The Citizens Panel was a key strand in the Council’s Empowering Communities strategy.  The budget to establish and maintain the panel was in place, and by utilising its existence for consultation purposes there was confidence that it would deliver savings.  It was hoped that the Panel would involve around 1% of the borough’s population, some 900 individuals.

Representatives from Royal Holloway University had compiled a report highlighting the value provided by such a panel, and presented its benefits at the Committee, advising that the recommended framework provided the flexibility to meet the Council’s need, with studies showing that a Citizens’ Panel provided significantly more in-depth feedback than forms of one-way communication.  More frequent contact with the Panel also improved the chance of retaining membership.

It was recommended by Royal Holloway representatives to establish a steering committee to include key officers, elected members and experts to reduce any perception of predetermination.

It was acknowledged that the Panel would take time to set up, and addressing concerns of attrition rates, a professional research company would be employed to establish an appropriate representation for the Panel, and would be able to advise on continuity of membership, whilst it was anticipated that officers and members had the necessary contacts within the borough to establish and maintain a representative sample.

Committee members were keen to hear about locations where a Citizens’ Panel had worked successfully, whilst consideration was also asked to renaming it a Residents’ Panel.

Creative thinking was urged around incentivising participants, and one of the ideas under consideration was funding towards a community project, which was thought would be more desirable than giving individuals a gift card of negligible value.  Furthermore, providing evidence that participants’ feedback carried weight and influenced policy-making was considered the most effective form of incentivisation.

Additionally, the Panel would be one of a number of tools in decision-making.  Feeding back on the occasions when their view were not interpreted in the way they had intended would be equally important.

The Committee were supportive of the creation of the Panel, but felt that a culture change was needed within the Council to ensure that officers possessed the skills, knowledge and capacity to engage in the most appropriate way, factoring in the essential need for it to be interactive and a two-way communication process.

It was confirmed that the Panel’s work would be made available to make its outcome transparent, and the process would be as accessible as possible to ensure a representative sample was achieved.

Resolved that –

1.     Committee recognised the value of a Citizens’ Panel in gathering evidence on residents’ views of council and potentially partner organisations’ services.

2.     Approval was given to the establishment of a Runnymede Citizens’ Panel.

3.     Committee approved expenditure of £10,000 Shared Prosperity Fund to recruit the membership of the Panel.

4.     Virement was approved for the remaining costs associated with the Panel from the central Community Budget, held by the Chief Executive. This would enable the authority to offer participants a small incentive for retaining their membership.