Stoke-on-Trent City Council - Selective Licensing Scheme
Client
Brief
Following completion of a consultation process for a proposed new Selective Licensing scheme in the city, all questions and comments received by the Council were compiled into a document. This document along with other information was part of a further 4-week period of engagement. In 2018, arc4 were appointed to review the consultation process to date and then identify the new questions and comments received during the further period of engagement.
What we did
First of all, arc4 “sense checked” the evaluation of the consultation responses received, critiqued the approach, interpretation, provided robust challenge and recommended any changes we thought would add value to the process.
The consultation analysis together with other information documents was then posted online as part of a further 25-day period of engagement, of which arc4 evaluated the responses, highlighting any new questions and comments arising in comparison to the first consultation exercise. This analysed who responded to the process and their view on Selective Licensing.
Finally, arc4 prepared an overview report detailing the feedback from consultation and engagement exercises and providing a supplementary breakdown of the data.
The Result
In Stoke-on-Trent, the proposal to introduce Selective Licensing aims to help certain areas of the city become more desirable places to live and increase stability through longer tenancies. By increasing stability this may, indirectly, assist with other matters such as nuisance and social issues. This would support the Council’s Stronger Together priority of working with residents to make our towns and communities great places to live, and also aligns with Stoke-on-Trent’s Housing Strategy.
The authority embarked upon a consultation process, which was later reviewed by arc4. This provided Stoke-on-Trent City Council with thorough support for consultation analysis relating to their proposed Selective Licensing scheme in the city, and ultimately presented a robust way of presenting the evidence in case there is any future legal challenge to the SL scheme.