IDeA Report 2000
Democractic and Community Engagement - Democratic Representation
Strengths
SCC has been engaged in actively considering its political structures for some time. In 1997/98 it decided that the traditional committee structure was cumbersome and was not allowing the council to carry out its business in the most efficient manner. It therefore reduced the number of committees to three, including an executive committee, and introduced smaller, more focused boards to deal with much of the day-to-day, service-based business of the council.
At the same time, it established policy commissions to enable members to look at cross-cutting issues. The commissions were given the freedom to explore their areas in-depth and to gather evidence from outside bodies. To date the issues which have been examined through this mechanism are youth disaffection, poverty and transport. The policy commissions have been very successful not only in terms of effecting changes to council policy and giving rise to new funded programmes, but also in engaging the interest of members. The review team was impressed with the level of enthusiasm expressed for this style of working by those who had been involved in one of the commissions.
Nothwithstanding this, the structures put in place in 1997/98 by SCC have not been universally successful. The fourteen boards were difficult to timetable and some members ended up spending more time attending meetings than before, given the travelling involved within a large county. Members also felt that the detailed focused nature of the boards made it more difficult for them to see the big picture. In response to these concerns, SCC reviewed its arrangements and decided to introduce a revised structure. This was approved by full council the week following the review team’s visit.
The new structure represents a fuller response to the government’s modernising agenda. It includes an executive committee which will meet fortnightly to discharge the bulk of the council’s business, and which will include five portfolio-holding members. The portfolios of these members will be mirrored by five policy development committees which will perform a scrutiny function, formulate policies and oversee best value reviews. These are referred to by SCC as “service-based” policy and development committees, and the areas they cover broadly reflect the areas to be covered by the council’s best value review programme.
In addition, there will be three theme-based policy and development committees covering access, inclusion and opportunity, sustainability and community development and regeneration. These will continue the successful policy commission-style of working, which may also in part be adopted by the service-based committees.
Full council’s role has also been reviewed and it is intended that it will meet more frequently in the future and will be the body which will hold the executive to account.
Clearly, it is not possible to comment on the success or otherwise of these new arrangements. However, it is considered a strength that SCC is not afraid to review the extent to which its structures meet its needs, and to amend them, building on the elements which have proved successful. A White Paper Panel on which a cross-section of members was represented undertook the process of review. It is intended that the new structures will be similarly monitored.
Members within SCC are very active in their communities and on partnership bodies. There was good evidence that they are generally undertaking their representational role fully.
SCC has made a commitment to the IDeA charter for members’ training which means that each member will receive a minimum of five days training per annum.
SCC is planning to ensure that its members have online access to council systems by next year. To date twelve of the fifty-seven members have such facilities.
Women members are well represented within SCC, with a good number holding senior posts.
The election turnout in Somerset is high with over 44 per cent in 1993, the last election which did not coincide with a general election.
Issues to Address
SCC has made efforts to ensure that members and officers are fully aware of the new structures and how they will operate. Despite this, the review team found widespread evidence of a lack of clarity surrounding the new arrangements. This can be summed up by a remark from one member who said “I really am quite in the dark as to how it will all turn out”. This confusion could lead to disillusionment if it is not tackled, particularly given the fact that this will be the third set of structures under which members have worked in recent years. This was a point which was made by many members in a somewhat resigned way.
Whilst there is an extent to which members will learn about the new structures by operating them, it is still considered that more member information and training is needed to tackle the lack of clarity. Particular attention needs to be paid to the scrutiny arrangements given the relative complexity of the service-based and theme-based policy development committees.
Similarly, although SCC has spoken to officers responsible for report writing about the new arrangements, it is considered that the officer body in general also need further information. This is a fact acknowledged by SCC.
The review team also considered that there is scope to strengthen the scrutiny arrangements themselves. There was some concern that scrutiny is to be post-implementation of decisions and that the new terms of reference do not compel executive members to attend policy and development committees when requested. Whilst the integrity of executive members will doubtless ensure that they do make themselves available, strengthening the powers of the policy development committees would signal to non-executive members the value attributed to their role.
