There are clearly differences of opinion among Labour Councillors about local assemblies - some wanting them - e.g. Chris Best - and some seeing them as something to cut if savings have to be made. I'm in two minds on this; I'm far from impressed by aspects of how Local Assemblies have been implemented - remember electronic voting? - and some of the thinking behind them - is anyone else mind-boggled by how a Local Assembly can enter into a contract with the Council, and how this adds to normal representative democracy. On the other hand, organisations need to communicate and explain what they are doing - it is one of the ways they learn how to do things better. So I would be very unhappy to see the Local Assemblies abolished with nothing more effective to replace them.
My personal feeling is that we need more Council officers to be ready and able to meet citizens in the areas where they live to explain what they do. At the moment, it seems to be only relatively senior officers, or specialists in a comms department - or the Local Assemblies department - who are expected to be able to talk to the public. I do understand that talking to the public is scary and stressful, since the public is quite often unreasonable. But for ordinary Council officers, is getting out there and talking to the public more scary than not having a job?
What do others think?