FROM THE LEADER: We can achieve more together than on our own

Cllr Clive Jones

Partnership is the hallmark of the new administration at Wokingham Borough Council.

We are ourselves a partnership administration, as the council is in no overall control, and we have forged a new administration by working with other parties on agreed objectives.

Many residents find this grown-up version of politics, which puts the community first, a refreshing departure from the one-party dominance of our predecessors.

We are also a partnership in the sense that officers and councillors are working together, for the benefit of the residents and businesses that we serve.

Both officers and elected councillors want to build strong and effective partnerships outside the council, too.

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We have done this with local charities and voluntary bodies, with which the council has worked in the Hardship Alliance. By bringing together people, resources, money, and data, we have together been able to help many local people during the cost-of-living crisis – many more people than if the borough council had tried to do everything itself.

This week, my deputy leader, Stephen Conway, introduced an event for town and parish councils, intended as part of a process that will lead to more effective working between the borough council and towns and parishes.

Judging by the feedback that I’ve heard, the event seems to have been a great success.

One parish councillor present said that he could see that the new administration wanted to do things differently, which he welcomed. Another said that she came to the meeting sceptical, but now felt very positive.

Historically, I think it’s fair to say, the relationship between the borough and town and parish councils has not been as good as it should have been. We want to change that, as we recognize that the towns and parishes know their areas very well and must be treated as equal partners if we are to achieve the objective that we all share of making the borough a better place to live and work.

All too often in the past, the town and parish councils have not been given the respect and recognition that they deserve. We want to change that, as we know that we, as a borough council, cannot do all we want to do for the borough without the full and active participation of our town and parish councils.

To achieve our ambitions, the borough council needs to respond more speedily to the concerns raised by towns and parishes. It needs to communicate more clearly and understand the role and importance of town and parish councils much better.

To bring about these changes, will require a culture change within the borough council. Busy officers have often, understandably, wanted to focus on their core activities rather than spend time engaging with town and parish councils. But the senior officer leadership and the political leadership of the borough council are committed to changing its approach to towns and parishes, as we believe that the benefits for residents and businesses will be considerable.

We are going to have regular meetings with town and parish clerks to make sure that the borough council is up to speed with local matters of concern.

We are going to include information on the role of town and parish councils in our induction sessions for new staff at the borough council and roll out that information to existing staff.

We hope that this will lead to greater appreciation of the way in which town and parish councils act as the eyes and ears of communities and can therefore help the borough council to establish its priorities and deliver services more effectively.

We are going to invite members of the planning committees of town and parish councils to the training sessions for borough councillors interested in planning matters, to ensure that town and parish councillors have the same knowledge and information on the planning system and the changes being introduced into it.

We have already changed the format of the borough/parish liaison forum, to make it more about the concerns of the town and parish councils and less about the borough council using it as an opportunity to trumpet its achievements.

And my deputy leader and senior officers have offered to visit every town and parish council to hear more about their particular concerns and see how we might address them.

These are just first steps. We hope not just to repair a relationship that has been damaged in recent years, but to build a strong foundation for much deeper and more effective collaboration in the future.

These are challenging times. We need to pool our knowledge, experience, and resources to tackle the problems and make improvements for the communities that we represent.

As I’ve said many times before, we can achieve more together than we can on our own.

Cllr Clive Jones is the leader of Wokingham Borough Council, and ward member for Hawkedon