Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Senior Consultation and Engagement Officer.

The committee received and considered a report of the Service Manager – Communications and Engagement and Senior Consultation Officer, which provided an overview of Dorset Council’s consultation process.

Councillors considered the contents of the report and points were raised in the following areas:

·               How the council gauged the success of consultations undertaken.  Examples were provided of recent consultation exercises

·               A variety of communication methods were used to get messages out

·               The team were working with young people to develop effective engagement with this age group, including through the use of social media

·               The importance of consultation was recognised and examples provided of where this was working well

·               Different levels of responses to consultations and the potential use of summary documents to ensure that policies and documents were accessible and easier to understand

·               The importance of the list of current consultations.