Agenda item

Councillor Draycott submits a report that considers the next steps to be taken to build on the early successes of Ward Community Meetings as a vehicle for effective community engagement. Cabinet is recommended to approve the recommendations as set out in Paragraph 3 of the report.

A minute extract from the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board meeting, held on 22 January 2008, will be circulated as soon as it is available.

Councillor Draycott submitted a report that considered the next steps to be taken to build on the early successes of Ward Community Meetings as a vehicle for effective community engagement.  She noted that the theme of Environmental Services in the first year had been well received and Highways would be the theme for 2009/10. 

In response to the comments from the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board (OSMB) Councillor Draycott agreed to investigate the consolidation of the three funding streams.  She expressed concern, however, that this might not be possible as the money may need to be spent on specific allocations, particularly with regard to the community cohesion funding.  Councillor Draycott thanked OSMB for their positive comments. Councillor Draycott was to hold discussions with the Primary Care Trust to establish their involvement. She suggested that Medical Practitioners could attend the Community Meetings with specific health campaigns.

Councillor Draycott thanked Council Officers for the work carried out on the Community Meetings.

RESOLVED:

                        that Cabinet:

1)     notes the successes and key learning points from the initial series of Ward Community Meetings;

2)     notes the next tranche of City wide services to feature in the Meeting Information Fairs and encourages  Members and officers to identify further  additional Ward specific items for inclusion;

3)     endorses the work currently underway with partner agencies to actively promote their inclusion in the Information Fairs and on Meeting Agenda items in a targeted manner which best meets their requirements and outputs;

4)     endorses the provision of Ward specific web sites and capacity building mechanisms to enable members of the public to engage better in Ward Community Meetings and the associated input and outcomes;

5)     notes the ongoing work to ensure that the particular issues and needs of the city centre, including its residents, is addressed in the most appropriate manner;

6)     supports the provision, through the current work of the Delivering Excellence Team, to provide both Ward based service data and the associated ward related service performance management which is thereby enabled;

7)     endorses the inclusion of highways and traffic services in 2009/10, along with Youth services and environmental issues/climate change over the next two years as the next key city wide services to be also considered in detail at the individual Ward level to ascertain the levels of service delivery which are best addressed city wide and those which can be reconfigured to make them more bespoke to the needs and requirements of each local community;

8)     notes that  the carry forward of the unspent provision of the first year’s allocation of funding to Ward Community Meetings, including the specific sums for community cohesion will be considered as part of the 2008/09 Revenue Budget out-turn;

9)     asks officers to develop further proposals to use additional funding to support Ward Community Meetings from the community engagement allocation within the Working Neighbourhoods Fund and/or from resources and skills that may be released as a result of decisions on the future of Neighbourhood Management which are due at Cabinet on 16 February;

10) endorses the publicity and feedback proposals detailed in the report to maximise awareness of the activities and outcomes of the Ward Community Meetings;

11)welcomes the work underway, by both Members and officers, to ensure that the determination of the future calendar of Ward Community Meetings for the next municipal year, which  will then be incorporated into the annual calendar of meetings and utilised, as appropriate, in advance publicity material

12)notes and endorses the emerging role of Ward Community Meetings in embedding and promoting good community relations within and between local neighbourhoods.

13)notes the consideration currently being given to the future provision of consultation mechanisms for Housing Management and Repairs for tenants and leaseholders, including synergies which exist with Ward Community Meetings.