Still a few weeks in which to offer suggestions

Cllr Theo Dennison, cabinet member for citizen engagement, has been tasked by the leader of the council to ‘redesign the relationship between the council and the community’.

To help achieve this Hounslow started a two part consultation.  The first part asked councillors, more than 600 community organisations and residents for ideas on three main topics:

• The powers and responsibilities of councillors

• The future of area forums

• How Hounslow Council can achieve the effective engagement of citizens in decision making and improving council services

Hounslow Council has received 32 responses comprising 52 full pages of A4 with ideas on each of these topics (7 from councillors, 11 from amenity and residents associations, both individually and collectively, 7 from individual residents, 6 from other individuals and organisations and a response from the Youth Council).

The key suggestions made were:

• Build on the role of area forum to improve public involvement

• Devolve substantially more of the council’s decisions and spending to a local level

• Improve resident and local councillor involvement in planning matters

• Enhance the role of councillors and encourage greater accountability to local residents

• Overhaul the council’s customer services and make it effective

Hounslow will analyse the responses and produce options for the next stage of the consultation which will start in early October and close in mid-November.  Every response that has been received will be addressed in drafting the set of recommendations.  Everyone who has been invited to participate in the first stage will be asked for their views on these recommendations prior to submitting the final recommendations through the council’s decision-making process ending up at the Borough Council in January.

The consultation is being managed by Luke Kirton in the community partnerships unit and he can be contacted by email at luke.kirton@hounslow.gov.uk

If you or your organisation have not been involved in the consultation so far but would like to have a say, please contact Luke who will add you to the circulation list.

October 24, 2014