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Agenda item

Communications and Consultation - Update on Scrutiny, Ward Forums and the Council's Community Engagement

Minutes:

5.1  The Chair welcomed Polly Cziok, Director of Communications, Culture and Engagement for this item, who would cover the following areas:

·  Scrutiny and the Council’s community engagement work;

·  Ward Forums and the members community engagement work;

·  How scrutiny and the consultation and engagement function work together;

·  Raising the profile of scrutiny.

 

5.2  It was noted that there were a number of drivers that warranted an examination of the communication support for scrutiny commissions.  Firstly the scope and ambition of the work of Scrutiny Commissions had increased and secondly, there was much more coverage of the work of Scrutiny Commissions work in the media as a result of the appointment of a Local Democracy Reporter at the Gazette.  This has resulted in an increased public awareness and interest in the work of scrutiny which, given its public engagement function, was to be welcomed.

 

5.3  Although support from communications department had been provided to scrutiny on an ad hoc basis (e.g. Unregistered Schools Review by the Children and Young People Scrutiny Commission), it was felt that this support should be more formalised and structured.  In this context, it had been agreed that a communications officer would be assigned to each scrutiny commission who would attend all meetings of the Commission, work proactively with the press to explain items for discussion and actively publicise and promote scrutiny meetings and events.  In particular, the assigned communication officer would meet with the relevant scrutiny Chair to identify those topics from the forward plan which might benefit from additional support from the communications department.

 

5.4  Panel members noted that additional communications support was needed to support high profile scrutiny meetings in which there was substantial public interest.  The Chair of Living in Hackney Commission reported that, due to lack of defined budget, it had been difficult to obtain promotional leaflets to support the scrutiny of Thames Water following recent floods in the Lea Bridge area of the borough.  Similar concerns were raised by the Chair of Working in Hackney Scrutiny Commission.  Given the centrality of the public engagement and involvement function of scrutiny, Members of the Panel suggested that additional support would be needed to enable them to carry out this function effectively.

 

5.5  The Director of Communications informed the Panel that whilst there was no dedicated budget to support the consultation and engagement function of scrutiny at present, there would be no reason why a modest budget could not be found within existing resources to support the work of the scrutiny commissions.  This budget could be used, for example, to support publicity for a specific item (such as a review of the Commission) or to provide leaflets to promote scrutiny meetings.

 

  Agreed: That a budget would be set aside from existing resources to facilitate communication and public involvement function of scrutiny commissions.

 

5.6  The Commission indicated that it would welcome a broader discussion as to how the communication and engagement function interfaced with the both scrutiny function and Ward Forums.  It was noted that there were a number of consultation and engagement issues in respect of the operation of Ward Forums.  Of particular concern was that on occasion, meetings of local Ward Forums had been conflated with the general consultation processes of the council (e.g. traffic management changes).  This issue aside however, it was clear that some Ward Forums were functioning better than others.

 

5.7  It was noted the view of members was critical to the future development of Ward Forums, and that the council was consulting with them on how they could be improved (on-line survey, focus group and reference group).  There had not been a high level of response from members to the consultation, and it was suggested that a short paper should be submitted for discussion at the political group meetings, and further feedback from those discussions would inform any future proposals.

 

5.8  Whilst dedicated administrative support for Ward Forums ceased some time ago, minute-taking and other administrative functions was undertaken by officers on a voluntary basis.  It was suggested that it might be helpful if additional guidance could be provided to new members to clarify existing administrative support arrangements and how actions from Ward Forums are taken forward.

 

5.9  The Commission reported that a Senior Officer Group had oversight of the items taken at Ward Forums and that prospective agendas were systematically reviewed.  If it was assessed that an item required corporate support, this would be escalated with additional support provided by relevant council officers. 

 

5.10  Members present indicated that Ward Forums provided an excellent opportunity to showcase positive and beneficial work undertaken in the community.  It was noted however, that it was often problematic to publicise Ward Forums effectively as there was a lack of advice and guidance to support the development of an effective communication strategy, particularly for the use of social media (e.g. Facebook). 

 

5.11  The Director of Communication reported that whilst the Council was looking to develop a digital support offer to members in respect of Ward Forums, there were a number of technical and privacy issues.  For instance, due to privacy concerns, it was reported that members were reluctant to use their own social media profiles to promote Ward Forums.  It was suggested that with additional guidance and support, such issues could be overcome and could help to improve the digital promotion of Ward Forums.

 

5.12  A number of members present indicated that as not everyone had access to the internet, other means of promoting and publicising Ward Forums should be undertaken alongside the use of social media.  In particular, if printed promotional materials were available, this could be displayed on public notice boards within each ward (e.g. estates and community centres).

 

Agreed:  A short paper on communication support arrangements for Ward Forums would be taken to both political groups in Hackney for consultation.

 

5.13  The Chair thanked the Director of Communication and Engagement for attending and responding to member questions.

 

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