County Local Forums face being scrapped as 'core aims have not been met'

Following the pandemic, the established County Local Committees were replaced with a one-year trial of more informal engagements called County Local Forums.

The CLFs were piloted with the aim of providing an opportunity for the public to ask questions of and discuss issues with county councillors and maintaining and enhancing engagement with communities.

Seven were established, one per district/borough area and each met three times in the pilot year, with the first round of meetings in winter 2021 being held virtually. All subsequent meetings were held in person at council buildings, mainly libraries.

The main area of public questioning has been on highways and transport-related matters.

A year later and the trial’s results are set to be discussed by the governance committee on Monday (September 12).

Officers are recommending the CLFs are scrapped.

In a report they said: “Although CLFs have provided a forum for residents to ask questions of their county councillors, their core aims have not been met.

"They have not been well attended and have not reached a diverse audience. The issues/questions raised have tended to be those which councillors are already aware of and which are being dealt with through other processes.

"Feedback from county councillors does not suggest that CLFs have enhanced or supported them in their local role. Whilst there was very low support from councillors for continuing with CLFs, there is support for other options for engaging with residents.

"The evidence from the one-year trial suggests that more flexible and responsive mechanisms work better, and that existing approaches used by councillors (such as social media and attending town/parish council or residents’ association meetings are more effective).”

However they did suggest when issues of significant local concern arise, there could still be the potential to arrange one-off public meetings.

Some councillors who suggested other options felt the CLF model could be improved and adapted to be less focused on Q&A sessions, involve district and borough councils, have themed sessions and more service officer attendance. Others wanted the areas covered to be smaller and a removal of the requirement to provide written questions in advance.