Thank you so much to all those councils who have sent in their pen portraits, especially all the many smaller councils who have responded. It makes such a difference to hear directly from you about the kinds of communities you represent, the work that you do as a council and what your aspirations are.
There is an impressive singularity of approach that is shared by all the councils that have responded: they care about their communities; they know their communities; they are proud of their communities. This is a great bedrock on which to build local governance.
What you actually do varies immensely but there are several common themes. We are currently working on analysing the information into a comprehensive form that will demonstrate the contribution our local councils make to all the parished areas of the county, and the significance of the sector as a whole. When we have something ready it will be sent out to member councils so that you can see what an impressive body you are a part of.
We are already building a picture but it’s not too late to send in a pen portrait of your council if you want to be included. Three questions: What is important to your community – what makes it tick? What do you do now for your community? What would you like to for your community, given the chance?
I look forward to meeting councils again next month for updates and further information on LGR. The key information is that 21st March is not a final end date for proposals to government for unitaries for Devon. It is more a ‘this is what we’re thinking so far’ stage. The real date is 28th November but more about that when we update you in April.
We will be hosting two meetings for our membership in April to provides updates on what we know at that point. The planned dates are:
Please register your place and pop the date in your diaries.