Agenda item

5.1

Responses to questions from Mr Alan Kewley were provided as follows:-

Community Engagement

The Chair, Councillor Chris Weldon, stated that the Local Area Partnerships (LAPs) worked in different ways to engage the community in their areas.  It was too soon for the effectiveness of these procedures to be assessed, but a request would be made to the appropriate officers, for a written report from the LAPs on community engagement, for the next meeting of the Committee.

Crime and Disorder

The Chair indicated that Councillor Roy Munn was a member of the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel and that Councillors Sheila Constance and Sioned-Mair Richards had represented the Committee at a meeting of the Panel to discuss potential joint working protocols and ways of information sharing.  As such, the Committee was monitoring the work of the Panel and would seek to develop best practice.

Committee Proceedings

The Chair agreed that meetings should be made more accessible to the public and pointed out to the questioner that he always invited those asking public questions to sit at the Committee table.  He added that tenant representatives were present and were participating in the meeting, but emphasised the importance of Members trying to get out and about to meet tenants and their representatives.  He considered that it was too early to visit the Crystal Peaks Housing Office to see how the Housing+ Service was operating.  The points made about table layout and the possibility of webcasts were noted. 

In conclusion, the Chair informed Mr Kewley that he would receive a full written response to his questions.