Agenda item

(A period not exceeding 20 minutes for questions and statements from

members of the public and Elected Members to the Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones. Questions/Statements should relate specifically to an item of business on the agenda and be limited to a maximum of 100 words. As stated within Executive Procedure Rule 3.3 each person will be allowed to submit one question/statement per meeting.A question may only be asked if notice has been given by delivering it in writing or by e-mail to the Governance Team no later than 5.00 p.m. of the third working day before the day of the meeting. Each question or statement must give the name and address of the person submitting it. Questions/Statements should be sent to the Governance Team, Floor 2, Civic Office, Waterdale, Doncaster, DN1 3BU, or by email to Democratic.Services@doncaster.gov.uk)

Mr Tim Brown asked Mayor Ros Jones the following question:-

‘With reference to the Community Engagement Plan which is on the agenda, can Mayor Jones provide an assurance that black African Caribbean citizens have been afforded an opportunity to co-produce the way how DMBC engages with BME citizens and that DMBC have fully embraced the Brown’s Principles?’

Mayor Ros Jones provided the following response:-

‘First of all thank you for your question Mr Brown.

Effective community engagement is already happening across the Borough in many forms. Indeed many of the Borough’s achievements over the last few years would not have been possible without it. There are a whole host of examples, such as the excellent work our communities teams do day in day out, the community library service delivering thousands of volunteer hours each year, and the community led support model that is making a success of ‘Well Denaby’. But we can and will improve what we do.

The Community Engagement Strategy, which is on the agenda today, is part of a wider community engagement framework. The framework sets out some key principles and actions that we want to take, along with our partners, to improve how we engage with all people, regardless of their background.

However we must acknowledge the difficulty in engaging with hard to reach groups, we don’t always get it right, but I want to assure you Mr Brown, we will endeavour to improve how we engage with all people through the actions set out in this strategy.

During the development of the framework, which began in 2017, we have offered a range of opportunities for different communities to get involved which is described in the Due Regard Statement, these include;

·         A wide range of Organisations across the Voluntary, Community and Faith Sector

·         Our Parish and Town Councils

·         The Inclusion & Fairness Forum

·         Front Line Officers across the Council and Partners, who work with local people day in day out

·         The Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion Board

·         and the general public

But this is not the end of the journey with regards to community engagement, there are many more opportunities to get involved and shape what comes next. Many of the actions in the strategy will need to be developed and implemented and where appropriate we will work with all communities, including BME communities, to develop these. For example, the strategy sets out our ambitions to set up a single space for volunteering opportunities. To make this a success we will need to work together with local people who are already volunteers and those who support volunteering already to make it a success. A further action within the strategy describes an assessment and strengthening of key community networks, improving how we can encourage and support more people from protected groups to be involved.

But the real work starts now in implementing this strategy and we want to deliver this together with local people to make it a success.

To conclude and answer the final part of your question; we take the responsibilities under the Public Sector Equality Duty seriously. In the last year we have refreshed our Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion Framework setting out new governance arrangements and a specific set of objectives we will be delivering this year.

Due regard is embedded within the local authority decision making process, with the Due Regard Statement being a live document used by the Council when planning and delivering its functions, including during the time a decision is taken and whilst being implemented.

I am happy for one of the officers to send to you a direct link to the information in the Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion Framework if you think that would be useful to you.

Thank you again Mr Brown for your question.

Mr Brown asked a supplementary question enquiring whether the Strategy had been circulated at the August meeting of the BME Advisory Group meeting as he had no recollection of this taking place.

In response Mr Brown was advised that whilst the document wasn’t circulated at that meeting, a copy of the draft strategy had been circulated to all members of that group for their input.

The Mayor thanked Mr Brown for his supplementary question.