The Chief Officer Finance, Performance and Change presented a report to Cabinet on the draft Engagement and Participation Strategy which set out how the Council would engage with the public. The report sought approval to commence a public consultation on the draft Strategy and note that following the consultation period the final Strategy will be reported back to Cabinet for approval.

She explained that the Strategy covered the need to engage with key stakeholders across a variety of areas as set out in section 3 of the report. A full public consultation will be undertaken for the duration of 12 weeks to seek the views of citizens and stakeholders on the proposed Strategy. An engagement plan has been developed to support this. The Draft Strategy was attached at Appendix 1.

The Cabinet Member for Housing, Planning & Regeneration welcomed the report. He asked that going forward we ensure that residents can co-produce and be involved at an earlier stage of the process, to ensure maximum engagement with residents. He added that engagement with harder to reach communities was also important to ensure that their views were not missed. He also asked that we ensure every voice was heard, and that it was balanced to ensure the views reflect as many people as possible.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources and Legal welcomed the report and hoped that the relevant Scrutiny committee would have a chance to look at this and provide their thoughts also.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet gave approval for the commencement of a public consultation on the draft Engagement and Participation Strategy and noted that the final Strategy will be reported back to Cabinet for approval.