APPENDIX 35
Memorandum by the City of Wakefield Metropolitan
District Council
Wakefield Metropolitan District Council feels closer
to the people in the District than at any other time in its history.
It is creating new and powerful platforms for local people to
take part in local democracy.
The Council, which serves a population of 318,800
people, is committed to giving those people a fresh voice in policy-making
and decision-taking.
This has been achieved by exploring the following
methods of citizen consultation and participation.
COMMUNITY ASSEMBLIES
The first Community Assembly was held in July
of this year and there have since been two more. There are four
Assemblies which are based on the District's Parliamentary constituencies:
— Pontefract and Castleford
The membership comprises of local Ward Members,
representatives from local bodies, community groups etc and meetings
are open to members of the public. They have independently elected
Chairs and Deputy Chairs and members of the Assemblies have been
elected to sit on the Council's Scrutiny Panels, which fulfil
a new role in local democracy by scrutinising and questioning
Cabinet Committee and Council decisions.
The Assemblies provide local communities with
a voice on the Council and the ability to debate key strategies
and policy developments affecting the people of the District.
The Council wants Community Assemblies to influence
political decisions about priorities.
LISTENING DAYS
The aim of the Listening Days initiatives was
for Members and Chief Officers to work together to meet the public
and use a questionnaire to collect their views on Council services
and how they could be improved. They took place on the streets
and in the shopping centres of the following towns:
The Listening Days were a Best Value exercise
using 12 key themes to direct people's responses to the question
on which services they considered to be most important. Display
panels were commissioned and a Comments Box was available to pick
up specific issues not covered by the questionnaire.
The results of the questionnaire were presented
to the Cabinet Committee on 14 December 1999.
OVER TO
YOU ROADSHOW
The Over to You Roadshow campaign was carried
out over a four week period from 16 November to 11 December 1999.
The aim of the campaign was to break new ground
with a five-stop roadshow touring the District to seek the views
of local people on the 1999-2000 Council Budget.
CABINET ON
TOUR
As part of the national Local Democracy Week
(13 to 18 September 1999), Wakefield Council took its Cabinet
Committee on tour for the first time, going outside the Town Hall
to conduct its business at a local high school. The Local Democracy
Week was aimed particularly at involving young people in their
work, hence the reason for the high school venue.
The meeting was open to the public, as normal,
as well as senior students from the school. They were given the
chance to join in discussions with leading Councillors in a special
question and answer session after the formal business of the meeting.
COUNCIL VIDEO
To emphasise the Council's commitment to the
modernisation programme, a video is being prepared which will
feature the high school Cabinet meeting, one of the Listening
Days and a Community Assembly meeting.
The video will be screened at future Assembly
meetings and at other Council and community events.
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