Round table: Insights into councillor engagement

A discussion between a score of senior local highway officers has raised the importance of developing a suite of approaches to engaging with councillors as well as a dedicated, customer-focused community team.

Carried out by Proving Services, which helps run the Future Highways Research Group (FHRG), the round table debate highlighted how council member engagement can have 'a significant impact, both positive and negative,' on the value for money of local services.

Supporting case studies highlighted 'similar challenges, often exacerbated by a significant problem in recruiting and retaining the staff necessary to deliver a satisfactory service'.

A report on the debate states: 'The key message was that successful member engagement requires a suite of approaches that can be tailored to reflect the differing needs and expectations of members.'

It also called for a 'dedicated customer-focused, community team with the correct skills and aptitude', adding that this:

• requires strong communication and customer service skills that reflect the knowledge and information requirements of the member
• as a rule, communicate using ‘layman’s language’, although some members may prefer a more technical explanation
• allocate sufficient budget to adequately resource this function, ensuring members recognise its importance.

Other ideas for engagement with council members include offering a member surgery, a comprehensive induction session for new members and bringing them together in small groups with targeted briefings.

In a case study, Staffordshire County Council said it had established a group focused on customer, community, and member support.

Its Customer Outcome Group includes eight members and focuses on performance, the NHT survey, complaints, and the development of the subsequent action plan.

It also has a 20-strong Community Highways Team, which acts as 'a buffer to the service' and provides the 'opportunity to have difficult discussions with individual members'.

Kent County Council also highlighted its success in building member engagement and support through 'a Cross Party Member working group reporting to the Cabinet Committee'.

In terms of direct communication between officers and members, the round table report advises:

• encourage members to use agreed channels of communication for logging requests, enquiries, information and progress reports
• if officers receive approaches from members outside the official communication routes, they should be instructed not to act on the query but to feed it into the official channel and let the member know they have done so
• ensure all requests and enquiries are logged and progressed on central systems and are treated as a service issue, not just the responsibility of one preferred individual
• ensure the data and information provided is accessible, accurate and timely
• recognise that some members will have preferred methods of contact and are unlikely to change
• a suite of communication tools will be required. This can be resource intensive but is likely to improve member perception as to the quality of the service
• match the message to the individual member. Some members require a more detailed answer. This will give them confidence in the service

Roundtable Participants

1. Mark Scarr – Kirklees Council
2. Kathryn Broadbent – Kirklees Council
3. Neill Bennett – Derbyshire County Council
4. Mary Ann Raftery – Staffordshire County Council
5. Andrew Loosemore – Kent County Council
6. David Farquhar - Buckinghamshire Council
7. Owen Jenkins – Oxfordshire County Council
8. Mark Stevens – Haringey Council
9. Jamie Cooke – Newham Council
10. Dale Poore – East Sussex County Council
11. Ruby Brittle – East Susses County Council
12. Michele Hulme – West Sussex County Council
13. Peter Massie – Essex County Council
14. Jack Wiltshire - Dorset County Council
15. Pat Clarke – Leicestershire County Council
16. David Laux – Northumberland Council
17. Steven Johnson – Hertfordshire County Council
18. Karen Cassar – Lincolnshire County Council
19. Mark King – South Gloucestershire Council
20. Jack Bowers – Central Beds Council
21. Andy Perrin – Proving
22. Simon Wilson – Proving
23. Karen Farquharson - Proving