaign tool, draft a model letter for
members, fans and other supporters to be able to send to councillors. This could also be used as a model
letter to send to the local newspaper as part of your campaign. Another key way of maintaining the story,
or increasing the pressure on local councillors and decision makers is to encourage people to call up your
local radio station. If you want to do this, make sure you have some bullet points drafted for people to be
able to refer to when they are speaking; these are all ways of making sure that your message gets out
there, and all the people who need to hear it do.
Know who your key contacts are
Establish a list or database of council members or key contacts you want people to lobby, and make this
available to whoever you think needs it. You might only need to place a link on your website to the
appropriate page on the local authority website.
Make the trust the hub for information
Use your website as a campaign hub, and for those who do not have regular access to the web, make sure
your you send out mailings as appropriate, or use the local paper, or even give out leaflets or flyers at
matches. You might find it helpful if you set up a separate blog site for this purpose, and put a link on
your main website. Try: www.wordpress.com or www.blogger.com or www.sixapart.com. Blogs are quick
and easy to set up and easy to use. Ideal if you need to act fast!
Finally...
If you are a trust who needs a bit of guidance or assistance on your campaign, just contact SD and speak
to a Development Officer. We also have a number of materials that you might find useful as an
organisation during any campaign.
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4. Reactive & short-term campaigning
www.supporters-direct.org