Corporate Consultation Strategy Gaining insight to understand our customers and stakeholders
Consultation: The dynamic process of dialogue between individuals or groups, based upon a genuine exchange of views and, normally, with the objective of influencing decisions, policies or programmes of action. Where people are offered the opportunity to comment on what is planned, but are not able to develop and input their own ideas or participate in putting plans into action. Consultation Institute January 2009
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2009 - 2012
1.0
I
ntroduction
1.1 The Need for a Consultation Strategy The Council believes it crucial to decision making that the views of local residents, businesses, user groups and other stakeholders are sought on what they want in respect of the local area, what priorities they identify and what they think of the Council’s performance. It is important to focus available resources on the most effective consultation activities that help build trust and confidence in public bodies. This strategy helps develop that focus. An additional drive to get consultation activity right is the Comprehensive Area Assessment’s focus on “how well local partners understand their communities and listen and respond to local people” (Audit Commission Framework document, February 2009). The Consultation Institute’s charter sets out what it considers to be hallmarks of excellence and these include: • • • •
Full commitment to listening from the top Informed understanding of relevant stakeholders Professional use of appropriate methods Feedback to stakeholders, participants and wider audience
The Council’s own Corporate Plan states that the Council will deliver its priorities by encouraging community involvement, developing participation and giving influence to the community and develop its profile and reputation by communicating, consulting and informing. This strategy has therefore been developed to outline Dacorum Borough Council’s approach to consultation. The associated Consultation Action Plan (annual document) sets out a more detailed work programme for the corporate function and aims to co-ordinate consultation activity, and a ‘rough guide to consultation’ is a toolkit available for managers undertaking specific consultation activity. The strategy and action plan have regard to the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act which introduced a duty on local authorities to take steps to ensure the participation of local citizens in their activities – the duty to inform, consult and involve.
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Dacorum Borough Council Consultation Strategy
This Strategy document is presented as a statement of the Council’s broad consultation aims and the approaches it might use to achieve them. It should be regarded as a starting point for all consultation projects. 1.2 Benefits of Consultation To participants: •
Opportunity to influence decisions and actions that affect their lives
•
Opportunity to express their views and concerns
•
Opportunity to suggest service improvements
•
Increased understanding and involvement with the Council
To the Council:
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•
Better decision making
•
Better understanding of the needs of local people
•
Early warning of potential problems Opportunity to make services more relevant and effective
Dacorum Borough Council Consultation Strategy
2.0 Strategy Aims
Strategy Delivery
Dacorum Borough Council will carry out effective consultation to:
To deliver these aims we will:
1. Influence and inform decision making
1. Strengthen the links between data captured and information used by Councillors and Officers by developing a clear and recorded audit trail process for consultations by June 2010
2. Achieve customer and stakeholder focus and be fair, transparent, open and responsive in our consultations
2. Participate in the assessment for the Consultation Institute’s Excellence Standard by April 2011
3. Provide value for money
3. Carry out a review of the consultation service, including value for money parameters, by December 2010
4. Provide opportunities for participation by all
4. Complete Equality Impact Assessments for all corporate consultations
5. Establish well planned, co-ordinated and sustainable consultation activities
5. Implement improvements identified by the service review and excellence standard evaluation by April 2012
6. Make best use of innovation and technology
6. Set up an Improving Dacorum Programme project to assess potential of Limehouse software (existing resource) by April 2010
7. Ensure robust data quality
7. Complete data quality assessments and check third party standards meet the requirements
8. Maintain compatibility with national agendas and compliance with legislation
8. Develop a strategy to meet the Duty to Inform, Consult, Involve by April 2010
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Strategy Evaluation The following measures will be used to assess the Consultation Strategy: • Response levels to individual consultations • Percentage of Citizen Panel members responding to Panel consultations • Number of consultation initiatives carried out (local PI) And NIs: • Percentage of people who feel they can influence decisions in their locality • Overall satisfaction with the way the council runs things • People feeling the council provides value for money • Fair treatment by local services
3. 0
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
C
onsultation Guidelines*
• Consider if the consultation is necessary (genuine consultation has a commitment to using the feedback to inform decision making) governed by guidance or statutory obligations. who should deliver the project (i.e., in-house, external supplier, via Hertfordshire Public Engagement Partnership) is there existing data (in house, locally, regionally or nationally) are the proposed methods the best ones to produce the required results is the budget realistic and the best use of the funds would using the Citizens Panel be more effective is there any other consultation taking place with which it could be combined does the proposed consultation support the Council’s Vision and /or the Sustainable Community Strategy are there robust plans in place for developing actions as a result of the consultation with an approval route for the actions (CMT/ Cabinet etc) does the proposed consultation take into account equalities (complete an Equalities Impact Assessment to identify any extra steps that need to be built into the consultation) are there plans/procedures in place to monitor the implementation and success of the actions how will the results and actions be fed back to the respondents and the wider audience does it adhere to the Market Research Code of Conduct, the Data Protection Act and our own Equalities Standards is the third sector a consultee (the timetable will need to consider the timescale set out within the Compact, currently 6 weeks but draft proposals exist to change this to 8 – 12) is this a reactive exercise as a result of the public initiating a consultation process (for example e-petitions) *There is a more detailed consultation guide available fro managers undertaking specific projects
