First council assembly away from town hall is runaway success
Published 8 July 2011
The first ever Southwark Council assembly to take place outside the town hall was held on the evening of Wednesday 6 July at the Walworth Academy.
There was an informal session for residents to explore the themed debate on sports and young people, hear the views of young people and find out about the meeting. This included a basketball demonstration by the male and gold medal winning female basketball team, fresh from victory at the London Youth Games and also a gymnastics display by the Southwark Gymnastics Club who have three national tumbling champions in the team.
Zanson Plummer was a prime example. He joined the council assembly hot on the heels of becoming "London 's fastest young person" with his victory at The London Youth Games 2011, and three days after winning Gold and Bronze at the English Schools Athletics competition in Newcastle .
Councillor Veronica ward, cabinet member for culture, leisure, sport and the Olympics at Southwark Council, who was present at the event, said: "What a great opportunity the assembly was to hear from young people and to discuss sport, which is so important to them, and for their views to be aired at this historic first council assembly meeting at Walworth Academy .
"With Southwark's success in the London Youth Games last weekend what better opportunity can there be. We were asked many questions which gave a very good basis for developing a sports strategy for young people in these difficult times".
The decision to move the assembly was part of the work of the council's new democracy taskforce, the Democracy Commission, set up to make council meetings more open and effective, and to improve the democratic process of the authority.
Catherine McDonald, cabinet member for children's services at Southwark Council, said: "Southwark's children are full of talent, potential and energy. Despite severe cuts from government - £90 per child in Southwark, compared to £30 per child in Richmond - we think it is right to invest in our children. We're delighted to be keeping all our children's centres open, funded at 2010/11 levels and to be rolling out Free School Meals to our primary school children - helping tackle obesity and money back in parents' pockets just when they need it most. We are also grateful for the work of the cross-community Teenage Pregnancy Commission we set up to tackle the very high teenage pregnancy rates, and are excited about our £3m Youth Fund that will help young people stay on in education and get their first job".
More information about council assembly
Council assembly is the council's main public meeting where all the 63 local elected councillors come together around seven times a year to debate local issues and make decisions. Presently members of the public can attend in the public seating area, submit questions, present petitions and make deputations.
One of the Democracy Commission's recommendations made last year was to have themed assembly meetings so as to inform plans at an early stage and give residents a chance to have their say. Other changes include exploring alternative venues, being more flexible in the timings and changing the rules around petitions.
During the first phase of its work the commission spent six months looking at what works well and what the council needs to keep while exploring better ways for the council assembly to communicate and new ways for the community to participate. It has made a series of recommendations which seek to make it easier for the public to get their views heard, raise concerns and hold councillors to account. Whilst these changes are being implemented, the commission has started the second phase of its work looking at community councils.
