Darryl Telles - Neighbourhoods Manager
Minutes:
Ebony Riddell Bamber, Community Participation Manager, spoke to the meeting about the work of the Democracy Commission Phase 2. This was conducted against the backdrop of:
· having to save £344,000 from April 2012
· the role and function of community councils being looked at
· trying to identify improvements to community councils.
As part of the work of the Commission, officers were engaged in a process to find out what residents think about community councils. This was done at focus groups, via questionnaires, and in workshops and discussions at community councils.
The questions asked were:
· What works well at community councils?
· What could be improved about your community council?
· Which ways of making savings at your community council would you support?
Attendees were then asked to vote for their own priorities with the aid of voting pads. The results were as follows:
What I value about CC meetings
Influencing decisions 49% Consultations 40%
Contact with councillors 46% Finding out what
happens in my area 53%
What could be improved
Better publicity 36% More time for questions 61%
More community input
into agendas 50% Better feedback 46%
Savings suggested
Fewer meetings 28% Larger CC areas 38%
Changes in planning at Reduce venue/
CCs 40% equipment costs 59%
Reduce publicity 46%
Ebony said that officers would come back to future community council meetings to give further updates about the feedback received, and the decision taken by cabinet. Councillor Abdul Mohamed invited attendees to come to the meetings of the Democracy Commission which were held in public. He said that the council had been forced to make savings due to the £35m cuts by central government, and that the savings target for community councils next year was £344,000. It was in light of this that the Democracy Commission was looking at options. He reminded the meeting that the Democracy Commission had been instrumental in changing the way council assembly was conducted, with many meetings now taking place in the community.