It will also be necessary to ensure that there is adequate support for the new political structures. There is a proposal that a specific member of the corporate management team be allocated responsibility for a policy development committee but a firm decision on this had not been decided at a time when the introduction of the new structures was imminent. The issue of support needs to be urgently resolved in order to ensure member confidence in the revised system particularly amongst those sitting on the policy development committees.
There is also a lack of clarity amongst partners about how to relate to the new structures which needs to be resolved through improved information.
Scrutiny
Strengths
Many members within SCC have had experience of working outside of the traditional committee framework, and of developing policy in an imaginative way, through the work of the policy commissions. The enthusiasm amongst those who have been members of these bodies will be an asset in ensuring the successful introduction of the policy development committees.
SCC has also acknowledged the need for scrutiny to be undertaken in a positive, rather than a destructive way. The need for a change in culture and a shift away from a traditional, reactive way of working was recognised in the report which proposed the new arrangements.
The role of the policy development committees in overseeing the best value process has been clearly defined.
Issues to Address
Section 2.1 above referred to the lack of clarity surrounding the new political arrangements. This uncertainty centres around the scrutiny role and needs to be addressed not just through information and training but also through ongoing support from officers.
SCC is introducing an innovative, but complex, scrutiny structure in that there are service and theme-based policy development committees. In reviewing the new political arrangements, it will need to reflect in particular how these two types of bodies are working both in their own right and in relation to each other.
Customer and Citizen Focus
Strengths
SCC runs over 20 council information points jointly with its district councils in order to answer members of the public’s queries about services. It provides funding of £100,000 per annum towards the cost of these facilities.
It is also involved in a SIGNPOSTS information service on health, disability and community care run jointly with the health authority.
SCC has an awareness of the importance of providing access to technology for the public. Access to the internet and to email will shortly be available at over 100 locations within the county, including all of the county’s libraries.
The council has also made a commitment to e-government and in particular to achieving the government’s target that all services should be available electronically by 2005.
SCC has recently recognised shortcomings in the application of its corporate complaints procedure. It has agreed that the procedure should be relaunched using public access points, the intranet and internet and that there should be more systematic monitoring of complaints. The council also intends that “learning from the outcomes of complaints” should be included as a core competency in staff training.
SCC has a mixed economy of service provision and has been pro-active in outsourcing major services since 1991.
Issues to Address
Progress in relation to best value is satisfactory and 13 reviews are planned for the current year. However, the officer management and co-ordination arrangements for best value are complex, involving five separate groups. It is suggested that the operation of these groups be kept under review given the amount of officer time involved.
SCC appears to be the only county council which does not monitor its corporate performance on telephone answering despite having a target for this area of activity. Given the importance of the telephone as a means of communication, particularly with a dispersed, rural population, it is suggested that this element of SCC’s performance monitoring be addressed.
Communication
Strengths
SCC conducted a number of focus groups in late 1998 which looked, amongst other things, at the strength of the county council’s image. This found that SCC’s logo is well recognised, and corporate guidelines have been produced to ensure its use is standardised.
The relationship with the local press is positive.
SCC has recognised that it needs to make progress in the area of communications and has brought the best value review of communications and marketing into the first year of the programme.
Issues to Address
There was a strong view amongst staff, partners and some members that the county council should promote itself more strongly. It was considered that SCC has a low profile and that many of the public do not know what services it provides.
Its publications, in particular, do not have a house style which readily identify them as being the work of the county council. Many buildings and projects fail to acknowledge that they belong to, or are associated with, the county council. Two simple examples of this are the council information points which the review team were advised appear to be provided by the district councils alone, and the new central library which does not clearly indicate that it is an SCC facility.
It was also considered that there is potential to promote the council’s role within partnerships more clearly, whilst not appearing in anyway overbearing.
It is recommended that Somerset adopt a more corporate approach to communication and produce a strategy for doing so. It needs to raise the visual profile of the county council. Steps such as establishing a clear house style for publications and ensuring buildings are badged will raise the visual image of the council and do not have to be expensive.
