Issue - meetings
Scrutiny Challenge Session - Resident Engagement in the Budget Process
Meeting: 23/11/2020 - Overview & Scrutiny Committee (Item 7)
7 Improving Resident Engagement PDF 128 KB
The Committee to receive a presentation on Improving Resident Engagement.
Additional documents:
- O and S Engagement and Consultation, item 7 PDF 559 KB
- TH_CommsStrategy_2019, item 7 PDF 6 MB
- Webcast for Improving Resident Engagement
Minutes:
The Committee received a detailed presentation on how the Council is Improving Resident Engagement by Mayor John Biggs; Sharon Godman, Divisional Director for Strategy Policy and Performance; Andreas Christophorou, Divisional Director, Communications and Marketing and Emily Fieran-Reed, Senior Strategy and Policy Manager. In addition, the Chair informed the meeting that Claire Harding from the Centre for London was in attendance – to share an external perspective on community engagement. An outline of the discussion is set out below:
The Committee noted that:
- Communications and Marketing Team have a Bengali Press Officer who is tasked with making pitches to the Bengali media including Channel S (which has an audience of 500,000 British Bangladeshis) all the time and produces a media report every week to the Bengali media. The Team also (i) produces a Bengali Newsletter; (ii) works closely with Mosques across London including work specially on Covid-19 with the East London Mosque); (iii) works with Housing Association’s; (iv) advertises in community languages; and (v) provides translated material in community languages.
- 62% of people in the last residents survey indicated that they felt involved although this could be improved upon and there is the potential to get a lot better. This works on a number of levels as whilst a good consultation hub is important LBTH also needs to have an accessible website and introduction of the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018 is intended to ensure that public sector websites and mobile applications are accessible to all users which are all local authorities and public sector organisations have to abide by. Whilst LBTH is working to improve accessibility all the time the pandemic has prevented the face-to-face element both through the Council and partner agencies. For example, LBTH held a Community Day last year with 300 people in attendance and it is the mixture of (i) digital; (ii) face to face; (iii) partnership work; and (iv) targeted work that can give access to a wider audience.
- With regard to the “Seldom-Heard” or the under-represented it is the responsibility of agencies to reach out to such excluded people, ensuring that they have access to services and that they are heard by service professionals and decision-makers. Accordingly, it is important to find out how to reach them and often it will be (i) partner organisation; (ii) the resident route; (iii) or that they already part of a certain community that is the best way to get the content out. The Council recognises that there are others with closer links to “Seldom-Heard” communities.
- Consultations can be too narrow and directive and excluding participation from a wider audience to share views and ideas e.g. a technical issue with the SEND/SLS consultation which made it difficult for residents who are not parents/carers to respond. [NB: Subsequent to the meeting this has now been rectified and the Service confirms that this is an open consultation to which anyone can respond.]
- Even in the Bengali community the Communications and Marketing Team found that adult children have ... view the full minutes text for item 7