Agenda item
Community Forums
Minutes:
The Strategic Lead Community
Development and Equalities set out the background to the report and
described how community forums had evolved over the past twenty
years. She introduced the three guests to the meeting, from the
Thurrock Association of Forums (TAF).
The Chair of TAF introduced himself and states that he was the
Chair of both Horndon Community Forum
and TAF and felt that community forums provided a go-between for
residents and the Council. He stated that community forums
constantly examined themselves and how communication could be
improved with both residents and the council, particularly during
the difficult times of the pandemic. He stated that forums were
currently not working as closely with the council due to COVID-19,
but instead were working very closely with residents. He explained
that TAF were currently trying to reactivate 2-3 deactivated
forums, to get back to the original number of 20 forums across
Thurrock. He added that there were also two non-active forums in
Grays, both Grays Central and Grays Riverside, and two fragile
forums which TAF were working to try to maintain during the
pandemic.
The Vice-Chair of TAF introduced himself and stated that the role
of forums had evolved since the early 2000s and were now
quasi-parish councils, but with no legal status, as they helped
collect resident’s views on issues and convey these to the
council via Ward Councillors. He felt community forums had a good
working relationship with their ward councillors, particularly his
forum of Chadwell St Mary which worked
closely with their three elected members. He thanked the Strategic
Lead Community Development and Equalities and her team for their
hard work and he felt they were very active and helpful, but added
that he felt there was some reluctance amongst other council
directorates to engage fully with forums. He stated that TAF and
other community forums worked closely with other organisations such
as CVS, and through their good work had provided the impetus for
projects such as the Chadwell St Mary
community hub, which had been very successful up until the advent
of COVID. He added that as the role of forums had changed over the
years, and TAF had been formed, they were now in a better position
to make representations to the council and they could negotiate on
issues that affected all forums, such as the LTC and Community
Infrastructure Levy.
The Secretary of TAF stated that although community forums were
experiencing difficult times due to COVID-19, they were still
helping CVS support vulnerable people across the borough, and were
using email and social media to stay in touch with their local
communities. She thanked the hard work of the community development
and equalities team, particularly the Strategic Lead and Lynn
Gittins. She added that community forums had good working
relationships with elected members and other organisations such as
CVS, and also had access to good insurance through the Council. She
summarised and stated that she felt that some directorates did not
realise how to utilise community forums to their full extent.
The Chair thanked the members of TAF for attending the meeting and
providing their views and asked how the Council could help and
support community forums. The Chair of TAF responded and stated
that the Council currently paid for community forums insurance as
well as administration money, but this had been cut over the years,
and felt that forums could always do with additional funding. He
thanked the Community Development and Equalities team for their
hard work and felt that any barriers could be overcome. The
Vice-Chair of TAF agreed with the statements made by the Chair of
TAF.
Councillor Rice added that the Chadwell
St Mary forum had worked very hard in the fight against the LTC and
informing residents what was happening, and the Council should
continue to ensure all administration money continued to be paid.
Councillor Ralph questioned the average turnout for forums and
asked how Councillors could help in generating more interest. The
Chair of TAF responded that the attendance of forums varied from
2-3 people to 40/50/60 people if an important topic was being
discussed. He stated that it was difficult to interest people to
standard meetings and persuade all Thurrock residents to join
forums. He added that the community supported forums in many
different ways, not just through physical attendance at meetings.
Councillor Ralph asked how forums and the Council could spark
interest in younger generations, and asked if there was a
possibility of holding specialised events post-COVID, such as
Christmas and summer fetes. The Chair of TAF responded that there
was interest in community forums amongst younger people,
particularly young parents, but they found it difficult to attend
meetings due to work and childcare constraints. Councillor Ralph
questioned whether meetings could be livestreamed to include
younger people. The Chair of TAF responded that this was something
TAF and other community forums were currently looking into. The
Secretary of TAF added that although younger people did not attend
meetings, they were active in forums in other ways, such as on
social media. She added that in some smaller communities it was
easier to establish forums, and that different areas had different
issues which affected attendance.
Councillor Duffin thanked forums for their hard work, and thanked
those residents who engaged with community forums and the Council.
He suggested that the Committee recommend an annual meeting between
TAF, Members and senior officers to improve feedback, as he felt
this would be beneficial to both parties. The Chair of TAF stated
that they met roughly 4-5 times per year and certain council
officers were invited to these meetings, but other senior officers
and members were always welcome to attend.
The Chair summarised and stated that this report would be the start
of an ongoing conversation and process into the relationship
between community forums and the Council, which would focus on
funding, communications with council departments, and community
outreach to residents. The Strategic Lead Community Development and
Equalities added that the Collaborative Communities Framework would
be a good way to incorporate these ideas and conversations, and the
detail of this would be discussed at the next TAF meeting. The
Chair thanked all community forums and the meeting attendees for
their hard work and help within the community.
RESOLVED: That:
The Committee:
1. The report is provided as background information to Community
Forums.
Supporting documents: