Agenda item

To consider a report by Councillor Hugh Irving, Lead Member for Customers and Communities (copy enclosed) seeking Cabinet’s approval of the Council’s approach to progressing the theme of Bringing the Council Closer to the Community.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)       endorses the refreshed approach to the definition of being An Excellent Council Close to the Community as set out in Appendix 1 to the report;

(b)       requires all services to develop their own plans in order to respond positively to the four themes outlined in the overview plan set out in Appendix 1 to the report, and

 (c)       endorses a review of Member Area Group (MAG) activity to ensure that there were opportunities to feedback and gauge the views of communities at a locality level.

Councillor Hugh Irving, Lead Member for Customers and Communities presented the report seeking Cabinet’s approval of the Council’s approach to progressing the ambition of ‘Bringing the Council Closer to the Community’.  An overview of the how the Council engaged with communities and its revised approach had been detailed in appendices to the report.

The Corporate Director: Customers (CDC) elaborated upon the identified priorities for the Council in order to bring the Council closer to the community with four new themes and associated actions.  He highlighted the involvement of all services in supporting the corporate approach which would be continually monitored through the Action Plan, the Corporate Plan and via the Service Challenge Process.

Cabinet acknowledged the achievements designed to bring the council closer to the community and provided some positive examples of successful engagement with the public.  The importance of engagement and interaction with communities was highlighted but it was also recognised that public perception was less positive when consultation focused on particular issues where difficult and unpopular decisions had to be made.  Councillor Eryl Williams highlighted the negativity surrounding school reviews in particular and felt there would be some merit in removing the reference to ‘close to the community’ in the mission statement and to concentrate on the more positive aspect of being ‘An Excellent Council’.  In view of the worsening financial climate more difficult and unpopular decisions would need to be made which would also impact negatively on public perception.  During the ensuing debate it was generally accepted that there would be negative public perception arising from specific issues but there was a need for the Council to show their commitment to become close to the community.  The importance of the Council being open and transparent in its dealings and in the way consultations were carried out was highlighted and to listen and engage with the community.  It was accepted that the council could be close to the community but still unpopular because their decisions would not gain everyone’s support.  Councillor Bobby Feeley felt it was important to ensure that the public understood that difficult decisions had to be made.

Members also highlighted the difficulties in measuring the success of the new approach and sought more definite measureable outcomes.  Whilst various monitoring strategies had been mentioned, including the action plan, feedback from various forums and complaints/compliments and surveys, it was acknowledged there was no definitive measure of success.  As the issue involved culture change it was difficult to quantify but there was a commitment and expectation to succeed and strategies employed to deliver the ambition.  Officers responded to further questions as follows –

·         acknowledged the need for commitment from officers highlighting the involvement of services within the process

·         elaborated upon the two way process of the City/Town/Community Council Charter and the continual monitoring of its effectiveness

·         two town/community councils had failed to sign up to the Charter, one being Llandrillo who had not signed up because of their area’s school review

·         the checklist (Appendix 3 circulated at the meeting) would be used to monitor how services were responding to the needs of customers, and

·         the new website would be launched publicly on 19 August and would be more interactive to enable the public to communicate easily with the Council.

Councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts reported upon the mixed views of Communities Scrutiny Committee when considering the report and highlighted the need for an effective community engagement plan and a revamp of the Town/Community Council Charter to make it more appealing.  He also highlighted the need to make greater use of technology to engage with communities, particularly young people.  Councillor Colin Hughes felt that councillors had an obligation to engage with their communities and that aspect should feature more strongly in members training.

Members agreed it was important to maintain and fulfil the council’s ambition of becoming closer to the community and it was –

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)       endorses the refreshed approach to the definition of being An Excellent Council Close to the Community as set out in Appendix 1 to the report;

(b)       requires all services to develop their own plans in order to respond positively to the four themes outlined in the overview plan set out in Appendix 1 to the report, and

 (c)       endorses a review of Member Area Group (MAG) activity to ensure that there were opportunities to feedback and gauge the views of communities at a locality level.