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PRESS RELEASE |
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LIBERAL DEMOCRATS SECURE UNANIMOUS SUPPORT FOR IMPROVED COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT In a Notice of Motion debated at the meeting of Full Council in Wirral on 15th February, the Liberal Democrats set out and secured unanimous agreement for proposals to improve the way Wirral Council carries out community engagement on major policies. Wirral Liberal Democrat Group Leader, Councillor Simon Holbrook said, “Local government finances will face an unprecedented squeeze over the next few years. In Wirral, this is estimated to leave a budget shortfall of at least £60 - £70m between 2011 and 2014. We simply do not know how sums as large as this can be saved from the Council's budget without impacting on local services. But without sharing and discussing the issues with the public, we cannot hope to come to the right answers.” “And there will be no easy answers. The time has now come for politicians to be brave enough to openly share problems and challenges with the public, even though we may not have worked out the answers. Sharing those problems and developing broad support for change before progressing onto possible solutions means admitting that we do not necessarily know all the answers to the problems we face. This is difficult for politicians, because it opens us up to attack and ridicule from our opponents who think that they have all the answers, and by the media because they think we should have all the answers. We must overcome our fear that our openness will be taken as a sign of weakness.” "Our vision of engagement is flexible and it is empowering, one that builds trust between the Council and the public. It means that you still do difficult things – and that sometimes you may still have to go against the popular view. But our vision of engagement seeks to treat the public as partners in a shared enterprise; the success of our Borough." Liberal Democrat Councillor and Cabinet Member for Community and Customer Engagement, Stuart Kelly said, “It is clear that we need a new approach and more flexible system of engagement and consultation to ensure the active engagement and support of local people in order to deliver broad public support for changes that will inevitably be needed in the way council services are delivered.” "We must make sure that the mistakes of the past are a catalyst for positive changes in our policy toward engagement with the people of Wirral on the serious issues we all face."
The Notice of Motion on Engagement can be found on the Council website:
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