Issue - meetings

Members agreed that in order for the Residents Involvement Strategy discussed earlier to be effective, there was a need to remove barriers for the wider residents’ participation. This Residents Involvement Expenses and Incentive Policy partly addressed objective 5 in the Resident Involvement strategy; which is to support residents to get involved.

The policy helps break down some engagement barriers, by ensuring residents are reimbursed for expenses incurred as a result of getting involved, making the reimbursement of expenses clear, easy and transparent for residents to see what they would be able to claim for and for our officers to administer. The Policy also sets out how we will use incentives to maximise and engage a broader range of residents.

Councillor Whitehead spoke under Council Procedure 20.1.

Councillor Jill Bayford proposed, Councillor Saunders seconded and Cabinet approved the adoption of the new Resident Involvement Expenses and Incentives Policy.

Sally O’Sullivan introduced the report and said that the expenses and incentives policy was linked to the residents’ involvement strategy discussed earlier. This policy would enable residents to get involved as it breaks some of the barriers for residents' involvement.

Councillor Jill Bayford said that this policy would promote equality and diversity by removing the financial barriers to involvement.

Members noted the report.