Title

The need to understand how the public perceive their services has not disappeared just because the requirement to report back on statutory performance indicators has gone, warns John Kennedy Now, more than ever before, local partnerships led by councils need to identify ways in which they can pool resources to engage with citizens on a large scale. The desire to understand what social and public value public services generate and how they are perceived to be performing has not disappeared just because statutory requirements to report back national performance indicators have been removed. The mantra of ‘Long live representative and direct democracy – research and evidence-based decision-making is dead' is a seductive one for many reasons, but we all know from studies, many of which Ipsos MORI has authored – it will be some time before we achieve a critical mass of civic and political engagement. There is still very much a place for good research and consultation. Why? Some, but not all of the arguments are presented as follows: as public services expect local people to rely less on services which no longer exist, or have radically changed, and to take more responsibility for taking care of themselves and their local areas, behaviour change research will become more important public services still have a duty to protect the vulnerable, and know how policies and changes to service delivery affect the poorest and those most in need of help decisions about the savings public services need to make – given how huge they are – should be made in a robust and inclusive way with those who will be affected by them. during this time of great economic and social change, it is even more important to complement representative democracy by engaging with local people through good research and consultation, but the trick is to do it in a way which is cost effective and relevant to those invited to take part. So, given the above, local partnerships should be asking themselves a few questions, such as, how can we engage more with our customers/residents? How can we get more for less? How can we work more closely with our partners? And what are the key hot topics/issues? One answer to all these questions can be provided in two words – citizens' panels. Given shrinking research and consultation budgets, coupled with an increased need to engage with local communities – think Big Society and localism – there has never been a better time for public services to come together, either within an area, such as LSP partners, or across areas, such as districts and county council, to run a citizens' panel. And panels are very much back in fashion, given the value for money they can deliver – not least in terms of partnership working and economy of scale. Citizens' panels are not just a cost-effective and quick way of consulting with local people on a wide range of issues, but also allow the opportunity to deepen relationships between participants and public services, and between participants, so they can agree local solutions to local problems and build connections with each other. Panels are a no-brainer. They are a group of 1,000-5,000 people wiling to give their views and much more, which is a local resource that cannot be sniffed at. To capture the constructive ideas and creative input of these many people at a flick of a switch – and it is as easy as that – or through a text message is something for local services to consider seriously. But panels can do so much more. They can test services, report local problems and help with service redesign. Panellists can act as critical friends, and can help identify issues before they become ‘campaigns' or a problem.. Clever partnerships out there will be looking to use their citizens' panels in the future as a vehicle for capacity building and for getting participants to engage with their local area, their communities and the organisations that serve them. How Big Society is that? John Kennedy is associate director at Ipsos MORI's Social Research Institute

Title

WHITEHALL

Citizens' panels are go

SUBSCRIBE TO CONTINUE READING