IESE support for community engagement

Date: Wednesday 31/03/10

People living and working in Surrey will have a better chance of influencing future developments in the county, as a result of the Community Engagement Framework and toolkit.

Supporting public services
Funded by Improvement and Efficiency South East (IESE), the framework and toolkit have been developed as part of the Surrey Improvement Partnership’s (SIP) Enhanced Neighbourhood Engagement project.

IESE is the regional improvement and efficiency partnership (RIEP) for the South East of England. It works with councils by assisting and funding local projects to improve efficiency and services across the region. Its brief includes building capacity by equipping officers with skills to meet the demands of delivering 21st century services efficiently and effectively.

The framework and toolkit will be used to help public and voluntary sector workers engage successfully with the communities they serve, keeping residents informed and able to influence local services.

Enhancing engagement
Surrey’s Community Engagement Framework and Toolkit is the product of an agreement between a number of public and voluntary organisations to produce a county wide model for engagement and consultation.

The framework lays down principles that organisations are asked to sign up to, such as seeking to increase participation, choosing techniques relevant to different communities, working in partnership and ‘joining up’ work where appropriate.

Previously, organisations often embarked on consultations without clear guidance on the best way of engaging with people they wanted to talk to, leading to a hotchpotch of responses of variable quality and usefulness.

The toolkit is designed to help public and voluntary sector employees by equipping them with the tools needed to engage with residents, communities and service users to a high standard.

Contents include a guide to the key elements of engagement, plus a manual detailing tools and techniques ranging from citizens’ juries and mystery shopping to surveys and questionnaires.

Reaping the benefits
A number of advantages to adopting the framework and toolkit exist, namely:

Consistency – hundreds of engagement exercises take place across the county using different approaches, some proving to be more successful than others. The framework and toolkit provides clarity and is based on what works, helping to raise standards and develop good practice.

Quality data – tools and techniques in the toolkit will help employees target communities and individuals more precisely with the benefit of increasing participation and improving the quality of feedback.

Compliance – effective engagement helps councils to address National Indicator (NI) requirements, specifically; making sure residents feel they can influence decisions in their locality (NI4), ensuring people are satisfied with their local area (NI5) and are satisfied with the effectiveness of councils and the police in dealing with crime and anti-social behaviour (NI21).

Looking to the future
Copies have been distributed widely with an appeal for organisations to sign up to the framework and adopt the toolkit; as in the case of Woking Borough Council where it is being considered with the view of accepting and adapting it to suit local needs.

Surrey County Council, working the county’s borough and district councils, is also planning a county-wide data gathering system which can be used for storing consultation results along with other types of data, and a new consultation network where organisations can share their community engagement initiatives, thereby minimising duplication and effort.

For further details contact the Neighbourhood Engagement Project Team, Email: engagement@surreyimprovement.info