Council’s Proposals To Improve Public Consultation And Engagement

Only 25% of people in Wrexham feel they can influence decisions regarding the local area, according to survey figures released by the Wales Audit Office.

The figures, which are based on respondents for the National Survey for Wales 2012/13, form the basis of Wrexham Council’s proposed new ‘Consultation and Engagement Strategy’ for the next three years.

Along with this 50% of those who responded to the survey said people in Wrexham would like to be more involved in decisions affecting the local area. The survey also found that “The Council should listen to local people and take notice of what they hear.”

As a result of the survey, Wrexham Council’s approach to consultation and engagement has been highlighted as an area of improvement by the Welsh Government.

The results have formed the basis of a report (PDF can be found here) due to go before the Customers, Performance and Resources Scrutiny Committee tomorrow, where proposed strategies for ‘Engaged and Satisfied’ Customers’ will be debated by Councillors before being presented to the Executive Board next month.

Within the report a breakdown of the strategies the Council will offer to engage the people of Wrexham are provided, along with the Council’s vision for the next three years.

In Appendix 1 of the report, the Council’s Vision for the next three years is quoting, stating they will aim to be: “An organisation that seeks to understand people’s experiences, needs and preferences, listens and considers what they have to say, and uses what they learn to help shape Council services, so people have a say in local decisions that affect them.”

The first strategy is called the ‘Consultation and Engagement Strategy, which focuses on improving the way Council understand people’s experiences, by informing, consulting, collaborating, empowering and researching.

It is hoped this will citizens to influence decisions and increase public engagement and confidence in local government, along with increasing public understanding about the ‘difficult decisions that need to be made’.

Appendix 2 details changes to the Customer Services provided by the Council. In the Appendix it states: “We will make it easy for customers to contact the council, simplify the way we deliver services, ensure our staff are trained and knowledgeable and make best use of technology. We will learn from customer feedback and use this information to improve our services.”

Within this it is proposed that a ’24 hour Council’ is created, by providing quality online services and making the best use of social media. It is is also proposed that services are streamlined and simple for customers to access.

In light of recent cuts and the reshaping of services, a number of Council consultations have been put out the public. These include consultations on the town’s leisure services (namely Plas Madoc) and the overall reshaping of Wrexham’s services.

Overall for the Council cuts consultation, a total of 631 feedback forms were received along with some 91 emails and letters. Going by the 2011 census data, Wrexham.com worked out that the population of Wrexham County Borough is 135,000, meaning the recorded feedback is around 0.5% of the population.

There were zero responses from anyone under the age of 16, and only 27 people under the age of 25. Those aged 35-54 made up the largest response group, with 93.6% of respondents describing themselves as ‘white’, with 5.6% preferring not to say. 27% of respondents, 147 people, stated they worked for the Council with 86% classifying themselves as a local resident.

Within tomorrow’s report, the Council’s priorities for the remainder of 2014 and 2015 are also listed, with aims to continue consultations regarding the reshaping of services. It also states that there are plans to roll out a pilot to webcast all Exec Boards, Planning Committees and Full Council meetings, however despite proposals to do so being passed last September, we are yet to have a confirmed date for when Council TV will actually start.

The full report and proposals will go before the Scrutiny Committee at 2pm tomorrow at the Guildhall. As usual the meeting is open to the public, so why not pop along and listen to the proposals for a more interactive Wrexham.