So, what does a County Councillor actually do?
With the County Council elections coming up in May, you may be wondering exactly what a County Councillor actually does. Suffolk County Council has issued a "Profile of a Suffolk County Councillor" describing the role. In essence, the council identifies two main strands of work -- "Local Community Leadership" (in which the councillor engages with, and represents, the community and the constituents of their electoral division) and "Representation" (in which the councillor takes part in debate, policy-making, budgetting and governance, in the council as a body).
Unlike parish or town councillors (who work on a purely voluntary basis), it is assumed that half of the work of a County Councillor will be voluntary, and the other half is eligible for a "basic allowance" of £10,273.74 per annum (subject to tax and National Insurance deductions). Additional allowances apply to roles with specific responsibility in the council, and there is a travel and subsistence allowance and a carer's allowance, subject to meeting certain criteria.
Your elected County Councillor can recommend that the Council provide grants of up to £8,000 in a particular year to contribute to local projects in your electoral division, with a similar amount that can be recommended for local highways work.
Suffolk County Council advises that the time commitment required of the role can vary from a few hours per week to a few hours per day. But it is worth noting that some councillors are much more active on behalf of their constituents than others -- for example, Caroline Page (the County Councillor for Woodbridge, and a Liberal Democrat) spends considerably more time working on behalf of her constituents than the guidance issued by Suffolk County Council.
To get a flavour of the varied workload, interest areas and responsibilities of an active County Councillor, take a look at Caroline Page's blog, where she summarises some of the work that she has done in this role in 2016-2017.
Sources:
https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/assets/council-and-democracy/consultations-petitions-and-elections/00-Generic-Role-Profile-for-all-Councillors.pdf [accessed 08 April 2017]
https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/assets/council-and-democracy/consultations-petitions-and-elections/Elections/2017-Candidates-for-county-council-elections.pdf [accessed 08 April 2017]
https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/assets/council-and-democracy/the-council-and-its-committees/constitution/PART-7-Members-Allowances-Scheme-Oct-2016.pdf [accessed 08 April 2017]
http://carolinepage.blog.suffolk.libdems.org/2017/04/03/woodbridge-county-councillor-whats-been-happening-2016-17/ [accessed 08 April 2017]