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2.1 The Council will improve its community engagement in the following ways:
2.1.1 Encourage public participation at Town Council meetings and committees.
2.1.2 Set up focus groups, forums and working parties to deal with specific issues and include interested members of the public as well as Councillors within the membership of these groups.
2.1.3 Seek out opportunities to consult on a variety of relevant issues and consider the plethora of methods available including digital polls and surveys using social media, local press, parish wide notice boards etc.
2.1.4 Identify minority/hard to reach groups – and once identified establish the most effective methods of engaging with them.
2.1.5 Establish need, priorities and importance of consultation to ensure we consult over the right issues - too much consultation on minor issues can lead to fatigue and overuse of surveys for matters that do not warrant it, whereas too little consultation on matters that impact people's lifestyle, finances can be seen as undemocratic.
2.1.6 Liaise closely with external partners, local community groups, residents' associations to share ideas and work collaboratively to achieve common goals.
2.1.7 Publish positive results that have been achieved from working relationships between the Council and other groups to encourage new partnerships to be formed.
2.1.8 Ensure that appropriate evaluation of consultation is carried out to ensure lessons are learned and assessment of how effective and useful each consultation process is undertaken.
2.2 The Council aims to address inquiries from the public promptly through email, phone, or social media. It's important to acknowledge that several Officers operate on part-time or flexible schedules. Consequently, a timely response may extend to 14 working days or beyond, contingent on the intricacy of the subject matter.