2. Public Engagement

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In this section:

Public Engagement

2.1

In Lancashire, residents, community organisations, businesses and visitors are encouraged to get involved in the business of the Council. The Council's governance is designed to make it easy for people to share their views to help influence decision making and the actions the Council takes. To encourage involvement, this section has gathered together the key ways in which the public and others outside the Council can get involved.

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Councillors

2.2

The county of Lancashire is divided into 82 administrative areas, called divisions. Most divisions have one councillor, but some have two. Councillors are elected every four years. There is more information about elections and how to register to vote on the Council’s website: Elections (lancashire.gov.uk). Although they have responsibility for the whole of the Council area, councillors also have a particular responsibility to the residents of their division. Details of who each local councillor is, and how to get in touch with them, are available on the Council’s website: Council – Your Councillors (lancashire.gov.uk). A councillor may also hold scheduled sessions where residents can meet them face to face to talk about issues, get advice and ask their councillor to raise matters with the Council on their behalf.

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Cabinet

2.3

The Cabinet consists of the Leader and Cabinet Members who are responsible for particular services and activities. Each Cabinet Member’s responsibilities are listed on the Council’s website: Committee details – Cabinet (lancashire.gov.uk). The Cabinet has developed a Forward Plan which is also published on the Council’s website: Forthcoming Decisions (lancashire.gov.uk). It indicates the most important decisions (known as Key Decisions) that the Cabinet will be taking in the future and when this is likely to be done, so that anyone can attend the public meetings considering those decisions.

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Overview and Scrutiny Committees

2.4

The Council has a Scrutiny Management Board and four Overview and Scrutiny Committees, which deal with separate parts of the Council’s work. These committees help the Council to develop new policy and act as a ‘critical friend’ to hold decision makers to account. Overview and Scrutiny Committees also carry out investigations and reviews, and welcome suggestions from residents and businesses as to areas they could investigate.

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Can I Attend Meetings?

2.5

Meetings of the Council, the Cabinet and the committees are open to the public to attend and observe. They can also usually be watched live or recorded via the Council’s website: Watch Council Meetings (lancashire.gov.uk).

2.6

The Council has a policy on the webcasting of meetings, including the public’s rights to film and record meetings. This is available on the Council's website: [LINK].

2.7

There are some occasions when councillors need to discuss confidential details. Councillors can only do this when there are legal reasons, such as personal information being discussed, which means meetings have to go into private session. When this happens, a formal decision is made to exclude the press and public from the meeting while these issues are discussed. As soon as the item has been dealt with, the public can return to the meeting unless there are other confidential items. If an agenda item is to be considered in private, this will be clearly marked on the agenda for the meeting.

2.8

The dates and times of Council meetings are published on the Council’s website: Calendar of meetings (lancashire.gov.uk). Agendas are made available at least five working days ahead of the meeting, so the public can see what items will be discussed.

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Can I Speak at Meetings?

2.9

Members of the public are primarily there to observe but can submit questions to Cabinet and Full Council and speak at the Development Control Committee (the rules about submitting questions and speaking at Council meetings are defined in Part 10).

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Petitions

2.10

The Council operates a Petitions Scheme, which is published on the Council's website: Petitions Scheme (lancashire.gov.uk).

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The Local Authorities (Referendums) (Petitions) (England) Regulations 2011

2.11

These Regulations cover the holding of a referendum on whether the local authority should change to a different form of governance where at least 5% of the local government electors in the authority's area petition the authority. This figure is included in the Council's Petitions Scheme.

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Public Consultation

2.12

The Council tries to consult as widely and as fairly as possible. Sometimes, with matters such as planning and licensing applications, there are specific statutory consultation processes that the Council must follow. Other than this, the Council will try to consult on important decisions as widely as possible and give feedback about the outcome of the consultations.

