Issue - items at meetings - Community Engagement Framework update

Report of the Director, Strategy and Governance

19.1    The Community Engagement Improvement Officer and the Head of Communities and Equalities introduced the report. Overview and Scrutiny Commission had a role in monitoring progress and any areas of concern.

19.2    Replying to questions the officers said guidance on community engagement was being developed on Intelligent Commissioning and would form part of the toolkit. 

19.3    Members remarked that Community Engagement was central to the Big Society that had recently been announced nationally.  They noted it was important to ensure that people without access to the internet were engaged. Members also asked to see notes of the Third-Sector-led Task Group helping develop policy principles to support asset transfer; these meetings were not formalised.

19.4    The Head of Policy told the meeting that the Public Service Board was working to support stronger joint working between partners. The two needs assessments for the two Intelligent Commissioning pilot areas; Domestic Violence and Drugs and Alcohol Abuse were in progress.

19.5    Learning reports from the pilots were expected to be completed in September. The Chairman of ECSOSC requested that these be brought to his Committee in September and this was agreed.

19.6    Members noted that at present there were some weaknesses in implementing the Framework standards within all public sector engagement work.

19.7    There was a reminder that third sector organisations can ask scrutiny to look into areas of difficulty.

19.8    The Commission requested that the next update include some of the reasons for poor practice plus good exemplars.

19.9    The meeting noted that more work was under way for example towards training, communications and formalising the role of officers and Councillors with regards to community engagement.

19.10    There was a comment on the balance of the ‘ward communications’ content of the City News council publication.

19.11  RESOLVED; that further information be provided at the next update as minuted above.