RECOMMENDED TO CABINET: That Cabinet approved the Community Consultation Strategy for the period 2022-27.
REASONS FOR REFERAL:
(1) Consultation is critical to demonstrate that the council is committed to engaging with its community, to help shape the direction of future policies, to inform necessary improvement or refinements to services and to ascertain if current approaches to service delivery are meeting the needs of residents.
(2) Our most recent District Wide Survey (DWS) highlights a decline in resident views since 2019 on how we consult with them. We need to proactively show that we are a council that listens and wants to engage with our residents by successfully implementing our community-facing strategy.
(3) Increased forms of digital consultation will enable us to reach a wider audience more frequently