The best way for Councillors, the DLG, the Minister and the Local Government Ombudsman and external observers to assess the effectiveness of the Community Consultation process could be to examine any amendments to the 2008/09 Budget Parameters guideline.
The logic is that, if Council has taken into account community feedback on issues such as “belt-tightening” there will changes to the budget guidelines. If not, then the Ratepayers and the Minister are entitled to ask questions as to whether the Consultation process met its stated aims.
The original budget parameters, published on Council's website, (6.2 Budget Parameters) are in my view "soft" and reflect the Senior Management Teams lack of interest in belt tightening. It is more reflective of an organisation without any competition, keen on extracting Monopoly Rents from a disempowered Public.  

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