Community Engagement
The aim of this project is to provide an opportunity for communities to engage with and get involved in the decisions that affect them.
We hope that this involvement will empower communities resulting in greater cohesion. We also hope to build respect and neighbourliness by working together with the different people and cultures within Buckinghamshire.
What did we set out to achieve?
- Set up a streamlined approach across the public sector to encourage discussion from communities around decisions that will impact them
- Strengthen the community leadership role of elected councillors at the Parish, District and County levels with capacity for local decision making
- Ensure councils and other public sector bodies understand the needs and priorities of communities when forward-planning and in decision-making
- Use community feedback to identify needs and help tailor services to those communities
- Provide better choice, a more responsive service and an increased level of public satisfaction
- Increase citizenship and empower individuals to take greater personal responsibility for their own outcomes
What have we achieved so far?
- Year one funding has been used to develop the business case for achieving efficiencies in future years. Steps taken to enable this include:
- Commissioning PricewaterhouseCoopers to undertake an activity and costing exercise
- Using the results of this work to identify achievable efficiencies, using the investment return ration of 1:5 as a guide
- Secured theme funding for year two
How can your council benefit?
The next step is an evaluation of project activity to date, which will be submitted to the project board, and a revision of the PID based on this.
For further information, or to participate in the scheme, please email Suzanne.Batchelor@Oxfordshire.gov.uk