Appendix B – Consultation and Communication Plan

Introduction

The Parish Charter will define the relationship and understanding between the new North Yorkshire Council (NYC) and the city, town and parish councils and parish meetings (parishes) in its boundaries. It will set out how NYC and parishes will work together in partnership.

A draft Parish Charter has been co-produced by a working group of district, borough and county officers, together with a representative group of town and parish councillors and clerks (supported by the Yorkshire Local Councils Associations and the Society of Local Council Clerks). This process has identified that there is still much work to do to bring together the operations of all eight councils, including an ongoing transformation programme post-vesting day on 1 April 2023. It has been agreed that the Parish Charter should be a live document subject to regular review, with an ongoing consultation, monitoring and update process. This document refers to the initial consultation on the draft Parish Charter.

Approach

Initial consultation on a draft Parish Charter. Parishes are asked to give one response per parish via a short questionnaire focussing on sections of the charter. Parishes will also be asked for their views on key areas to develop more detailed working relationships.

Consultation questions to be asked via an online Snap Survey.

There will also be drop-in meetings for parishes in each district/borough council area attended by officers and volunteers representing parishes that have been involved in the development of the draft charter and senior officers, during the consultation period.

Every city, town and parish council and parish meeting to be sent the following:

1.      Letter setting out agreed approach, details of relevant drop-in meeting(s), timeline for consultation and request for formal response on the draft Parish Charter on behalf of their parish

2.      Copy of draft Parish Charter (Appendix A)

3.      Link to consultation (copy of draft consultation questions are included at pages 3 – 6)

Communication Plan

Audience

All city, town and parish councils and parish meetings in North Yorkshire

Key Messages

·         The importance of parishes and that effective partnership working is essential to achieve the vision and aims of the new authority

·         The Parish Charter will define the relationship between the new North Yorkshire Council and parishes to facilitate effective partnership working between two tiers of local government

·         Development of the Parish Charter will be ongoing, once a version is adopted it will be reviewed and updated after 6 months and then on an annual basis

·         A representative group of town and parish councillors and clerks have worked together with officers from across the district, borough and county councils to co-produce this initial version and will continue to be involved throughout the development of the Charter

 

Action Log

Working on consultation launch date of 18th January 2023 and 12 week consultation period ending on 12th April 2023 

Action

Audience

Date Due

Drop-in meetings arranged in each district/borough council area

 

Parishes

Target end of Dec (to take place in Feb/March 2023)

Consultation letter agreed

Parishes

18th January 2023

Survey uploaded to Snap Survey

N/A

18th January 2023

Website content created for Parish Portal – copy of draft charter, link to survey

Local Councils

18th January 2023

Briefing note for local elected members on consultation and update included in LGR webinar for Members

Elected Members (of all 8 councils) circulate to customer services and democratic services for information

18th January 2023/TBC

Briefing note for Customer Democratic Services

Internal staff/residents

18th January 2023

Press Release for consultation launch

Residents/Members/Parishes

18th January 2023

Consultation letter, copy of draft charter and link to survey emailed to all Parish Clerks/YLCA/SLCC

Parishes

 

18th January 2023

Email reminder sent to Parish Clerks

Parishes

15th Feb and 2nd April

Consultation closes

 

12th April (12 weeks after start date)

 

Draft Parish Charter Consultation

A Parish Charter will define the relationship and understanding between the two tiers of local government.

Recognising and supporting the importance of city, town and parish councils and parish meetings (parishes) and facilitating effective partnership working is essential to achieve the vision and aims of the new North Yorkshire council

Due to the nature of local government reorganisation, it has been agreed that the development of the charter will be a staged process, with ongoing consultation, monitoring and update.

A representative group of town and parish councillors and clerks have worked together with officers from across the district, borough and county councils to co-produce this initial version and will continue to be involved throughout the development of the Charter. This work has been supported by the Yorkshire Local Councils Associations and the Society of Local Council Clerks.

Please review the draft parish charter and complete the following short survey to let us know your views.

The survey is anonymous. Please do not enter any personal data into the free text boxes that could identify you or another individual.

If you would like this information in another language or format such as Braille, large print or audio, please contact the Communications Unit on 01609 53 2013 or email communications@northyorks.gov.uk

Q1. What is the name of your city/town/parish council or parish meeting?

 

 


Q2. To what extent do you agree with the principles of partnership working as set out in section 3.0 of the draft charter.

a)       Strongly disagree

 

 

b)      Somewhat disagree

 

 

c)      Neither agree nor disagree

 

 

d)      Somewhat agree

 

 

e)      Strongly agree

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Q3. To what extent do you agree with the principles of communication as set out in section 4.0 of the draft charter.

a)      Strongly disagree

 

 

b)      Somewhat disagree

 

 

c)      Neither agree nor disagree

 

 

d)      Somewhat agree

 

 

e)      Strongly agree

 

 

 

Q4. To what extent do you agree with the principles of consultation and engagement as set out in section 4.0 of the draft charter.

f)       Strongly disagree

 

 

g)      Somewhat disagree

 

 

h)      Neither agree nor disagree

 

 

i)        Somewhat agree

 

 

j)        Strongly agree

 

 

 

Q5. To what extent do you agree with the principles for financial arrangements as set out in Section 5.0 of the draft charter

a)      Strongly disagree

 

 

b)      Somewhat disagree

 

 

c)      Neither agree nor disagree

 

 

d)      Somewhat agree

 

 

e)      Strongly agree

 

 

 

 

 

Q6. To what extent do you agree with the principles for managing and maintaining local services and assets as set out in Section 6.0 of the draft charter

a)      Strongly disagree

 

 

b)      Somewhat disagree

 

 

c)      Neither agree nor disagree

 

 

d)      Somewhat agree

 

 

e)      Strongly agree

 

 

 

Q7. To what extent do you agree with the principles for practical support for parishes as set out in Section 7.0 of the draft charter.

a)      Strongly disagree

 

 

b)      Somewhat disagree

 

 

c)      Neither agree nor disagree

 

 

d)      Somewhat agree

 

 

e)      Strongly agree

 

 

 

Q8. a) To what extent do you agree with the proposed Terms of Reference for the North Yorkshire Council and Parishes Joint Liaison Group set out in Appendix 1 of the draft charter.

a)      Strongly disagree

 

 

b)      Somewhat disagree

 

 

c)      Neither agree nor disagree

 

 

d)      Somewhat agree

 

 

e)      Strongly agree

 

 

 

 

 

 

b) Again, with reference to the proposed arrangements for the North Yorkshire Council and Parishes Joint Liaison Group set out in Appendix 1 of the draft charter, it is intended that anyone interested would have the opportunity to participate. Are there any suggestions that could help with achieving this aim?

Q9. The draft charter sets out a number of key areas where North Yorkshire Council and parishes intend to develop more detailed working relationships, including and not limited to the following:

·         Local Council Elections and Polls

·         Financial Arrangements

·         Planning

·         Community Services including highways and lighting

Are there any other areas you feel should be considered – please specify below.

 

 

 

Q10. Would your city, town, parish council or parish meeting choose to formally adopt (endorse) a final version of the charter, assuming it was based on the principles and details in this draft charter? If there are particular reasons or comments, please include these in the text box under Q11.

·         Yes

·         No


Q11. If there is other feedback you would like to give on the draft charter please give details below.

 

Thank you for completing the survey. The survey closes on (12 weeks from start date). Your feedback will help to inform the further development of the Parish Charter in 2023.