2.13

The Council follows principles of good consultation (called The Gunning Principles) when it consults. This means that the Council makes sure:

a) Consultation is carried out at a stage when the Council has not made up its mind on any proposals;

b) The Council gives enough information and reasons for any proposals to enable the public to understand their impact and respond;

c) The Council gives the public enough time to consider its proposals and respond to them; and

d) The Council will consider all responses to the consultation when finalising the decision.

2.14

The Council is particularly keen to encourage public participation in the preparation of the Council’s Budget and in the development of policies so that Lancashire’s residents are able to directly influence the framework of decisions. When setting the Budget or agreeing policy, the Council will consider options to ensure the maximum opportunity for contribution before a decision is finally made by all the councillors at a meeting of the Full Council.

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Social Media

2.15

Updates from Lancashire County Council are available by following the Council on social media: Keep updated (lancashire.gov.uk). Many local councillors have their own social media accounts too.

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Community Rights

2.16

The Localism Act 2011 introduced rights and powers for individuals and communities to take over public services, community assets and influence planning and development.

2.17

The community rights are a set of powers that give local people a greater say over what is built and how their community develops. Groups of people have the chance to deliver local services and develop them into community enterprises. More details can be found on the Council’s website: Community Right to Challenge (lancashire.gov.uk).

2.18

There are five Community Rights:

a) Community Right to Bid – allows communities and parish councils to nominate buildings or land for listing by the local authority as an ‘asset of community value’. If the asset comes up for sale, the community can ‘pause’ the sale and take up to six months to find the funding required to buy the asset.

b) Community Right to Build – gives communities the power to build new shops, housing or community facilities without going through the normal planning process. It gives local organisations the right to bring forward small-scale community-led developments.

c) Community Right to Challenge – gives local groups the opportunity to express their interest in taking over a local service where they think they can do it differently and better.

d) Community Right to Reclaim Land – allows communities to challenge councils and some other public bodies to release their unused and underused land so that it can brought back into use.

e) Community Asset Transfer – the transfer of management and/or ownership of appropriate land or buildings from a public body to a community-based organisation, at less than market value, in order to promote social, economic or environmental well-being.

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Additional Rights

2.19

Lancashire’s citizens have a number of other rights in their dealings with the Council. Some of these are legal rights, whilst others depend on the Council’s own processes. Citizens have the right to:

a) Vote at local elections if they are registered as an elector in the county.

b) Sign petitions requesting:

(i) The establishment of a parish council or similar Community Governance Review; and

(ii) A referendum to replace the Council’s political management model;

c) Make complaints about services to:

(i) The Council, using the Council’s Complaints Procedure (lancashire.gov.uk);

(ii) The Ombudsman, if they think the Council has not followed its complaints procedures properly;

(iii) The Monitoring Officer, about alleged breaches of the Code of Member Conduct [LINK]; and

(iv) The Information Commissioner in relation to the Council’s actions under the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000;

d) Inspect the following documents:

(i) The Constitution;

(ii) The Forward Plan (lancashire.gov.uk), to find out what major decisions are to be discussed by the Cabinet or decided by the Leader or officers, and when;

(iii) The Register of Members’ Interests: Your Councillors (lancashire.gov.uk);

(iv)The pay and remuneration policies for chief and senior officers: Annual Pay Policy Statement (lancashire.gov.uk);

(v) Agendas, public reports, background papers and any minutes and public records of decisions made by the Council, Leader, Cabinet, committees and officers, except those relating to exempt or confidential items: Meetings, Agendas and Minutes (lancashire.gov.uk); and

(vi) The Council’s Statement of Accounts (lancashire.gov.uk) as part of the annual audit and make their views known to the External Auditor;

e) Access other information as set out in the Access to Information Rules; and

f) Participate in Neighbourhood Planning, as identified by the Localism Act 2011.

2.20

Where members of the public use specific Council services, for example as a parent of a school pupil or as a council tenant, citizens have additional rights, which are not covered in this Constitution.

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