Agenda item

Joint Report

Cllr Thomson presented a report on the outcome of the Leader’s Review on the operation of Area Boards in Wiltshire. He explained that in the eight months since Area Boards were launched in June 2009, 86 Area Board meetings had been held across Wiltshire, directly involving 5,547 citizens in local democracy, whilst a further 10,000 residents had signed up to be kept informed and involved.

As part of the introduction of Area Boards, the Leader of the Council gave a commitment to undertake a review of the initiative after 6 months. The outcomes described and proposals put forward in the report were the result of consultation with councillors, parish councillors, officers, partners and the general public. Over 1,200 responses were received in response to a survey conducted between January and March 2010 (over 500 of whom had attended Area Boards). Additionally over 120 delegates attended a workshop at the Corn Exchange in Devizes on 8 March to consider how the Area Boards may be further improved.

Details of the survey findings were presented from which it was noted that overall the findings were positive.  Of the 23 areas examined by the recent survey, 17 received an overall positive endorsement from respondents. 

Cllr Thomson guided Cabinet through the proposals contained within the report.  An outcome of the review would be to ensure that the Council targeted support appropriately, would further embed the Area Board system throughout the organisation and give Area Boards more responsibility.

In the discussion which ensued, it was pointed out that at the outset, it had been accepted that Area Boards being a new initiative would require an ongoing process of refinement, building on experience gained and responding to community needs and aspirations. With one exception, a number of Councillors spoke very positively about Area Boards.

Cllr Thomson paid tribute to the tremendous work and effort put in by officers and Councillors to make the Area Board system work and this had provided a very good foundation on which to build on.

Cllr Thomson emphasised that Area Boards had provided a much needed forum where real issues affecting people and their local communities could be raised. They also provided the public with the opportunity to raise such issues with senior members and officers present and to hold them to account.

A Local Service Review Scrutiny Task Group had considered the report on the Leader’s Review and a report summarising the views expressed by the Task Group was presented. Cllr Desna Allen, Chairman of the Task Group attended Cabinet to answer questions on the Task Group’s report and Cllr Thomson responded to the points made by the Task Group.

The Leader reaffirmed her commitment to the Area Board system and referred to the additional investment in them by way of additional funding. Officers were requested to ensure that issues raised through the Area Board system were dealt with more appropriately which in some cases would be to refer them to the relevant Divisional Councillor as constituency issues. She also agreed that work be undertaken to capture the outcomes of Area Boards as a way of measuring their effectiveness.

Resolved:

People

1)           That Area Boards and Community Area Managers be encouraged to work with Council services, parish councils and partners such as health services, housing associations, schools, voluntary sector organisations and neighbourhood groups to engage with and document the needs, aspirations and stories of people from different walks of life and backgrounds in the area. 

2)           To challenge each Area Board, in order to facilitate the above, to experiment with new ways of broadening public participation during 2010/2011, and prepare a bid for LPSA funding to achieve this.

3)           That the new Community Area Networks should be used for regular consultation to help inform agenda preparation and to gain feedback on the local Forward Plan.

4)           Parish council forums and alliances should be encouraged in each area to discuss and agree items for consideration by the Area Boards.

5)           Area Boards are encouraged to hold informal or consultative meetings around subjects or themes of particular local concern and to facilitate this new approach the number of informal meetings permitted per Area Board be increased to 4 in any year.

Powers

6)           That the Area Boards are the main mechanism for consulting communities at local level and to facilitate this, services are requested to provide good notice of consultations in order to give Area Boards adequate time to programme and deliver consultation activity in the locality.

7)           That the scheme of delegation to officers be amended to require the use of the decision checklist attached as Appendix  3

8)           That Cabinet members be requested to encourage officers to refer matters of only local impact to the Area Boards and town and parish councils so that they can be more fully involved in the decision making process.

9)           That the Community Issue System be reviewed with a view to achieving better response times and greater clarity regarding outcomes delivered

Partnership

10)       That the revised community area partnership agreement and funding
arrangements (Appendix 4) be adopted for 2010/11.

11).  That the Council recognises that partnership arrangements and community planning should best suit local circumstances and that work should contiue with WFCAP to negotiate the best solution for that Community Area'.

12)             That the Council agrees to negotiate a new three year service level agreement with WfCAP to secure its funding and develop and strengthen the support it provides to partnerships in Wiltshire.

13)        That the Resilient Communities Partnership be invited to develop ways of supporting and strengthening community planning in Wiltshire including  commissioning further improvements to the community area profiles.

Publicity

14)         That Area Boards be encouraged to develop closer relationships with the local newspapers by providing copy and news stories in order to raise awareness and encourage participation.

15)         That Area Boards be encouraged to provide copy for local parish magazines and other community newsletters

16)         That an Annual Report be produced each year detailing the successes of the Boards involving people who have benefited from the outcomes

17)         That all Area Boards communications be written in plain language avoiding jargon and acronyms.

Parishes

18)          That parishes be encouraged to form clusters, forums and alliances within (and across) community areas to share knowledge, experience and concerns and to put forward items for consideration by the Area Boards.

19)         That Area Boards communications be sent by email to all parish councillors through the community area network.

20)         That examples of successful collaborations between parish councils and area boards be promoted to demonstrate the successful outcomes that the new arrangements are delivering

21)         That Area Boards are expected to meet at a range of urban and rural venues

22)         That the Area Boards Handbook is revised to set out more clearly the role, rights and responsibilities of parish representatives upon the Area Boards and that this is circulated as a separate information sheet for parish and town councillors.

23)         That Community Area Managers will offer to give presentations and host discussions about the local Area Boards for parish and town councils in the area.

Implementation of recommendations

24)          That the Director Community, Libraries, Heritage & Arts in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Communities, be authorised to:

(a)         revise the Area Boards Handbook to accommodate the outcome of the Leaders’ review and the decisions here adopted;

(b)        ensure that all necessary arrangements are made to implement these recommendations;

(c)         undertake a further review in 12 months to assess how far these recommendations have addressed the concerns raised during the review; and

(d)        produce an annual report setting out the achievements of the Area Boards during 2009/10.    

Reason for Decisions

To address the Leader’s desire to further strengthen Wiltshire’s Community Area Governance arrangements.