How to...support people to influence local service delivery?
Why is this important?
You can’t provide a high quality service if you don’t have good information about what people need and want from you.
In regeneration, services such as housing, education, policing and so on should be based on a clear understanding of what people think of current service provision, and how they would like to see it develop in the future.
How should we involve people?
People can influence service delivery in a wide range of ways. Some are simple or one off, like:
• making a complaint or providing feedback
• taking part in a survey or focus group
Others involve working with communities on a longer term basis – for example getting people involved in managing their own facilities, or making decisions about funding.
Below, we explore some innovative ways of involving people in service delivery.
What methods could we use?
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Communities identifying the issues • In Raploch, the Urban Regeneration Company trained four local people to be ‘community animators’. These people knew the area, and the issues that might affect the community. They were trained to survey people at home – and went round 800 homes in the area. • Using techniques like placecheck – where people come together to identify the issues facing their area – can help local people to drive service improvement in their area. Find out more... |
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Community management • In Muirkirk, young people took the lead in campaigning for a Skateboard Park, and now manage this themselves. They are able to run and develop the park based on their own needs – with a bit of support. • In South Lanarkshire community planning partners worked closely with communities to involve people in local Neighbourhood Management. • Communities can also take on ownership of local facilities – meaning they have control over service delivery. Find out how nine areas of England and Wales have transferred assets into community ownership Find out more... |
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Community decisions about public money • Making decisions about how public money is spent is one of the main ways in which people can influence service delivery. In Harrow, the Open Budget allowed people to decide how a portion of public funds should be spent. • In West Dunbartonshire, the People’s Fund was introduced to allow local people to take responsibility for allocating funding to community groups. Find out more... • What is Participatory Budgeting? – Advice from the Participatory Budgeting Unit • How Can I Use Participatory Budgeting? – Get guidance from IDeA |
Find out more...
• Our Techniques section includes many more innovative methods for engaging communities
• Get advice on how to communicate with communities, and involve them in shaping local services in this Toolkit from IDeA
• Everyone has different ideas about how best to involve communities. Find out what happened when Champions of Participation from across the world came together to discuss this issue.
