Agenda item

To note a verbal update.

Councillor Pound (member of the Task and Finish Group (TFG)) provided a verbal update which included the following comments:

·         At the recent TFG meeting, members took on board advice not to rush to a solution before understanding the problem.

·         A series of questions were put to officers:

o   The most recent communication and engagement strategy was issued in 2013/14 and left a lot to be desired, it could be interpreted as a means to justify the actions of the Council rather than as a two-way interaction.

o   The most recent residents’ survey was carried out in 2015 and a number of important messages from a quiet majority were missed.

o   No members’ survey had been undertaken in the past few years, so the Council was not even consulting its own members on engagement.

o   Parish Chair’s were meeting quarterly and this appeared to be a mechanism which was working.

o   The online consultation portal was withdrawn in 2018 on the grounds that it was costly, it was not actively used, and it was not effective in capturing views and opinions.

o   Local Magazine was a cost effective and popular method of communication. 46 per cent of people recalled seeing a copy, 18 per cent said it was their preferred method of communication.

o   37 per cent of people said the website was their preferred method of communication. A lot of work was ongoing to improve the website.

o   Ward Walks stopped in 2013. They were popular with residents and many people said the Council should be more visible in that way.

o   The ‘corporate compass’ had become the ‘corporate priorities’ and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee could have a greater role in holding the Cabinet to account on its performance against its priorities.

·         A lot of engagement activity had stopped around 2013-14 and the Council no longer understood the views and opinions of the residents of the borough.

·         There was little two-way dialogue and no adequate portal for residents to set out what they wanted.

·         The TFG would next be looking at making communication more ward focused, so people could feedback what was important to them.

Discussion included the following comments:

·         There were a number of online-based products which could help fill some of the gaps, but these had significant cost implications.

·         The focus on identifying problems, rather than solutions, was welcomed.

·         Councillor Scott, the Portfolio Holder with responsibility for engagement, was keen to share his plans with the TFG as a contributor to the review.

·         Residents were pleasantly surprised to receive a visit when Ward Walks were running and usually involved a variety of people including officers, councillors and local councillors. Whilst popular, they were time intensive and those resources no longer existed.

·         Resources of the Scrutiny function of the Council had significantly changed, previously there had been 3 separate Overview and Scrutiny Committees with a four-strong support team. Each Committee had a specific remit so could consider items in greater detail. The Scrutiny function had changed with the introduction of the Cabinet Advisory Boards.

·         The Cabinet Advisory Boards were pre-scrutiny for matters going to Cabinet, this provided an opportunity for all members to consider the implications of specific Cabinet decisions. This freed the Scrutiny function to take a higher-lever overview.

·         The Council had lost £4m in Revenue Support Grant and this inevitably required a cut to some services. Unfortunately, when asked, the public tended to favour cuts to democratic management and engagement as this function was generally not understood.

·         If the Committee was inclined to recommend reversing the cuts to scrutiny and/or engagement, if would be for the Cabinet to balance the benefit against the cost.

·         It was anticipated that the TFG would be in a position, at the end of the process, to recommend some form of investment to re-engage with residents.

RESOLVED – That the verbal update be noted.