Community Engagement
Community engagement provides people with the opportunities to
have a greater say in what happens in their District. All local
authorities have a statutory duty to consult on specific areas of
service delivery. Harrogate Borough Council is
committed to extending its consultation beyond any statutory
requirements. We want to ensure that residents
of Harrogate District, our service users and all other interested
parties have the opportunity to be involved in the planning,
prioritising and monitoring of our services.
Harrogate Borough Council recognises and welcomes the
fundamental importance of consulting effectively and involving the
public in its decision-making.
Harrogate Borough Council Community Engagement
Strategy
Harrogate Borough Council adopted its first Community
Engagement Strategy in November 1998. The strategy below was
last updated in 2005 and is currently being
updated. The new Strategy will be available for
your views in Autumn 2009
Community Engagement Registration
In order to ensure the co-ordination of Community Engagement
across the Council, all Council officers intending to carry out
community consultation and engagement complete a Community
Engagement Registration Form. It ensures that
all community engagement undertaken across the Council is recorded,
co-ordinated and carried out to the same standards.
An up-to-date version of the summary Community
Engagement Register can be found below It provides a list of
all consultation and other community engagement currently planned
and details of the contact officer from whom you can obtain further
information.
3 Year Plan
The 3 year Consultation plan details projects/initiatives that
will involve consultation over the coming years. Once the
initiative is started a Community Registration form is
completed
District Panel
The District Panel is made up of 1500 residents and was set up
in 1999 to consult residents across the District on issues that
affect them.
The Panel is consulted up to four
times a year by questionnaire on a wide variety of topics and
issues that affect quality of life of the
District.
If you are interested in becoming a
member please contact the Corporate Improvement Officer on
Harrogate 556068 or via email
districtpanel@harrogate.gov.uk.
Background information on the District Panel can be found
below.
District Panel Reports 2006-2007
Overview and Scrutiny
Climate Change and Renewable Energy
Volunteering
Budget 2007/8
Measuring Feelings of Safety
Street Cleansing and Waste & Recycling
Corporate Prioirties
Parking
AONB
Harrogate International Centre
Planning
Customer Services
2008/2009
Large Waste
Budget 2008/2009
Corporate Priorities
Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Deregulation
Homelessness
Smoke Free Harrogate
Harrogate Skate Park
Harrogate Library
2009/2010
Budget 2009/2010
Corporate Prioirties
Statement of Account
Tree policy
Election Proposals
Leadership Model
Harrogate Public Involvement Group
The main role of the Public Involvement Group is to provide
support to individual agencies (public, private and voluntary
sector) carrying out consultations/engagement involving the public,
customers, users and stakeholders. The group oversees the
impact of consultations and shares best
practice.
The group meets quarterly. For
further information contact
engagement@harrogate.gov.uk
Community Engagement Research information
Black and Minority Ethnic Report
Harrogate and Area Council for Voluntary Service has carried
out a Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) mapping study (March
2006). The study sought to substantiate the
nature of activity, support and engagement with BME people in the
Harrogate District.
This study has four key purposes:
- To identify agencies used by BME people
- To identify who is working on BME issues
- To collate information on the work that is in progress to
support people from BME groups
- To raise awareness of the nature of support that is sought by
BME people
Click Here to
View
Citizenship and Belonging in the Harrogate
District
In Summer 2005 Harrogate Borough Council participated in a
research study carried out by the University of Liverpool examining
'The state of Local Democracy'. The research was
conducted in two districts in Northern England Harrogate and
Burnley. Within this study a common set of
questions was put to both the Harrogate and Burnley District
Panels. A copy of the Harrogate results can be
found below. The findings of the full
consultation are now published in a paperback book entitled 'Whose
Town is it Anyway, The state of Local Democracy in Two Northern
Towns' by Stuart Wilks-Heeg and Steve
Clayton.
Involving Young People
Young people are the future of our District and should have a
say in how it should develop. Harrogate Borough Coucil values
the views of young people and has taken steps over recent years to
ensure young people have a voice:
Step 1 - 'Living Here' Young People Event
In 2006 Harrogate Borough Council commissioned Connexions York
and North Yorkshire with the aim of finding out the views of young
people aged 11-18 living in the Harrogate
District. Young people from the district
fed back their views to Councillors and service
managers. See below for more information.
Step 2 - 'Living Here' The Connexions
Report
We had some really excellent feedback from the
event. Please see below for a copy of the Connexions
Report.
Step 3 - A Youth Participation Plan for Harrogate
Borough Council 2008-2011
In 2008 Harrogate Borough Council agreed a Youth Participation
Plan. The Plan incorporates an Action Plan to enhance the
involvement of children and young people in Harrogate Borough
Council's services, policies and decision-making. See below for a
copy of the HBC Youth Participation Plan.
Step 4 - Actively Involving Children and Young People
project year 1(2008-2009)
This was a multi agency partnership project set up to support
local service providers wishing to improve the involvement of
children and young people in shaping and delivery of public
services in the District.
Step 5 - Actively Involving Children and Young People
Partnership Project year 2 (2009-2010)
The partnership is now entering an exciting second
phase. With 4 key funding partners: Harrogate Borough
Council, North Yorkshire County Council, Harrogate District Safer
Communities Partnership and North Yorkshire Police. North
Yorkshire Youth and Harrogate and area CVS have been commissioned
to run the project, to embed the progress achieved in year 1,
provide advice and support to practioners of youth engagement and
help coordinate youth engagement so that the same young people are
not asked the same questions time and time again. They will
also provide training advice.
Youth Councils
In 2009-2010 Youth Councils will be progressed throughout
the County by North Yorkshire County Council, the project
partnership will hopefully make the connections between young
people of the Youth Councils and the adult democratic
processes.
Harrogate Library Development
Harrogate Library is undergoing a huge refurbishment with the
aid of BIG lottery funding. The library is due to reopen in
October 2010 and is temporariy located at Copthall bridge House
Harrogate
Want to know more about Community Engagement?
Contact: Corporate Improvement Officer
(Engagement/Empowerment) on