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4. 0
R
oles and Responsibilities
Corporate Management Team • will support the strategy by actively applying its principles to their work • will communicate this strategy and protocols to their Heads of Service and Service Managers and advise them of the requirement for them to adhere to it Councillors • will embrace the principles of consultation and will support these activities in the community. • will demonstrate the importance of listening to the feedback received and endeavour to make decisions based on it Managers / staff • will ensure data is fed appropriately into any decision making and communicated back to participants • will follow this strategy and consultation guidelines Corporate Consultation • will promote the strategy and standards on behalf of the organisation and aim to achieve co-ordinated activity • will provide professional advice, direction and support
5. 0
C
onsultation Project Process
Steps to take • • • • • 6
Complete a consultation project template (available from Corporate Consultation) Corporate Consultation must be made aware of all consultation activities (to achieve co-ordination, a planned approach, and allow feedback to respondents via existing methods) Results, outcomes and subsequent decisions must be fed-back to respondents and other audiences where appropriate (see Rough Guide for process) All consultation must abide by the requirements of the Market Research Code of Conduct and the Data Protection Act and take account of the Consultation Institute’s Charter – Integrity – Visibility – Accessibility – Transparency – Disclosure – Fair Interpretation - Publication Service Managers should consider consultation requirements as part of the Service Planning process.
Appendix A. Consultation Annual Action Plan (live document, shown here as example) Oct – Dec 2009 Commence work to shape Hertfordshire Public Engagement Partnership (HPEP) work programme for 2010/11 Residents survey fieldwork takes place
Jan – March 2010 Assess Dacorum Community Engagement Group work programme
April – June 2010 Review of consultation requirements across DBC to commence
July – Sept 2010 Commence tendering process for HPEP contract
Results from Residents survey due – feedback and action planning
Assess Council wide service plan consultation requirements
Place Survey actions – focusing on priorities identified, e.g. NI4
Review Citizen Panel effectiveness and define measure of success. Programme attendance at DMTs to promote updated Consultation Strategy and assess consultation requirements for 2010/11 Limehouse Consultation – draft first external consultation event Housing ballot / consultation – no other large scale consultations to take place In-house services consultation – first subject for 2010
Refresh Citizen Panel membership (giving consideration to representativeness)
Update consultation toolkit following results of consultation review Plan budget consultation
Start work to address improvements identified in consultation audit
Limehouse consultation software – pilot in-house survey Plan calendar for 2010 Listening events
Commence planning for wider remit Community Engagement Strategy and its impact on Consultation Strategy County project, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender consultation pilot
Participatory budget pilot
Implement an epetition process
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Consider information from Equalities group in terms of known communities / equalities strands
Citizen Panel survey to take place
Develop a checklist of consultation activity to contribute to evidence gathering and audit trail In-house services consultation – second subject for 2010
Oct – Dec 2010
Place Survey 2 fieldwork takes place
Staff Survey preparatory work
Citizen Panel survey to take place
Citizen Panel survey to take place
In-house services consultation – third subject for 2010
In-house services consultation – final subject for 2010
Agenda Item Page 8 of 10 Appendix B - Excerpt from Consultation Audit report – carried out by East Herts Council for Dacorum Borough Council, March – Sept 2009. The findings of the audit demonstrate that there is a wide variety of consultation undertaken at Dacorum. For some services consultation is an everyday part of their remit, whereas for others it is only necessary on an ad-hoc basis. As with all local authorities there is a requirement to undertake statutory consultation as well as a desire to engage stakeholders in non-statutory consultation. Services were clear on the benefits consultation had for them. However examples were given of times consultation had been undertaken even though the use for the data it collated was limited. The majority of consultation undertaken by Dacorum is done through traditional formats such as surveys and focus groups. It was acknowledged by a number of Heads of Service that these methods were not always the best ones to use to engage the target audience. With regards to certain statutory consultations the opinion offered was although the scores could be good, practically using the information to develop services was not always possible. Most Heads of Service were committed to undertaking effective engagement with stakeholders as opposed to undertaking ‘tick box’ exercises. Clear examples were given to demonstrate how data had been used to benefit services. Although it was acknowledged this is not always the case. All services identified that they could improve their feedback to consultation participants. Examples were given for multiple occasions when feedback had not been given. There was little knowledge of Dacorum’s current contract with Opinion Research Services. Interviewees cited work that had been commissioned to other agencies on behalf of Dacorum Borough Council. In certain instances it was felt that ‘expert’ skills were needed to engage effectively with the target audience and that these skills were not offered within the current contract. The area that caused most confusion was budgets. The majority of Heads were not clear on the consultation budget available to them. Although all said they would be able to find this out it was evident that most services did not have a clearly identifiable consultation budget allocated to them. Examples were given where Heads of Service had identified their