The Cabinet Member for Localism, Sport, Culture and Heritage introduced the report which set out the proposal made by the Policy Development and Review Committee (PDRC) following a review carried out on the effectiveness of Swale Borough Council’s Local Engagement Forums (LEFs) and Swale Rural Forum (SRF).  The Cabinet Member thanked the PDRC for their thorough consideration of the LEFs and SRF which had helped officers to focus on a way forward.  He drew attention to the two recommendations outlined in the report. 

A Member drew attention to paragraph 2.7 of the report and bullet point two ‘attendance by the Leader or nominated deputy at meetings of the Swale Area Committee of Kent Association of Local Councils to engage with Parish Councils’ .  The Member stated that this was not for the Council to decide and should not be included within the report.

The Cabinet Member agreed that the item should not have been included and would be removed from the report.

The Committee considered the proposals.

Local Engagement Forums (LEFs)

The following points were made: need to ensure Council’s website was up-to-date with details of agenda and forthcoming meetings; needed to ensure that external groups can debate issues with the Borough Council; late receipt of agenda was an issue; not sure that the alternatives proposed fulfil the needs from the public consultation; consider that Faversham LEF was effective and that there was a need for it to continue; suggest different types of engagement for different areas of the borough; would be more effective if relevant officers attended; consider keeping the LEFs and try other methods of communication; poor public attendance; councillors were often ‘curtailed’ from speaking at these meetings; do not consider that the old style area committees would work as public expect immediate responses;  the LEFs were about partnership working and need to ensure that this was not lost; and other external partners often did not now attend these meetings.

Swale Rural Forum (SRF)

The following points were made: disappointed that the LEFs and SRF had been ‘lumped’ together as SRF, was not mainly about engaging with the public; the SRF had recently voted that the Forum should remain for a year; SRF worked and should be kept but not in its current formal format; and SRF had been ‘superseded’ by other partnership meetings.

A Member, also the Cabinet Member for Environmental and Rural Affairs stated that whilst he was disappointed that the SRF had not succeeded, there was an alternative available via the Swale Green Grid Partnership.  He explained that they have two ‘open’ meetings a year and these could be used to invite stakeholders from the SRF.

The Cabinet Member for Localism, Sport, Culture and Heritage thanked Members and stated that there were lots of ways to engage with the local community.  He stated that if the public were really interested in a particularly topic then they would attend meetings.

A Member stated that the bullet points included at paragraph 2.7 of the report should be included at the end of recommendation (2). 

Councillor Mike Baldock asked that it be recorded that he voted against the recommendations.

Recommended:

(1)  That the Local Engagement Forums and the Swale Rural Forum cease in their current form.

(2)  That the proposals for better ways to engage with our community be noted including for example:

·         Whilst LEFs and the Rural Forum will cease, public meetings will be organised on an ad-hoc basis when there is a significant or contentious local issue that requires discussion so face-to-face communication is still available;

·         Introduce a ‘Your Swale’ section on the website and ‘Inside Swale’ magazine, so it is easier for residents to find out about services and what’s on;

·         Introduce direct email to residents informing of news, information; and

·         Continue to use social media such as Facebook and Twitter.