Council officers only see the tip of the iceberg when it comes to meeting ward members'aspirations and expectations. Tony Hunter explains how NE Lincolnshire CC is moving forward to change all that.

One of the early commitments of this council's Labour administration in May 2011 was to have a fresh look at how to invigorate ward members' roles as respected leaders of place. We knew that the council had a real opportunity to exert leadership at ward level in conjunction with people, communities, businesses and a range of cross-sector partners – all with the shared ambition of making North East Lincolnshire a great place to live, work, invest and visit.