Agenda item

6.1

The Committee received a report of the Director of Policy and Democratic Engagement.  The Head of Policy and Partnerships presented the interim report, which set out what the Committee had heard from citizen engagement so far and the next steps. Surveys had been conducted on public questions and petitions and a public workshop was held on 14 September. The findings to date included that:

·        Many respondents said they didn’t know they could ask a question.

·        People wanted the opportunity to be anonymous, to not attend but to still have questions read and answered, and publicly logged.

·        People wanted to see how what they asked had influenced change in the decision or the way we operate.

·        People commented that being able to ask questions is democracy, and the process, response, influence should reflect this.

·        The opportunity to ask, participate should be accessible to all.

·        The main complaint was that our response or action to a petition is not easy to find, and that sometimes it felt petitions were simply ignored.

People asked questions for a number of reasons, including because they provided a political and democratic platform; and enabled people to escalate issues and complaints.

6.2

The paper submitted by the SOS as referred to in the public question, would, when finalised, help add to the rich picture which was being produced in relation to the findings of the Committee in relation to public questions and petitions.

6.3

Another meeting of the task and finish group would be arranged, and a further report would be submitted to the Committee.

6.4

Members of the Committee asked questions, and made comments and observations, as summarised below:

6.4.1

Whilst officers might help people to navigate the more appropriate place in which to ask a question, it was a choice for the citizen themselves where they asked a question. This might be where improvements could be made to make it clearer as to their options and the remits of council committees.

6.4.2

Some people might find it intimidating to ask a question and consideration should be given to allowing a question to be read out on their behalf, if appropriate.

6.4.3

The facility for people to ask questions remotely should be an option through hybrid meetings.

6.4.4

People sometimes wished to give background to their question, and it would be beneficial to talk with them about how that could be done in a way that was succinct.

6.4.5

It might also be beneficial to ask community groups about the Council’s approach public questions.

6.4.6

It would be useful to introduce a tracker for public questions, to record what was happening with a question and what was being done in response to it.

6.4.7

Local Area Committees enabled more elected members to be involved in answering public questions and providing insight. Some issues which were the subject of public questions at Local Area Committees would have been more appropriately asked at the relevant Policy Committee. There therefore needed to be something produced to explain the journey and steps involved in the process for public questions.

6.4.8

Solutions might be difficult, and it would be important to keep the process for public questions under review.

6.4.9

Sometimes, people asked questions because there had not been the required engagement on a particular issue, and it was important to ensure that people were involved in issues which might affect them at an earlier stage.

6.4.10

Local councillors were a first point of contact and could help people find the appropriate place at which to ask a public question.

6.4.11

Other formats might be considered in addition to written questions, including questions asked orally.

6.4.12

Work might be done with the voluntary sector to help signpost people to ask a question

6.4.13

A question was asked regarding the demographics of those people who responded to the surveys concerning public questions and petitions.

6.4.14

Sometimes, people wanted a conversation with the Council and there might be other ways to make that happen, other than by asking public questions.

6.5

The Chair outlined the next steps following members’ feedback at this meeting, including evaluation of surveys and learning from the recent public workshop. A further meeting of the task and finish group would be arranged to consider proposals and to test those proposals with citizens and staff before recommendations were submitted to the Governance Committee.

6.6

RESOLVED: That the Committee (a) notes the progress of the review of the Council’s approach to public questions and petitions and the comments made by members of the Committee at this meeting; and (b) agrees the next steps as outlined in paragraph 2 of the report submitted.