Agenda item

To consider the draft final report and recommendations from the Neighbourhood Groups Task and Finish Group.

(Report to follow).

The Chair of the Neighbourhood Groups Task and Finish Group introduced the final draft report of the Task and Finish Group.

The Committee was informed that the main objective of the review was to determine whether the Neighbourhood Groups were operating in accordance with their purpose and to consider alternative methods of consultation.

Members were informed that the purpose of Neighbourhood Groups when they were set up was to inform, engage and consult with residents about Council business, policy development and decision making.

Following consultation with Councillors, Officers, Police and residents the Task and Finish Group concluded that Neighbourhood Groups were no longer fit for purpose. 

Information regarding the Task and Finish Group’s initial findings had been circulated to all residents on the contact list for the Neighbourhood Groups.  Members of the Task and Finish Group also attended all Neighbourhood Group meetings in October 2009 to receive feedback on their initial findings.

Evidence provided to the Group had indicated that there was a lot of duplication over the types of issues considered at Neighbourhood Group meetings and at Partners and Communities Together (PACT) meetings.  Many residents considered that PACT meetings were more effective at addressing and resolving issues.

As a result of consultation with West Mercia Police it was suggested that PACT meetings might be re-launched as the primary local meeting for engaging with residents and could include other partners, when necessary.

Members of the Committee felt that generally PACT meetings were worked better than Neighbourhood Groups.  They recognised that Neighbourhood Groups had outlived their usefulness and were very expensive to run.  They also felt it important that alternative methods of engaging with a wider cross section of the community be implemented.

RECOMMENDED that

1)                 the Neighbourhood Groups are not now fit for purpose and should be discontinued;

2)                 the Partners and Communities Together (PACT) group meetings should be re-launched and delivered as an equal partnership arrangement;

a)                 Redditch Borough Council should work with the Police and other local agencies participating in Partners and Communities Together (PACT) to agree funding and administration for PACT meetings;

b)                 a protocol should be jointly developed outlining the roles and responsibilities of all agencies in the re-launched PACT Groups;

c)                 the Chairs of all PACT meetings should be independent members of the community;

d)                 promotion of the re-launched PACT meetings should be appropriately targeted towards clarifying the meaning of the new arrangements for residents living in areas where PACT and Neighbourhood Group meetings currently only take place on the same night;

e)                 there should be small, local budgets for each of the re-launched PACT groups which could be spent at the discretion of the group;

3)                 the Neighbourhood Groups also be replaced with a further variety of methods that will enable Redditch Borough Council to inform and consult more effectively with local residents;

these alternative methods should include the following;

a)                 the Council should publish quarterly editions of Redditch Matters during the year to inform residents about local public services, activities and Council business;

b)                 Redditch Borough Council should continue to host road shows throughout the Borough;

c)                 Redditch Borough Council should embrace the Worcestershire Viewpoint Citizens Panel and use every opportunity to work with the Panel to consult with residents over local issues;

d)                 the Council should promote web based systems, such as the Worcestershire Hub and FixMyStreet, that can be utilised to resolve residents’ individual issues;

e)                 social networking should be used by the Council to inform and consult residents in appropriate circumstances;

f)                   the use of Councillor Calls for Action be promoted in order to be used to resolve local neighbourhood issues;

g)                 more effort should be made by the Council to advertise the fact that residents should resolve individual issues through direct contact with Councillors, Officers and the One-Stop-Shops;

h)                 the Council should work in equal partnership with the Police and other local agencies to advertise Street Briefings and Environment Visual Audits to local residents;

4)                 Redditch Borough Council should continue to seek ways to better engage and consult with a more diverse range of residents;

5)                 the Council should have a robust monitoring system in place to assess the effectiveness of each of the mechanisms used to inform, engage and consult with local residents;

6)                 the Community Forum and similar groups which engage and consult with local residents should report to the Executive Committee; and

7)                 the Council should have a central electronic database which would be used for the purposes of consultation with key partners in the Borough.