Agenda and minutes
Public Speaking: To register your intention to speak at a Council, Cabinet or Committee meeting, please contact Democratic Services on committee@uttlesford.gov.uk or 01799 510410, 510548, 510369 or 510460. Panel, Forum and Working Group meetings do not generally permit public speaking. Please refer to a specific meeting's pdf agenda pack for further information and registration deadlines.
Live Broadcast: For Council, Cabinet and Committee meetings the video player will be available on this page under the Media banner a few minutes before the meeting is due to begin. Please note that Panel, Board, Forum and Working Group meetings are not generally broadcast on the website. We believe that live streaming video of our formal decision making meetings, and publishing the recordings to be watched back later, is good for democracy – and you can find these videos on our website. This video technology sits alongside the longstanding practice of providing seats in the public gallery for members of the public and journalists to turn up and watch our in-person meetings live. Please understand that whilst we will continue to make every reasonable effort to ensure that our key public meetings at which important decisions are live streamed and recorded, any failure in that technology does not in any way invalidate the legitimacy of that meeting or of the decisions taken at it. Even in the event of such occasional technical failures, the public gallery will still have been open, as required by law, and the minutes of the meetings will still be made available in due course.
Zoom and YouTube have their own privacy and data security policies, which can be accessed at www.zoom.us and www.youtube.com.
PDF 135 KBVenue: Committee Room - Council Offices, London Road, Saffron Walden, Essex CB11 4ER. View directions
Contact: Democratic Services Email: committee@uttlesford.gov.uk
| No. | Item |
|---|---|
|
Apologies for Absence and Declarations of Interest To receive apologies for absence and declarations of interest. Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Dawn French and Councillors Fairhurst, Felton and Redfern. |
|
|
Minutes of the Previous Meeting To consider the minutes of the meeting held on 1 February 2018. Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 1 February 2018 were received and signed by the Chairman as a correct record. |
|
|
Review of the NLGN exercise results To review the results of the NLGN exercise and discuss ‘What type of Council are we?’ Minutes: The Assistant Director – Corporate Services presented the results of the NLGN exercise ‘What type of Council are you?’ which had been sent to Members of the PEWG, as well as to fifteen officers. The exercise asked Members to ‘score’ how outward looking or inward looking the Council was, and how engaged or apathetic residents were. The score was then used to define the council from one of four definitions: PLC Council, Networked Council, Navel-gazing Council and Tower of Babel Council.
The Assistant Director – Corporate Services said the results had been interesting as all four ‘types’ were represented in the results. He said it was difficult to draw any strong conclusions from the exercise although Members had scores at the more extreme end of the scale, whilst an officer’s occupation seemed to impact on their view of what type of council UDC was.
Members discussed the results and the ‘council type’ definitions outlined in the exercise papers. Members agreed that they wanted a Council which was both outward looking and engaged with the public, but felt current engagement with the public had to improve.
In response to a Member question, the Assistant Director – Corporate Services said the thinking behind the consultee responses to the exercise could be ascertained and he would circulate these results before the next meeting. |
|
|
Existing Public Engagement Methods To receive the report outlining the Council’s existing Public Engagement methods. Additional documents: Minutes: Members discussed public engagement methods currently being used by the Council.
The Chairman said he was surprised by the number of methods used to engage with the public and the following were discussed:
• Council, Cabinet and committee meetings • Member surgeries • Customer Services • Tenant Forum, Tenant Regulatory Panel and multi-agency information trailer • Local community meetings, Drinks with Community Links and Safety Matters • Citizens’ Panel • Social media and Keep Me Posted e-newsletter • Publications
In response to a Member request, the Assistant Director – Corporate Services said he could find out how many people listened to the audiominutes recordings on the website.
Members requested that public forums were put on the next meeting’s agenda for discussion.
Councillor Dean requested that a report be brought to the next meeting, outlining the trend in use of social media, and how widely printed media was being circulated.
Councillor Light said the working group needed to establish what ‘type’ of council it wanted to be in terms of public engagement. She said it was important that the information flow was reciprocal and that public feedback had a meaningful impact on council policy.
The Assistant Director – Corporate Services said a scoping report would be brought to the next PEWG meeting. |
|
|
Date of next meeting Minutes: Members agreed that PEWG meetings should be held on a monthly basis.
The Assistant Director – Corporate Services said a meeting in April would be arranged and the date and time would be circulated by Democratic Services.
The meeting ended at 7.50pm. |