Hackney Council convened on Wednesday, 23 July 2025, to debate community consultation and engagement, among other key issues.
The Hackney Independent Socialist Group (HISG) sponsored a discussion on Hackney's record on community consultation and engagement, noting a poor reputation for listening to public opinion. The debate centred on improving transparency and resident involvement in council decision-making.
The motion highlighted several concerns:
- A past consultation regarding the closure of children's centres was deemed unlawful because it had misled consultees and failed to consult on alternative options, according to the HISG Opposition Sponsored Business - Community Consultation and Engagement - July 2025.
- The Morning Lane People's Space resigned from the Hackney Central Community Panel over a lack of community involvement in architect selection.
- Campaigners across various issues have voiced concerns about the council's lack of genuine dialogue and early engagement.
- Tenant and Residents' Associations have reported a lack of responsiveness regarding housing repairs, a concern supported by a recent Housing Ombudsman report. The HISG Opposition Sponsored Business - Community Consultation and Engagement - July 2025 notes that repeated warnings were ignored.
Councillor Penny Wrout of the HISG authored the business, advocating for a strategic approach to consultations, exceeding statutory requirements, and setting minimum participation targets. The HISG Opposition Sponsored Business - Community Consultation and Engagement - July 2025 states that consultations should ensure maximum input from residents, staff and other stakeholders, and set minimum participation targets.
The council's response, detailed in the HISG Opposition Sponsored Business - Community Consultation and Engagement - July 2025, included a discussion with the Assistant Director Communications and Engagement, who welcomed the debate.
Policy and Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) comments included in the HISG Opposition Sponsored Business - Community Consultation and Engagement - July 2025 document noted that the council has a public sector equality duty to ensure that engagement and consultation is inclusive and reaches all parts of the community ensuring that people with protected characteristics are not excluded. The council takes a range of actions as part of informal engagement and formal consultation activity to ensure it meets its public sector equality duty, including consideration of venue, language, timing and any additional support needed. This is a pro-active duty which means that local authorities are expected to take positive action to engage underrepresented or vulnerable groups. The document also noted that trust in Hackney Council is tracked through the residents' perceptions survey. In July and August last year, residents were asked how much they trust Hackney Council. 73% said they trust the Council a great deal or fair amount (67% in 2022), which out performs the latest Local Government Association (LGA) benchmark of 53%, 24% don't trust the Council very much at all (28% in 2022), this also outperforms the LGA benchmark of 45%.
Regarding responsiveness to Tenant and Residents' Associations, the 2025 Annual Update Strategic Plan mentions a Housing Improvement Plan in response to regulatory findings, which includes actions on repairs, damp and mould, and resident satisfaction. It also mentions a capital improvement program with a renewed focus on repairs.
Joint amendments to the motion were submitted by the Green and Hackney Socialist Independent Groups in accordance with Part 4A Paragraph 17.8 of the Council's Constitution. The amendment to the motion is attached at agenda item 13a. These amendments were not accepted by the proposer and the seconder.
