Consultation plan

Name of consultation	Draft Housing Strategy 2024 to 2029
Why do you need to consult? (Brief Summary)	The Housing Strategy is part of the Policy Framework under Part 3 of the council’s Constitution. It is no longer a statutory requirement to produce a housing strategy. While there is no legal obligation to consult on the housing strategy, best practice guidance and the council’s draft engagement framework indicate that we should seek to consult interested parties for a period of six to twelve weeks.
What are the main aims and objectives?	To test proposed strategic priorities and areas for focused action with interested parties. To seek views on the implementation of the strategy.
What do you need to find out? (Essential)	Do residents, partners and other interested parties support the proposed priorities?
What do you need to find out? (Desirable)	Do the stakeholders above have suggestions and ideas about how the council and its partners can best collaborate to deliver improved housing outcomes for the city?
What do you already know? (from previous consultation, knowledge or experience)	We have used findings from council and partner consultation and engagement exercises to inform the first, pre-consultation, phase of strategy development. This includes consultation and engagement on the Adult Learning Disability Strategy (2019), care needs assessment for adults under 70 (2019), older people’s housing (2019), Homelessness & Rough Sleeping Strategy (2020), review of Area Panels (2022), the Autism Strategy (2023), Additional and Selective Licensing (2023), Community Safety Strategy (2023), the STAR survey of council tenants (2023), Antisocial Behaviour (ongoing), Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy (ongoing).
Who will you consult with?	Any interested party will be able to submit a consultation response. This includes residents, community groups, and organisations delivering services in the city. It also includes regional and national bodies who have an interest. Other interested parties (for example, people who currently do not live in the city) will be able to submit a response. The initial equality impact assessment indicates that particular attention should be given to seeking responses from individuals with protected and other characteristics as set out in the council’s EIA Toolkit 2023.
When will you consult?	Formal public consultation will run for a period of eight weeks from 18 March to 19 May 2024
How will you consult?	Consultation responses can be submitted on the council’s consultation portal, with copies of the survey in other formats available on request. The consultation will be promoted by the council’s communication team and through mailing lists of partners and community groups across the city. Council tenants and leaseholders will also be consulted through the Area Panels. Groups with protected and other characteristics will be targeted through focused promotion of the consultation – for example, reaching out to community groups and organisations working with or supporting people with specific characteristics or intersecting characteristics. We do not have capacity or resources to respond to request for speakers or to organise events however we will provide downloadable resource material for community groups and others who wish to engage their members or service users in making a response.
How will the consultation be communicated/ publicised?	Through the council consultation portal, broadcast and targeted social media, press release, staff networks, promotional material in libraries, family hubs and other public facilities, mailout to strategic partners including the VCS, tenants and residents’ associations, targeted mailouts to lists held by equalities and community engagement teams.
Who will monitor responses and provide updates on results?	Project group, through council consultation portal, who will assess whether further work is needed to reach groups of stakeholders who are underrepresented in responses.
Who will analyse the results from the consultation?	Project group with support of housing strategy consultation working group.
Who will act on the consultation?	Project group – Executive Director Housing, Neighbourhoods and Communities, Assistant Director – Housing Management, Assistant Director – Housing Needs and Supply, Head of Strategy & Supply
Who will the results be reported to and when?	Housing & New Homes Committee, June committee meeting (date tbc)
How will you provide feedback to respondents and when?	With committee report and on council consultation portal
Who will evaluate how successful the consultation has been and when?	Housing strategy consultation working group as part of project closure report to members of project group

Consultation timetable outline

Action	Dates
Project group agree consultation plan, including consultation questions	27 February 2024
Begin web design, set up and testing of consultation portal survey	28 February 2024
Any feedback from Housing & New Homes committee members incorporated into plan	14 March 2024
Consultation supporting materials finalised	15 March 2024
Consultation launch	18 March 2024
Consultation responses analysed and considered by project group	20 May 2024
Final draft strategy to Housing & New Homes Committee	Wb 17 June tbc
Publication of consultation report	24 June 2024