Issue - meetings

Issue - meetings

Citizen Engagement

Meeting: 12/01/2021 - Scrutiny Committee (Item 69)

69 Citizen Engagement pdf icon PDF 403 KB

This report will provide an update for the Scrutiny Committee on the Council’s approach to citizen engagement and consultation and the variety of methods used. The Committee is asked to note the report and make such recommendations to Cabinet as it wishes.

Councillor Susan Brown, Leader of the Council and Mish Tullar, Corporate Policy, Partnership and Communications Manager, have been invited to attend for this item.

Please note that this report will be published as a supplement.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Susan Brown, Leader of the Council, introduced the report which had been prepared at the Committee’s request. Engagement with the City’s  citizens was of paramount importance. All Councillors would share a sense of frustration at the difficulty of face to face engagement with constituents given the constraints imposed as a result of the pandemic. On the other hand, the experience of the pandemic had shown how the Council could be more creative in its approach to engagement as well as building on innovations that were already in place. Engagement with local citizens through the local media was already well established, the Residents’ Panel had already been set up, something which didn’t require face to face engagement. Online meetings had made it clear that audiences and participation for some activities could be greater than would otherwise have been the case. The Council’s Citizens’ Assembly had been a very significant element of the Council’s engagement with residents, both as a process and in relation to possibly the most important issue facing the City and the world. The very rich output from the Assembly was still being worked through. Despite the good work being done already, it was important to be alive to the potential for improvement and finding new and diverse ways of engaging with residents. She sounded one note of caution, the continuation of the current practice of holding statutory meetings remotely would require the introduction of primary legislation in a few months’ time and the Government had not yet taken any steps to do so.

Mish Tullar, Corporate Policy, Partnerships & Communications Manager, said that the process of preparing the report had proved to be very helpful in improving the team’s understanding of the full spectrum of engagement activity. At the same time it was important to be clear that the report did not provide an exhaustive account. The report did not mention, for example, the regular contact between Councillors and their constituents, something in relation to which it might be helpful to establish a formal means of recording. Recent months had illustrated the great potential for digital engagement.  A virtual Town Hall session, for example, had been “attended” by some 2000 people and seen by some 1000 people after the event. While digital communication was likely to play an increasingly important role, it would be important to ensure that those who could not or would not engage in that way were not disenfranchised.

The Committee confirmed the view that the role of Councillors was key and  one which should not be lost sight of. This was not just about 1:1 engagement and could take many forms such as  setting up temporary stalls in shopping centres and involvement with school activities such as international days.  

The Committee confirmed the need to take appropriate account of the so called ‘digital divide’ which was not always simply about access to IT equipment but also the data costs associated with it. This was something which had been exacerbated to some extent by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 69