Minutes:
(1) Mr Hill introduced Mr Burrows who gave a verbal update on the new centralised service, what it was aiming to deliver, strategic targets for the year and what it was proposing to do to improve the way that the Council communicated and engaged.
(2) Mr Burrows stated that the unit was almost fully staffed and had established an external and internal communications service. The aim was to publicise what KCC did, how it added value and to have a proactive approach to engaging with residents. Mr Burrows acknowledged that in the past the Council had not been as strong on this as it could have been.
(3) Mr Burrows referred to the strategy that was being developed for consultation. It was important to be clear about what the County Council was telling residents about the quality of services and how to access them. The County Council needed to make sure that it was giving the right information to the right residents/groups through the right channels.
(4) Mr Burrows stated that over the next two months his unit would be carrying out a full review of each service area assessing their needs for the next 12 -18 months in terms of communications, consultation and marketing. By the end of June 2012 he would be in a position to come back to the new Cabinet Committee setting out what the County Council was proposing to say to the public over the next 12 – 18 months and have a forward plan. Also it would be possible to advise directorates on the most effective way of communicating with resident about their services.
(5) Mr Burrows referred to the Customer Satisfaction Survey work that would form the basis of quarterly reports to the Cabinet Committee and Cabinet. These reports would give Members information about resident’s perception of the quality of services provided by the County Council. It would also inform Members about the views of the silent majority and their relative priorities.
(6) In relation to Consultation and Equalities, work was on going to ensure that processes were robust. Nationally, as Councils were having to make difficult decisions, a lot more challenges were coming from communities. There had been 13 Judicial Reviews across the country in the past 12 months relating to Local Authority decision, 12 of which had been lost due to the failure to adequately carry out consultation or equality impact assessments. This had a reputational impact on the authority concerned and also delayed implementation of the decision. The centralised Consultation team were able to provide a fully managed service which would identify consultations to be carried out over the next 12 – 18 months and provide varied level of support depending on the assessed level of risk.
(7) Mr Burrows gave examples of events supported by the Communications unit such as the formal opening of Sheerness Gateway, launch of the Big Society Fund and the launch of the Regional Growth Fund.
(8) Mr Burrows undertook to provide Mr Ozog with a bullet point list of the 13 Judicial Review cases that had been referred to by Mr Burrows in his update.
(9) RESOLVED That the update be noted.