(i)         that the Cabinet makes the following commitments to the community of Torbay:

·         We will embrace a spirit of cooperation and partnership.

·         We will be open with our communities about the challenges that the Council faces.

·         We will work to empower and enable our communities.

·         We will operate with openness and transparency.

(ii)        that the Cabinet seek the views of the community of how they would like to see these commitments put into practice;

(iii)       that the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive identify Ward Ambassadors from within the Partnership and the Senior Leadership Team and other senior managers to act together as a point of contact for activity within each ward and linking to the Community Partnerships;

(iv)       that the possibility of establishing a Community Enablement Fund be considered in making proposals for the 2020/2021 Revenue Budget; and

(v)        that the action plan set out in Appendix 2 to the submitted report be approved and, in the main, be implemented through the Whole Council Redesign Programme which is currently underway as part of the wider Transformation Portfolio.

It is a priority of the Cabinet and the wider Partnership that the Council better engages with our communities, enabling them to be involved in both the decisions which affect them and in the delivery of services which matter to them.

None

This decision will come into force and may be implemented on Monday, 9 December 2019 unless the call-in procedure is triggered (as set out in Standing Orders in relation to Overview and Scrutiny).

The Council’s first Community Conference was held on 11 September 2019. The aim of the Conference was to help deliver a new and more engaged relationship between the Council, individuals and communities from across Torbay.

The report from the Community Conference has now been published. The submitted report set out the next steps which the Council was proposing to take to ensure that the commitment and determination to engage more effectively is put into place.

It was agreed by the Leader during the course of debate, that he would discuss and agree with all Group Leaders how the Ward Ambassadors would operate in practice. The idea behind them being a route into both the Administration and Senior Officers, in order to ‘unblock’ and resolve matters. The Ward Ambassadors would work in complement with Ward Councillors and Community Partnerships.

Councillor Carter proposed and Councillor Cowell seconded a motion which was agreed unanimously by the Cabinet as set out above.

None