North West Charter for Elected Member Development
We believe that at the heart of any local authority dedicated to meeting the needs of its community there should be a commitment to the development of its Elected Members. Elected Members should be supported and assisted in playing their vital role in modernising local government.
As a result, the North West Charter for Elected Member Development was launched in 2000 as part of the regional strategy to raise the profile of Elected Member development. The Charter sets out six practice points which an authority has to put in place before the Charter can be awarded.
Achievement of the Charter involves two stages. The first is for the authority to declare that they are committed to the principles contained within the Charter. The second is the harder task of proving that they meet them. This is done through an independent assessment process.
The Charter is reviewed every three years. Authorities can be reviewed against the original standards – Level 1, or they can be reviewed against the exemplar standards – Level 2.