Contact officer: Pat Jones (Principal Scrutiny Officer), Tel 01865 252191, phjones@oxford.gov.uk

The Principal Scrutiny Officer submitted a report (previously circulated, now appended) providing an update on the development of the Area Forums. Pat Jones presented this report to the Committee and explained the background.

The Chair, Councillor Campbell, thanked Councillors Wilkinson and Sanders, and Pat Jones, for their hard work on this matter. Councillor Sanders explained that each area had its own ideas about the operation of the Forums. Each has a starting point for what they want to do. Angela Cristofoli (Communities and Neighbourhoods Manager) added that she and her team would review the Forum system at the end of the year. The Scrutiny Committee would work with her on this to avoid duplication of work, or working at odds with each other.

Councillor Wilkinson expressed some surprise at the disparity between the Area Committee areas. She felt that there was a need for member training, especially on community leadership and holding effective meetings. There was also an issue about the resources available for the Forum meetings – how they would be supported, where they would meet, and how success could be measured.  Councillor Sanders added that the intention was to produce, at the end of the first six months, a list of issues discussed by each forum and the numbers of people attending. It was important to know how many people the Forums had reached.

The Committee considered this and made the following points:-

• What worked well for one area might not be successful in another. There was a need to be open to an exchange of ideas;
• It was important to look at the impact and influence a Forum had, as well as the number of people attending it;
• It would be useful to know how many “calls for action” actually resulted in an action. What tangible results came from the discussions and decisions made? If results were few, people would not attend.  It was important that proposals coming from the community were discussed and received a response. The response of the public towards the Forums was more important than the response of Councillors;
• There was an argument for a two-tier structure – surgery and case work on the ground, and themed meetings dealing with items of concern above this;
• The Council should consider actively canvassing the views of the people with whom engagement is sought after the first six months of operation;
• Meetings are surgeries were a good starting point. There was a need to record the issues coming in;
• There was a need to assess the groups that do not engage with the Council – do they attend Forums? If not, how can we encourage them to attend?
• The items discussed by the Forums were a key part of encouraging people to attend them and join in their work.

Angela Cristofoli gave the following response:-

• The new system would be reviewed after six months, probably by the end of the year;
• The Forums were one strand of community engagement. There were other ways to reach out and engage the local community. The message of engagement went wider than just the Forums;
• Forums could be planned and shaped in advance, but they needed to be shaped with the community, focussing on real issues of concern within an area;
• She welcomed the chance to work with Councillors Sanders and Wilkinson and Pat Jones on this matter.

Resolved to:-

(1)   Recommend that a plan for member training be devised, to include training on the conduct of effective meetings and community leadership;

(2)   Ask for details to be supplied of the budget available for Area Forums and the wider work with communities;

(3)   Ask Councillors Sanders and Wilkinson to continue to work with Pat Jones on this issue, and specifically to draw up some means of evaluating the success of the Forums that can be circulated to the Committee in due course.