Residents to be asked for views on Bristol City Council changes

Bristol City Council has been run by a directly-elected mayor and cabinet since 2012

Residents are going to be asked for their views on how Bristol's new committee-run council should work.

In May, the city voted to abolish its directly-elected mayor in favour of a committee system in which decisions will be made by groups of councillors.

The new system will come into place in 2024 and details of how it will function are still being worked out.

Residents will be consulted this autumn and a website explaining the changes will be launched.

Bristol mayor Marvin Rees will remain in power until May 2024 and a group of 12 councillors have been gathering evidence on how Bristol City Council could be run afterwards.

Bristol mayor Marvin Rees will stay in place until 2024

Speaking at a council meeting on 18 October, resident Suzanne Audrey suggested a citizens' assembly could get people more engaged with decisions.

The turnout for the May mayoral referendum was 29% - Ms Audrey said this suggested "a lack of engagement with local democracy".

Details of the public consultation are expected to be revealed at an overview and scrutiny meeting on 27 October, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Councillor Helen Holland (Lab) said an email address had been set up for people to give their thoughts on the new model.

She added: "The terms of reference of the working group mean we have been able to work over the summer and we've been working very hard, but those meetings have been private meetings.

"But we're expecting the [overview and scrutiny] report to trigger a great deal more conversation across the city, and we welcome that."