Community Governance Review - Consultation Stage 3 Methodology
· The stage 3 consultation began on Tuesday 7th May 2024, and ran for a period of 4 working weeks, closing on 31st May 2024.
· The Community Governance Review webpage used for the stage 1 and stage 2 consultation was re-instated, and updated with further information for stage 3 including information from both previous consultations and the draft and final recommendations. Links to the Standards and Governance Committee and Full Council reports from July 2023 were added.
· The consultation webpage contained a link to an online survey allowing residents and other stakeholders to submit views on further consultation, seeking a preference of warding patterns.
· An option was provided to request hard copies of the survey via telephone or email for those residents who preferred to complete a paper copy of the survey or who did not have access to the internet.
· Copies of the paper survey and pre-paid return envelopes were made available at Harrogate Civic Centre, Harrogate Library, and Bilton and Woodfield Library.
· Key stakeholders were also emailed a link to the consultation webpage and invited to give their views. This included the following stakeholders:
o local MPs, and councillors for the relevant area
o North Yorkshire Council’s consultation stakeholder list which included disability groups, business, charities, voluntary groups, local associations, business groups and local public services
o Any respondees to the initial and consultation who did not already appear on any of the above distribution lists and had requested be included in any future stages of consultation
· The survey which was used for this unparished area invited stakeholders and residents to say whether they preferred the originally proposed 10 wards (based on the North Yorkshire Council divisions), each being represented by 2 members, with the exception of Saltergate which was to be represented by 1 member (19 members in total), or a revised proposal of 19 single member wards based on the previous Harrogate Borough Council warding pattern.
· In addition to the above, NYC social media feeds were used to raise awareness of the further review. All social media posts used a consistent approach with messaging, signposting and branding to avoid confusion for residents.
· A press release entitled “New consultation on plans for town councils for Harrogate and Scarborough ” was issued on 7th May 2024 leading to the review gaining coverage in the local press to promote the consultation.
· An ‘easy read’ version of the information leaflet could be made available on request for residents with learning difficulties and the survey could also be made available in other formats on request.
· The stage 3 consultation began on Tuesday 7th May 2024, and ran for a period of 4 working weeks, closing on 31st May 2024.
· The Community Governance Review webpage used for the stage 1 and stage 2 consultation was re-instated, and updated with further information for stage 3 including information from both previous consultations and the draft and final recommendations. Links to the Standards and Governance Committee and Full Council reports from July 2023 were added.
· The consultation webpage contained a link to an online survey allowing residents and other stakeholders to submit views on further consultation, seeking a preference of warding patterns.
· An option was provided to request hard copies of the survey via telephone or email for those residents who preferred to complete a paper copy of the survey or who did not have access to the internet.
· Copies of the paper survey and pre-paid return envelopes were made available at Scarborough Town Hall, Scarborough Library, and Newby and Scalby library and information centre.
· Key stakeholders were also emailed a link to the consultation webpage and invited to give their views. This included the following stakeholders:
o local MPs, and councillors for the relevant area
o Directly affected parishes of Eastfield, Newby & Scalby, and Osgodby, as they had areas specifically detailed within the Terms of Reference
o Parish councils adjoining the unparished area
o North Yorkshire Council’s consultation stakeholder list which included disability groups, business, charities, voluntary groups, local associations, business groups and local public services
o Any respondees to the initial and consultation who did not already appear on any of the above distribution lists
· The survey which was used for this unparished area invited stakeholders and residents to say whether they preferred the originally proposed 5 wards (based on the North Yorkshire Council divisions), each being represented by 3 members (15 members in total), or a revised proposal of 15 single member wards. Respondees were able to able to provide comments against their preference.
· In addition to the above, NYC social media feeds were used to raise awareness of the further review. This was supplemented by reminder posts during, and close to the end of the review. All social media posts used a consistent approach with messaging, signposting and branding to avoid confusion for residents.
· A briefing was held with all directly affected NYC members (those representing divisions within the unparished areas) to make them aware of the revised single member ward option for the proposed new town council, and to explain that a further stage of consultation was required to establish a preferred warding arrangement.
· A press release entitled “New consultation on plans for town councils for Harrogate and Scarborough ” was issued on 7th May 2024 leading to the review gaining coverage in the local press to promote the consultation.
· Council staff were informed of the review via internal messaging, weekly staff news and the intranet inviting affected colleagues to take part.
· An ‘easy read’ version of the information leaflet was available on request for residents with learning difficulties and the survey could also be made available in other formats on request.