own consultation plans. Timings with the other consultation activity undertaken by the council had not always been considered by the service. Services were aware of large corporate consultation activity being undertaken by other services, but had little knowledge of smaller, service specific work. One of the main factors influencing a decision to engage the consultation service was timeliness. Important consultation exercises have been undertaken last minute with little opportunity to think of the most appropriate methods. The consultation service offered is very highly regarded within Dacorum Borough Council and the service received a lot of praise. Consultation is viewed as an important function within the authority and the Consultation Team are viewed as experts by all interviewees when it comes to advising on best practice. However the extent to which Heads of Service use the service varies greatly. Where consultation is a regular exercise for a service it is viewed as there being little need to inform the consultation service. Heads of Services were clear on the role of the consultation team in regards to supporting services with their consultation activity, although the extent to which they engage them varies by service. The general feeling is that the consultation service is there in an advisory capacity and that ultimately the individual service had the final say rather than the consultation service. This is also evident with some Heads expressing the view that the consultation team can be informed when and if needed. There was an understanding that the consultation team is responsible for co-ordinating consultation, however it was acknowledged that in practice services are responsible for not informing when they should. The results of the audit should be viewed as extremely pleasing. Overall the service provided by the Consultation Team is fit for purpose and achieving its aims. The findings from the interviews demonstrate clear commitment to carrying out effective consultation and that all services are clear it provide valuable intelligence. Services could see the value provided by the consultation team and welcome its professional knowledge. It is clear that a number of services are competent in managing their own consultation so the role of the consultation team in these examples needs to be defined. The consultation audit therefore suggests that the consultation service itself does not need to alter and instead needs to clarify its role in co-ordinating consultation as well as establishing clear corporate protocols and processes.
Agenda Item Page 8 of 10
Agenda Item Page 9 of 10
Appendix C - DBC Equality Impact Assessment Form Directorate and Service: Date completed and by whom:
Policy / function / activity being reviewed: Review Date:
Chief Executives, Consultation November 2009, Sara Hamilton
Consultation Strategy November 2010
Step 1 – Identifying the Purpose / Aims What type of policy, service, activity or function is this? What is the aim and purpose of the policy, activity, service or function?
Updating Council’s consultation strategy
Outline any proposals being considered. Who is the policy, activity, service or function intended to help / benefit / serve? Does the policy, activity, service or function have any specific aims or objectives in relation to equality, social inclusion or community cohesion?
None
To set out how the Council will approach, carry-out and evaluate consultation activity
Members of the public, Council officers, Councillors, other stakeholders The strategy sets out, as one of its guidelines, that equality issues need to be considered when carrying out consultation. It requires completion of an EIA for all new consultation activity. The associated action plan to the strategy has related actions of – • Refresh Citizen Panel membership (giving consideration to representativeness of Borough profile) • County project, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender consultation pilot • Consider information from Equalities group in terms of known communities / equalities strands • Contribution towards NI4 (perception of ability to influence decision making)
Step 2 – Considering existing information and what this tells you (Note - It may be necessary to consider some equality categories more than others in your assessment)
Data / Information Is there any evidence of negative differential impact on any of the following? Race or ethnicity Gender and transgender
Age Disability Religion or belief/ faith communities Lesbian, gay, bisexual people
Other communities or groups
None about the strategy (note this is an overarching strategy that sets out appropriate internal approaches to committing to effective consultation, rather than setting out guidance for specific consultation methodology) No No (note, the consultation service is involved in a County project to carry out a pilot project with consideration of this equalities strand. ) No No No No (note, the consultation service is involved in a County project to carry out a pilot project with consideration to this equalities strand. ) No
Step 3 – Assessing the Impact Is there any evidence of higher or lower take-up of the service, facility or opportunity by any group /community and if so, is there
The strategy’s associated action plan suggests a refresh of the Agenda Item Page 9 of 10
Agenda Item Page 10 of 10 an explanation for this?
Could any of the associated rules, requirements or regulations of the function, activity or policy affect the accessibility of the service/ activity to any groups or communities? If the impact or effects are adverse for any community or group, can they be defended i.e. in order to provide equality for another community under legislation or policy?
Citizen Panel to align its membership to that of the Borough’s Census profile in terms of all equalities strands No
n/a
Step 4 – Dealing with adverse or unlawful impact n/a What can be done to improve the policy, service, function or any proposals in order to reduce or remove any adverse impact or effects identified? What would be needed to be able to do this? Are the resources available?
n/a
Step 5 – Consultation and Feedback Outline your proposals to consult with those affected on proposed changes.
Step 6 – The decision What needs to be done?
n/a
The Strategy needs to be approved by Cabinet and Council.
Step 7 – Monitoring, review and evaluation What monitoring and review mechanisms are in place or will be developed?
The strategy will be reviewed in line with the Duty to Involve, Consult, Inform (2010)
Step 8 – The service plan What needs to be included in the Service Development Plan? Does an Action Plan need to be put together to ensure everything is actioned?
n/a Action plan associated with strategy already developed
Agenda Item Page 10 of 10