Durham County Council is looking to review its community engagement services to ensure support continues to be provided for residents.
The local authority’s cabinet will next week be asked to note progress into a review of the authority’s community engagement services, including its 14 Area Action Partnerships.
For the last 12 years AAPs have been one of the ways for the council to engage with the public on a local level and have helped to fund over 10,000 community-based projects.
However, as national and local agendas have changed over recent years, the council wants to ensure its community engagement continues to meet future needs of communities, councillors and key partners.
The review into the council’s community engagement will look at areas which could potentially be enhanced to ensure the service continues to deliver support for the people of County Durham.
One area that the review will focus on is how communities can better influence decision-making in the future by determining local needs and aspirations through engagement.
The council will be appointing an independent third-party to carry out the review, which will include engagement with AAP boards and previous members to gather insight from the past 12 years of operation.
The review will begin between April and May with the findings to be shared in the autumn.
Cllr Elizabeth Scott, Durham County Council’s cabinet member for economy and partnerships, said: “After over 12 years of operation we are conducting a review of our community engagement to ensure support and investment for our communities is in line with future visions and priorities.
“This review will provide an opportunity to examine a range of issues and ensure the service continues to deliver support for the county.
“It will also look at our current decision-making and funding processes to outline how our services can be further enhanced.”
Cabinet will hear more details of the review when it meets on Wednesday, March 16, at 9.30am.
