Leicester City Council Ward Meetings: An Open Discussion or a Talking Shop for a Select Few

According to the Leicester City Council Website in its Community Ward Meetings section the Local Authority triumph that:

"Ward community meetings were introduced by the City Council in April 2008, replacing the old area committees. Meetings take place in the main at quarterly intervals, bringing the Council closer to communities in the 22 wards that cover Leicester. They give residents the opportunity to work with Council departments and other agencies, such as the Police and Primary Care Trust, to identify local issues and improve their neighbourhoods. As such local residents are very welcome to turn up and talk to councillors and officers about anything that's affecting their ward."

One questions though the opportunity for all residents across the City of Leicester to fully engage, participate and have an active say in their local communities when the meetings in some areas take place at inappropriate times of the day.

Examining the times of the meetings, the majority across the city take place in the evening which would appear a fair balance and maximize full potential participation by local residents. Considering the electorate of Leicester is approximately 220000, ward meetings on the whole remain poorly attended. At one earlier this year there was no more than 40 people present.

Recent meetings in the south of the city, in particular Eyres Monsell Ward have occurred during daytime, one advertised as early as 10.30am, one at 1600 hours and across Coleman and Evington Wards meetings have taken place at 2pm or 3pm in the afternoon.

Would Leicester residents consider this to be an unfortunate timing? Are residents in these wards able to play a full role in the local community? How do those at work during daytime benefit from such times? What opportunities are available for those parents who collect their children from primary school or secondary age from schools outside their original catchment area to voice their opinions in a public forum?

Irrespective of the demographic profile of each ward one should expect that upon the basis of equality and to maximise the potential success of local community planning Ward Meetings should begin at a most appropriate time of day, preferably evening time which would bring the community together. To have times that move from one extreme to the other suggests a lack of thought for those at work, for those with children, for those that may have medical appointments or other family issues that make mid-morning or mid-afternoon difficult to access facilities that local residents are paying for in taxes.

Based on the evidence of the times in Coleman, Evington and Eyres Monsell: are local residents really very welcome to turn up and talk to councillors and officers about anything that's affecting their ward?"