South Ribble Council wants residents more involved in decision-making

A year-long trial of ways in which residents South Ribble can get more involved in decision-making in the district is set to begin.
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It is part of a proposed overhaul of how South Ribble Borough Council engages with locals.

The plan predates the current Covid crisis, but council leader Paul Foster says that the practical support provided by the authority during the pandemic has brought it closer than ever to its community.

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“The council is seen in such a positive [light] for what it has done over the last three months and we must grasp that and really get out there into our communities,” he told a meeting of the council’s cabinet where the planned trial was approved.

South Ribble Borough Council is rethinking how it engages with residentsSouth Ribble Borough Council is rethinking how it engages with residents
South Ribble Borough Council is rethinking how it engages with residents

Amongst the changes to be tested over the next 12 months is a revamp of the borough’s five longstanding “My Neighbourhood Forums”, which provide a platform for residents to raise concerns and requests for action in their area.

The meeting heard that all of the forums are now considering a so-called “hub” model for their work, based on experience from the delivery of help during the coronavirus crisis.

Cabinet member for community engagement, Aniela Bylinski-Gelder, told the cabinet that it was “not a top-down reorganisation, but rather a grassroots approach to decision-making”.

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“This means greater partnership working across South Ribble and the potential of a satellite officer based geographically in each area.

“Discussions are taking place around the details, but….the officer would be able to act as an on-the-ground conduit between the communities and the council, alerting us to issues and priorities in each area,” she explained.

The meeting heard that larger tranches of the £25,000 grant funding allocated to neighbourhood areas could ultimately be spent on a smaller number of bigger projects, rather than the current trend for multiple, more modest schemes.

Conservative opposition member Alan Ogilvie expressed concern that the sign-off process for the allocation of grants – via the councillor chairs and vice chairs of each forum – would concentrate power in the hands of the minority Labour administration.

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“There will be no representation from the largest party on the council, the Conservatives. Is that considered to be a democratic arrangement?” he asked.

Cllr Foster said that as the chairs and vice chairs had all been elected by the council, the process was fair.

Other measures to be trialled over the next year include the development of a community involvement toolkit, to enable departments to maximise engagement with residents, and the creation of a youth council and mayor.

“[This will] engage younger people in the democratic process and encourage them to see themselves as part of the decision-making, opposed to outside the democratic machinery, Cllr Bylinski Gelder said.

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The council will also work towards becoming a “co-operative council”, based on the values self- responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity.

The package of measures will be assessed under seven criteria – including whether they improve community involvement – before being formally adopted by the authority.

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