1. That greater publicity be given to the role and purpose of District Assemblies, including the publication in the local press of an annual report, celebrating their successes.

The suggestion of an annual report in the local press has already been acted upon; in addition, each District Assembly has produced its annual leaflet outlining successes of the previous year and forthcoming issues.

2. That follow up reports be produced at each meeting charting the progress of each question raised at the previous District Assembly Question Time.

A follow-up table on issues raised at Question Time will be produced following each District Assembly Meeting. Progress will be reported upon at the meeting with the District Assembly Advisory Group and also at the business meeting preceding each District Assembly Meeting. I do not however, feel it would be appropriate to discuss this matter at the District Assembly Meeting itself as this could well only serve to unduly prolong debate.

3. That District Assembly meetings be held at different venues in their area, such as schools and community centres in order that devolved democracy can be taken direct to the population of Tameside.

A number of District Assemblies already embrace this recommendation and at a meeting I am soon to hold with all District Assembly Chairs and Deputies, I will raise this matter for their consideration. It is however, the case that in certain situations, people are well used to the venues at which District Assembly Meetings take place and I do feel therefore, that this is a matter for the individual District Assemblies to consider.

4. That members of Advisory Groups, student, police and fire service representatives be invited to become non-voting co-opted members of District Assemblies with specific responsibilities, in order to enhance their role and give them more direct involvement in the working of District Assemblies.

The groups and individuals mentioned in this recommendation already have the opportunity to be present and contribute to District Assembly Meetings.I would urge all District Assembly Members, in particular Chairs and Deputies, to ensure that everyone attending the District Assembly Meetings has the opportunity to contribute wherever possible. In addition, I would also urge that when District Assemblies consider reports, the various Advisory Group Members concerned with that issue have had an opportunity to view the report and comment on it prior to its presentation and discussion.

5. That consultations should be undertaken with advisory Group members on an annual basis to ascertain their specific training and development requirements and design and provide appropriate courses to meet them.

Advisory Group Members are already eligible to attend the Annual Elected Member training sessions that are organised. In addition, I have asked officers to do an annual update on current issues for Advisory Group Members. This will take place after the annual budget setting exercise so that the Council's priorities for the forthcoming year can be explained.

6. That the different needs of the black and ethnic minority communities be recognised and ways of addressing them be identified, including posters in appropriate languages displayed in shops, community centres and places of worship; and the provision of interpreters at District Assemblies in localities with high ethnic minority populations.

This is a key issue in relation to the Council's overall approach to Community Cohesion. I intend, therefore, to widen the brief of Advisory Group Members dealing with Local Liaison to pick up this important issue.

7. That the role of young people in District Assemblies be promoted in a positive way with a continuous and defined role for student representatives relating to all issues.

I agree wholeheartedly with this Recommendation and would urge all Members of District Assemblies, in particular Chairs and Deputy Chairs, to promote and involve young people wherever they can and to involve them in any debates as appropriate. To assist in this matter, Officers are currently working up a protocol that gives more information on the role of young people representatives.

8. That schools be encouraged to provide more support for student representatives, such as announcing the arrangements for District Assemblies at school meetings.

Again, I wholeheartedly support this Recommendation and would urge Youth Managers and Advisory Group representatives to do whatever they can in this regard

9. That the Cabinet Deputy's original proposal to provide a notice board exclusively for District Assembly business in every high school in the Borough, be implemented.

This Recommendation is currently being implemented.

10. That schools be encouraged to adopt a uniform method of selection for student representatives, including an element of democracy.

This has already been done and wherever we can, we must continue to encourage schools to promote and involve young people by becoming student representatives.

11. That clear guidelines be provided and publicised as to the purpose of the Question Time session and that they be adhered to.

Clear guidelines on the Question Time session are already publicised and it is clearly a matter for District Assembly Chairs to ensure that the sessions are properly managed and conducted.

12. That consideration be given to ways in which District Assembly meetings can be made more friendly and welcoming to people not used to attending formal meetings. People attending should be welcomed to the meeting. Asking people to sign an attendance sheet would enable specific monitoring information to be gathered and people to be directly contacted with publicity and information,, The "top table" should be introduced to the public and some indication given as to their role in the meeting.

Each District Assembly needs to consider how it welcomes both regular and occasional visitors. I would tend not to support the view that the top table be introduced at each meeting, as this can be an overly long process. Instead, the current practice of using name cards to identify people should be continued in my view. Officers have been asked to look at devising a suitable attendance sheet that people could complete when attending meetings and hopefully we will be able to act on this very soon.

13. That the Minutes of the District Assembly meetings be open to debate and question at meetings of the Council and that they be afforded sufficient credibility.

The individual District Assembly meetings are the proper forum for discussing minutes of previous meetings and not full Council.

14. That in future, fairer funding and any further delegation of resources to District Assemblies for use in their own areas, be achieved in a way that is fully transparent to all members so that they can understand the equity of resourcing and successfully monitor their progress. For example, on a per head of population basis without ring fencing to particular services, to enable elected members to manage budgets appropriately.

The only area of funding that is delegated on a per head of population basis relates to the District Assembly Discretionary Budgets. All other allocations of funding to individual District Assemblies will be based on service delivery considerations.

15. That consultation be undertaken with this Scrutiny Panel on the further allocation of centrally held funds to District Assemblies.

16. That ways of devolving more responsibilities be appraised, to allow District Assemblies to progress a further step forward to reaching their full potential, for example:

• Youth Service Budgets (on a per head of population basis, calculated using the latest census information)
• Highway and footway maintenance to be fully delegated to District Assemblies
• Street Lighting
• Countryside matters

This process does take place as part of the Annual Council Budget setting process.

17. That consideration be given to important, major planning applications in District Assembly areas being considered by District Assemblies and their recommendations reported to and seriously considered by, the Speakers Panel when determining such planning applications.

The Recommendation has already been considered and rejected by the Council.

18. That a sum be made available in each District Assembly budget to enable local crime and disorder initiatives to be promoted.