Agenda item

8.1

The Committee received a report of the Director of Policy & Democratic Engagement. The Head of Policy and Partnerships explained that the reportset out a proposal for Governance Committee to undertake a review of Council’s approach to Public Questions, in response to Recommendation 16 of the Six-Month Review of Governance. The proposal suggested establishing a Task and Finish Group of Governance Committee Members to work with citizens, stakeholders and officers over the summer with proposals presented to Governance Committee in October 2023.

8.2

The Head of Policy and Partnerships stated that the intention was to run a public workshop, with Members of this Committee in replace of the next formal Committee meeting. He mentioned that in advance of that workshop, officers planned to consult with members of the public who had previously asked a public question at any of the Council’s Committee meetings, with the ambition to understand what worked well and how the process could be improved.

8.3

Members of the Committee asked questions and made comments and the key points to note were: -

8.4

The Chair referred to the next formal Governance Committee meeting date being the 30 August 2023. Although appreciated that this may not be the date used to hold the workshop due to Member availability therefore would look at alternative dates in early September 2023 to hold this public workshop.

8.5

A Member of the Committee raised the importance of public participation in this piece of work and how it was crucial the listen to the public’s voice at that workshop and then keep them engaged throughout the process.

8.6

A Member of the Committee welcomed the proposal and mentioned how public questions were a key part of Council meetings.

8.7

A Member of the Committee raised the importance of consulting with as many people as possible, not just members of the public who had asked questions at Council meetings previously. She suggested that people could submit written comments for the workshop in order to receive as much information as possible as well as considering the process for petitions as well as questions.

8.8

A Member of the Committee stated how receiving large amounts of public questions two days prior to a Committee meeting was not sustainable on officers time in the build up to a meeting. It was also not satisfactory for Members and those questioners receiving adequate responses in such a short period of time. She mentioned how public questions and petitions at LAC (Local Area Committee) meetings was also not fulfilling and not achieving what those LACs were set up to do, she also stated that there had been an decrease in public participation since the introduction to those LACs. The Member also referred to Policy Committees engagement toolkit and how this was not being used to its full potential. The Member asked what other routes members of the public would be able to feed into this process, other than the public workshop mentioned.

8.9

A Member of the Committee raised the importance of involving people who would not usually submit a question or petition at a council meeting, to understand what barriers there was discouraging people form asking those questions.

8.10

The Head of Policy and Partnerships thanked and noted all the comments made from Members. He agreed that engaging with a wide range of people was crucial. He mentioned that networks such as the Equality Partnerships in Sheffield needed to be consulted. He stated that there would be various routes for people to feed into this work such as online surveys and officers would go away and propose how to best carry out this piece of work. He conformed that the public workshop is a good starting point but would not be the only way members of the public can feed into this process.

8.11

A Member of the Committee raised the importance of the planning for this workshop. He mentioned how it would be useful to understand why members of the public chose to submit public questions rather than contacting their ward Councillors.

8.12

A Member of the Committee referred to the connection between members of the public contacting Customer Services and submitting a public question.

The Head of Policy and Partnerships mentioned that officers would consult with officers within Customer Services around their experiences with dealing with questions from members of the public.

8.13

RESOLVED:That the Governance Committee;

(1) considers and agree the proposed scope of the Public Questions review, in line with the Six-Month Review’s recommendations;

(2) discusses and agrees the proposed terms of reference for the Public Questions review; and

(3) nominates Councillors Fran Belbin, Sue Alston, Mike Levery, Sioned-Mair Richards and Paul Turpin to lead the Task and Finish Group.