Structures & Development of Cavan Public Participation Network,
An Overview.
Secretariat: CavanPPN was established in 2014/15 by a formation of community representatives in accordance with national legislation from the Community/Voluntary, Social Inclusion and Environment sectors with an equal number from each of the three areas of Cavan. These 12 members (2 from each sector & area) form the core Secretariat of CavanPPN.
They are:
- Environment Sector * - Social Inclusion Sector*
- Community/Voluntary Sector* - Cavan/Belturbet MD*
- Ballyjamesduff MD* - Bailieborough/Cootehill MD*
Representatives Network: In 2016 it was seen as a deficient of the PPN structure that the Secretariat members had no way to engage with the community representatives sourced and elected onto various bodies to represent community interests. Therefore, it was decided by the Secretariat to include a “Representatives Network” of 12 to attend and engage at Secretariat meetings to undertake sharing and networking for the benefit of all.
These are:
- Environment & Planning SPC* - Housing, Community, Social, Cultural SPC
- Transport & Infrastructure SPC - Economic & Enterprise SPC
- Breffni Integrated - Joint Policing Committee
- Local Community Development Committee - Comhairle na nOg
- Cavan Childcare Committee - Cavan Sports Partnership
- Cavan Heritage Forum - Regional Drugs Taskforce
*SPC (Strategic Policy Committtee), a Council structure to develop policy and actions on certain topics.
Terms of office
Representatives hold office for 2 years and can run for a 3rd year in their first term. Representatives shall not serve more than 2 consecutive terms.
Flat Structure: This was also the year that the PPN adopted a “Flat Structure”, whereby the chair and secretary of Secretariat Meetings are rotated to allow the experience to spread around the group.
The Resource Worker’s post began in 2014 to assist in the PPN establishment. The Resource Worker’s job is to assist in the Workplan deployment, enable networking of community communications, events management, sourcing training and to aid in the establishment of Linkage Groups.
The Directors form a subgroup of the Secretariat who manage, represent and conduct the business of the company of CavanPPN CLG (Company Limited by Guarantee). The officer roles are: Company Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer and Public Relations Officer. This Board can nominate a Company Secretary who may or may not be a member of The Secretariat
Linkage Groups are public engagement opportunities for community representatives to engage with citizens to become informed on the themes they represent upon. It is expected that the Resource Worker shall set up and facilitate the first one or two Linkage meetings, thereafter the representatives shall take over. The worker merely handles bookings & advertising at this point.
A Plenary is an open PPN gathering of all community groups. These must take place twice per year and can be themed or not, open to non-community or closed to all PPN registered groups. CavanPPN has held two per year since 2015, usually themed and open.
The Workplan & Budget of the PPN is formulated by the Secretariat and mandated at a Plenary each year. The Workplan is then published in January and the Worker and Secretariat begin to deploy the plan.
Elections
The Electoral Policy of the PPN is broken into 2 sections; internal and external.
Internal: where a vote is required a nominator and seconder is required and voting is done by single ballot first past the post. In elections involving multiple community groups (for instance at a Linkage Group) each group shall hold a single vote.
External: Where the PPN shall provide representation on an external body or facilitate such a representative process the following shall be the electoral policy of this body.
An invitation from the external body shall trigger public advertisement which shall be open for a period of two weeks. Final candidates shall be made aware to the electors for a period of no less than 7 days prior to an election.
Elections: Community Groups shall nominate an elector to hold ONE VOTE per community group at such elections. Individuals may not hold more than one vote. Where the election is pertaining to a particular segment of the community (e.g. Environment Groups electing an Environment SPC Rep) The CavanPPN Secretariat may deem it necessary to grant voting rights only to community groups registered in that segment.
Funding
The PPN is an independent body driven entirely by the PPN members. It derives its budget from the local Council and Government in fractions of 3/5. The maximum budget suggested is €80,000. Therefore, this is €30,000 from the Council and €50,000 from Government. Should the Council reduce its contribution then the Government contribution will likewise decrease proportionately. The Government strongly recommends that PPNs require €80,000 for their program costs.
