Agenda item

Question from Martin Curtis.

In accordance with Procedure Rule 9A, Martin Curtis attended Council and asked the following question to the Leader of the Council;

‘I would like to start by congratulating Councillor Mrs Mayor on her appointment as Chairman and also to Councillor Boden on his appointment as Leader of the Council. I have some points to make regarding the elections and the process surrounding this. Fenland District Council has become too internally focused and has forgotten about its residents. It is an absolute communications disaster and this needs to change. The only way to achieve this is for people like me to start telling you my views on how you need to change.

Following the lengthy discussions today surrounding meeting dates, why not hold meetings in the evening to encourage electorates to engage in politics? This is an example of you putting your needs first and residents needs second.

When I came to submit this question, I carried out some searches on the Internet. The search facility on the website is another example of where this Council communicates poorly. There are a number of other examples where the website does not communicate effectively to the public. The location of Polling Stations during the Elections is another issue of where residents came second.

My question is this, was it acceptable for hundreds, if not thousands, of residents to turn out to vote in Elections that did not happen due to the lack of contest? Please can the Council outline what was done to make residents aware of uncontested Elections?’

Councillor Boden thanked Martin Curtis for his question. He agreed that it was not acceptable for hundreds of people to turn out to Polling Stations which were closed and confirmed that he had raised this concern with officers too.

Councillor Boden explained that officers had taken the following steps; Press Releases informing residents of which Wards were uncontested, updates via the Council’s Social Media accounts, updates via the Council’s website, ‘My Polling Station’ tool available for residents on the website, information sent to the Clerks of the Parish and Town Councils for circulation, the Council’s Contact Centre staff were also provided with additional information for residents as well as posters being displayed on those Polling Stations that were closed.

Councillor Boden added that he thought these steps may not have been satisfactory or sufficient and they did not put residents at the centre of the decision making process. Councillor Boden confirmed that there were 17,786 residents in uncontested District Wards and approximately 10,000 residents who had uncontested Wards at both District and Parish level.

Councillor Boden confirmed that he does have concerns over the Council’s effectiveness at communicating with residents and added that Councillor Tierney as the Portfolio Holder for Transformation & Communications will focus on this area.

Martin Curtis thanked Councillor Boden for his response and he is confident with Councillor Boden’s attitude, the Council will receive the drive and vigour it requires to move forward. He suggested a review of the Council’s communications is in order to invigorate and promote public consultation.

Councillor Boden agreed and confirmed that he is confident in Councillor Tierney’s ability to significantly improve the Council’s communication with the public. He added that this is a common issue in most Local Authorities but assured Martin Curtis that issues regarding communication during future Elections will be considered.

Martin Curtis thanked Councillor Boden for his response.