Meeting arrangements

Report: 17
Date: 14 March 2002
By: Commissioner

Summary

The report reviews the arrangements made for meetings of the Committee and sets out possible alternative arrangements.

A. Recommendation

1. That the arrangements for the meetings be noted; and
2. That Members are invited to comment on the proposed changes outlined below at paragraphs 7 to 11.

B. Supporting information

Background

1. At the inaugural meeting of the Consultation, Diversity and Outreach Committee (CDO) Committee on 28 July 2000, it was agreed that in order to engage as many people as possible the Committee would hold future meetings at various venues around London.

2. At its meeting on 26 September 2000 the Committee set various criteria concerning the type of venues to be used.

Meetings have been held as follows:

2000

• September Greenwich – Clockhouse Community Centre SE18
• October Waltham Forest - Epicentre E11
• November Hammersmith & Fulham – Edward Wood Centre W11
• December Enfield -The Community House N9

2001

• January Tower Hamlets - Dame Colet House E1
• February Bromley – Central Library
• March Lambeth – Town Hall SW2
• April Haringey – Chestnut Community Centre N15
• May Kingston - Market Hall
• June Havering – St Edwards School
• September Southwark - Warwick Park School
• November Sutton – Carshalton College

2002

• January Barnet - Avenue House N3

3. Venues have been sought which met the criteria set by the Committee e.g. that the meeting should have a suitable local community feel although existing bookings have in many cases limited the number of options available. In addition to the cost of hiring the venue, other costs include the provision of refreshments and the hiring of sound engineers as none of the venues have had a suitable PA system or loop induction facility.

Present arrangements

4. By necessity much of the business on the agendas, as for all MPA meetings, is of pan London significance and is seldom related directly to the particular borough in which the meeting is being held.

5. Although fairly limited, the feedback received at the meetings is that members of the public do not find much of great interest in the "formal" part of the meeting and feel there is little to be gained in attending in person to hear the Committee's deliberations on these items. There may also be a perception that the opportunity for consultation with the public at the meetings is limited.

6. The Committee has a wide ranging set of terms of reference and it is not appropriate to try to restrict the number of items which are placed on the agenda for each meeting.

Options for change

7. One option would be to continue to hold formal bi-monthly business meetings as now with all the proceedings open to the public and provision for members of the public to ask questions. The meetings would be held at the MPA's new offices in Dean Farrar Street SW1, which are convenient for the Underground and four bus routes. This would mean that the meetings would be more easily accessible to a far wider range of Londoners than when held in particular parts of London.

8. To supplement the formal Committee meetings other more informal, community based meetings could be held. These would not be subject to Standing Orders nor would they necessarily receive written reports. The meetings could be held in different boroughs with a particular theme for each meeting to be determined in consultation with local partners and with a presentation. The aim would be to continue with the present pattern of meeting in different parts of London and to ensure that the meetings reflected the needs of diverse communities. The meetings would also provide an opportunity to consult on specific issues. Consideration would need to be given to the extent of involvement of senior police officers at the meetings.

9. It is suggested that the new arrangements take effect from the Authority' s Annual Meeting in June and that there be no change to the arrangements for the Performance sub-group.

Time of meetings

10. In order that as many members of the public have the opportunity to attend, the CDO meetings are currently held at 6 .00 p.m. in the evening unlike other Committees of the Authority which are generally held in the afternoon.

11. If it is decided to hold the formal CDO meetings at the MPA offices the Committee will need to consider whether to change the present arrangement of meeting in the evening. One option would be to hold the formal bi monthly meetings in the daytime and to experiment with different starting times for the informal borough meetings with some in evening and others in the morning or afternoon. (Any meeting falling during Ramadan would be held in the daytime.) Alternatively, for the sake of transparency it may be preferable to hold all the meetings at a fixed time.

Publicity

12. Given the resource considerations, consideration would need to be given as to whether to devote the bulk of the publicity budget to the community based meetings held in the boroughs.

C. Financial implications

The present additional direct cost of holding the CDO meetings in the boroughs is approximately £1000 per meeting. There would therefore be a saving if the meetings were held in Dean Farrar Street.

Costs will continue to be incurred from hiring external venues and providing refreshments for the proposed more informal meetings in the boroughs. If venues could be found which had their own sound systems this would significantly reduce costs.

D. Background papers

Report 15 to the meeting of the Consultation, Diversity and Outreach Committee held on 26th September 2000 and report 6 to the meeting on 27 February 2001.

E. Contact details

Report author: John Crompton, Secretariat, MPA.

For information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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