Local joint committees

Shropshire County Council is currently trialling a new way of working together with local councils and local people around the county.

Eleven 'local joint committees' have been set across Shropshire up to enable local people to get more involved in decisions about their local community.

Each meets four times a year and give people a chance to meet with their local councillors, get involved in decisions affecting their community and help decide how the committee spends its budget to improve the local area.

Where are the meetings taking place?

Since spring 2007 five local joint committees have been meeting across the county, under the 'Action' brand. These are:

• Action: Broseley and Barrow
• Action: Ludlow and Ludlow Rural
• Action: Market Drayton, Hodnet and Shawbury
• Action: St Oswald and Ruyton-XI-Towns
• Action: Whitchurch and Prees

Following the success of these five committees, six others have now been set up and will be meeting for the first time in May/June 2008. These are:

• Action: Bridgnorth West, Bridgnorth East, Bridgnorth Rural and Morfe
• Action: Craven Arms and Rural
• Action: Oswestry Town
• Action: Rea Valley
• Action: Underdale and Monkmoor (Shrewsbury)
• Action: Wem and Wem Rural

When are the meetings taking place?

Please see the individual meeting pages for more information about each committee, including meeting dates.

How do the meetings work?

They allow local people to:

• Get involved with democracy at a local level and have a say about decisions that affect their community.
• Meet with and talk to local councillors and get them to explain their decisions and report back on progress made.
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Whatever the area, each committee will give local people the same opportunities:

• To get items which are important to them on to the agenda.
• To discuss issues, and to get information from organisations such as the Police or Primary Care Trust.
• To see local decisions made in an open and transparent way.

Who is involved?

Local councillors from Shropshire County Council, the local district or borough council and all of the parish councils from the local area will have voting rights when it comes to making decisions. Local people will be able to discuss local issues, raise concerns, ask questions about local services and call service providers to account. Other organisations, like the police, Fire & Rescue Service, or the Primary Care Trust, could also be invited to the meetings to provide information.