Agenda and minutes

Councillors and officers to declare any interests which they have in any of the items on the agenda for the meeting.

No declarations were made.

To consider a report of the Democratic Services Manager.

The report sets out the Scrutiny Review Panel Procedure Rules and suggests that the Panel should adopt them for the purpose of conducting the review.

The Panel are requested to formally adopt the Scrutiny Review Panel Rules for the purpose of conducting the review.

Officer Contact: Craig Ainsworth on 0161 474 3204 or email: craig.ainsworth@stockport.gov.uk.

A representative of the Democratic Services Manager submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) inviting the Panel to agree a set of procedures to be adhered to for the conducting of the review.

RESOLVED – That the Scrutiny Panel Procedure Rules as set out in the report be adopted.

To consider a presentation from Katy Forde and Lisa Wright (Policy, Performance and Reform) setting out background information on Council Public Consultation and Engagement.

A representative of the Deputy Chief Executive attended the meeting to outline the current approach to informing, consulting and engaging at Stockport Council.

The following comments were made/ issues raised:-

·         The length of time a consultation remained active was usually between 2 and 12 weeks and was determined by the level of change. This was sometimes extended if the change affected vulnerable groups.

·         It was the relevant managers’ decision as to whether or not a consultation takes place; the Corporate Consultation Manager role was solely advisory.

·         The Consultation Policy and Toolkit were made available on the Intranet to assist managers.

·         Consultation was seen as necessary when service users would see a change in service delivery and there was a legitimate expectation for stakeholders to be consulted.

·         Easy read summaries were produced in consultation with the Communications department, but were sometimes difficult to produce for complex consultations.

·         Managers were encouraged to discuss their consultation plan with the relevant Executive Councillor.

·         It was acknowledged by the Council that the number of people who used public buildings was limited therefore consultations were advertised in locations that would reach a larger audience such as gyms.

·         Members raised concerns with the potential for over-consulting certain groups and stressed the importance of the relationship between Council consultations and Councillor consultations.

·         Community Facebook pages were suggested as a good tool that could be used to communicate consultations to residents.

·         It was acknowledged that Councillors could assist the Council in increasing the level of response to consultations.

RESOLVED – (1) That the review focus on increasing the response to Council consultations.

(2) That the Deputy Chief Executive be requested to obtain comparative data from other Greater Manchester local authorities regarding response rates to consultations.

(3) That the Deputy Chief Executive be requested to analyse the relationship between the response rate to consultation and the level of resources invested into them.

To agree dates of futures meeting of the Scrutiny Review Panel.

RESOLVED – That the next meeting of the Scrutiny Review Panel be scheduled for 22 November 2016 at 6pm.