Guidance

Local authority political assistants guidance

Published 11 October 2021

Applies to England

1. About this guidance

Who is this guidance for?

This guidance is for local authorities in England who employ, or are considering employing, local authority political assistants.

Status of the guidance

This is non-statutory guidance issued by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Purpose of the guidance

The government has issued this non-statutory guidance to:

• accompany changes made by the Local Government (Assistants for Political Groups) (Remuneration) (England) Order 2021
• encourage local authorities choosing to employ political assistants to carry out a value for money job assessment and, if appropriate, consider employing them on a part-time basis
• recommend that councils are thorough in ensuring that there is openness and transparency regarding the role and activities of political assistants in their employ

2. What is a local authority political assistant?

Local authority political assistants are local government employees who undertake research and provide administrative support for the main political groups within an authority.

The existence of these posts allows a separation of professional officer and political roles and can enable the provision of advice to councillors that local authority officers are prevented from providing.

Part I of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 sets out the framework regulating the appointment and conduct of political assistants.

Under section 2 of the 1989 Act, the post of political assistant in a local authority is politically restricted. This means that, like other politically restricted posts, the post-holder cannot stand for election, act as an election agent or sub-agent, be an officer of a political party, manage a party or branch of a party, and cannot canvass on behalf of a political party or candidate for election.

Political advisers are, however, permitted to speak to the public with the intention of affecting support for a political party, but their actions must not give the impression that they are acting as the representative of the political party.

Political advisers are also able to publish or cause to be published written work or other material intended to affect public support for a political party, but they must not give the impression that the publication is authorised by the political party.

These rules were adopted to address concerns about political impartiality, conflict of interest and the use of taxpayer funds for political purposes in councils. Further details on the restrictions in place can be found in the Local Government Officers (Political Restrictions) Regulations 1990.

The restrictions take the form of terms and conditions that are deemed to be incorporated into those officers’ terms of appointment and conditions of employment. The restrictions applicable to all holders of politically restricted posts are set out in Part I of the Schedule to the Regulations. Part II of Schedule provides for further terms and conditions for political assistants.

Information supplied by the Local Government Association suggests that only a small minority of local authorities in England currently employ political assistants.

3. Appointments

Under section 9 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, a local authority may appoint up to 3 assistants for political groups subject to stringent conditions and safeguards.

The 3 largest political groups in each authority qualify for a political assistant if the membership of the group consists of at least 10% of the membership of the authority. The exception is where only one political group accounts for at least 10% of the membership, in which case the next biggest group also qualifies.

No appointments can be made until posts have been established for all qualifying groups, however, only one post can be appointed to a political party.

Under section 7 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 employees of a local authority must be appointed on merit. Section 9 provides an exception to this principle.

The appointment of each political assistant is down to the political group each post (political assistant) is to represent. The appointee can take account of the candidate’s political activities during the selection process, although the posts are ‘politically restricted’ (as described above).

4. Remuneration and contracts

It is for the authority to determine the salary payable, however, it is expected that local authorities show restraint and allow pay increases in a proportionate manner in line with wider local government pay.

The Local Government (Assistants for Political Groups) (Remuneration) (England) Order 2006 has been revoked and a new Order laid. This Order sets a higher maximum level of potential pay that political assistants can be paid.

Authorities who employ political assistants should always consider whether the post is necessary, and whether employing them on a part-time rather than full-time basis would keep the costs down and provide better value for money for the taxpayer. Part-time posts may encourage and attract a diverse range of candidates.

Under section 9(4)(b) of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 the maximum salary set by regulations is a full-time equivalent figure so it is not possible to pay an annual salary at an hourly rate for part-time hours if this would breach the maximum amount stipulated if the political assistant were to work full-time.

Authorities are encouraged to carry out a value for money job assessment when considering remuneration for political assistants and pay at a rate appropriate for the work undertaken, subject to the maximum amount.

The contract of employment must terminate at or before the annual council meeting following the first elections after the person was appointed (or the first annual council meeting after the person has been in post for 3 years if the council is elected by thirds). However, this does not prevent the post holder being reappointed for a further term.

5. When to employ a political assistant

When considering how best to manage their resources, councils should be certain to take into account their use, potential use, or necessity of local authority political assistants.

While these politically restricted advisers can provide elected members with a different perspective, offering the type of advice other council staff cannot, local authorities should remember that they are taxpayer-funded employees and should not be exempt from wider discussions about how to make the authority as efficient and effective as possible.

All local authorities, and individual political groups themselves, should therefore have particular regard to financial considerations when determining the need for a political assistant.

These considerations are especially relevant where a political group is represented by a small number of councillors but nevertheless qualifies for a political assistant. Where such cases arise, local authorities should pay particular attention to the value for money of employing an assistant and whether they can justify this to local residents.

The local authority cannot delegate any functions to an assistant, and no other authority officer can be required to work under the direction of an assistant (other than in respect of secretarial or clerical services).

6. Openness and transparency

Each local authority is under a duty to draw-up and regularly update a list of posts which are politically restricted and political assistants are expected to comply with the officer code of conduct of their authority.

Local authorities should consider publishing the details below as best practice:

• the total number of political assistants it employs
• the political group each assistant serves
• the number of councillors in each political group
• the number of hours per week for which each political group’s assistant is employed