There are a number of advantages to pursuing this action. Firstly, it improves the information available to council taxpayers on the services being provided. Secondly, staff are keen to be part of an organisation which is perceived as successful, and would find the greater promotion of the council to be motivating. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, the council is keen to act in a community leadership role and it is difficult to do so whilst it has such a low profile. As one individual pointed out “the county council just isn’t visible…..promotion is easy to do and is critical”.
Consultation and Participation
Strengths
The review team found that SCC is generally perceived as a “listening council”. It has a commitment to ensuring that consultation takes place with the different communities in its area and has adopted a statement of “principles of consultation and involvement.”
It held a series of seminars for members on consultation in 1998 and has also ensured that councillors are kept informed of the results of key consultation work through lunchtime briefing sessions.
SCC has developed a consultation strategy contained within a handbook which offers advice on a range of matters such as how to select the right consultation mechanism. It uses a range of consultation techniques including surveys, which are often conducted through a residents’ panel, focus groups, community fora and, on at least one occasion, a citizens’ jury. Examples of major surveys undertaken are two involving 10,000 households on the environment and quality of life, and a telephone survey of 1,100 residents which looked at public attitudes towards the county council’s corporate priorities and spending plans.
There are examples of where consultation has had a major impact on the actions taken by the council. For instance, the results of the residents’ survey referred to above, was a factor in SCC’s decision to invest an additional £1 million in road maintenance.
The council recognises the importance of giving feedback on the results of consultation to participants and to key people within the council. Its plans for future consultation specifically refer to producing more regular newsletters to its residents panel to ensuring that they are fully briefed on the outcomes of their input.
SCC also intends, when appropriate, to undertake consultation in conjunction with its district councils and with the health authority in order to minimise the risk of consultation overload. It has developed a protocol around working with other agencies on consultation around cross-cutting issues.
SCC has actively supported the participation of people with disabilities in the democratic process across a range of services. Representatives from the recently retitled Somerset Access and Inclusion Network sat on a number of its boards and were paid allowances to do so. These arrangements are currently under review but it is expected that the network’s involvement in consultation and in the democratic processes will continue.
The council was instrumental in the setting up of the Somerset Race Equality Council and is looking with this body at consultation with black and ethnic minority groups around best value.
Issues to Address
Notwithstanding the significant efforts which SCC has clearly made in relation to consultation, views expressed by partners and other agencies have identified a number of areas in which it could improve.
It is felt that the council needs to be more focused in determining which decisions need a consultation input, rather than undertaking exercises as a matter of course. Some people, both within and outside the council, felt that on occasions, unnecessary or too lengthy consultation was resulting in decisions being delayed.
It needs to ensure that the type of consultation is appropriate to the decision being taken. Concerns were expressed, for example, about the use of a citizens’ jury in consultation around a school amalgamation. It was felt on that occasion that the ability to influence the decision being taken was given to people whom it did not directly involve. The review team would not wish to comment on this particular instance but it illustrates the importance of being seen to get the consultation mechanism right.
SCC needs to ensure that it is clear about the extent to which the consultation being undertaken will impact on the decision to be made, or the action to be taken. More specifically it needs to advise consultees of the extent of their influence, in order that their expectations are managed. An example of where it is unclear about the extent to which consultation has had an impact is in relation to the vision statement. Consultation with the community affected the order in which the aims are listed within the vision but it is unclear in what way the consultation and the change in listing has impacted on what actually happens on the ground.
There was concern expressed in some quarters about the amount of time which SCC allows for consultees to respond. In particular, it should be aware that the voluntary sector’s ability to respond at short notice may be limited by their lack of staff, and that parish and town councils may need to convene special meetings in order to give meaningful input.
Whilst Somerset’s black and ethnic minority population is not large in percentage terms, if the upper estimates are taken there are approximately 7,000 people from a diverse range of communities within the county. The council’s role in the formation of the Somerset Race Equality Council was rightly identified as a strength. However, SCC needs to ensure that it is supporting the work of this body through its own actions.
SCC needs, for example, to expedite work to respond to the McPherson report and to prepare staff for issues which may arise from asylum seekers being received into the county. Recent actions have indicated a willingness on the part of the county to respond to the needs of its black and ethnic minority communities. It now needs to give more emphasis to taking action in support of this.
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