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Section C:
Choosing The Mechanism:
A Guide To Using Existing Community Consultation And Participation Mechanisms
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"Speak Out!" Panel
| Summary | "Speak Out!" is a joint initiative between Bradford Council and Bradford Health Authority.
It is a panel of 2,500 local residents balanced with the local population at large in terms of age,
gender, ethnic origin, employment status, and geography. Panel members are sent postal questionnaires
about 4 times a year. |
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| Examples | "Speak Out!" has been used to obtain public views about a range of different policy and
service related issues. The panel has been used to ask about perceptions of crime and fear of crime
as part of a wider consultation about crime and disorder. The information was used to develop a crime
and disorder reduction strategy. Panel members were also asked for their views of the education system
as part of a fundamental review of schools in the District. "Speak Out!" has been used to develop
performance indicators as part of the Best Value process, and also been used to ask about levels of
satisfaction with particular aspects of services. On occasions a whole "Speak Out!" survey has been
based around specific groups of services (eg recreation, services for older people). |
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| Useful for | Straightforward issues that can be easily understood by recipients of postal
questionnaires. Good for asking about services which most people use (eg refuse collection) or about
policy issues about which most people are likely to have a view (eg crime). Best used for District wide
issues, but has been used on a Constituency basis. |
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| Not useful | Complicated issues which require explanation or discussion.
Shouldn't be used to ask about specialist services used by only
a small proportion of the population. Don't use to ask about issues
or services about which most people have little knowledge (panel
members won't respond if they see the questionnaire as a test!).
Not suitable for finding out the views of people in small geographical
areas (smaller than constituency). We normally get below average
response rates from young people and panel members from minority
ethnic groups, "Speak Out!" is not suitable if responses
from these groups are of particular interest. |
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| Equal Rights | Large print versions of the questionnaire are available to panel members who request
them as are tape versions. Asian language speakers who cannot read or write English are offered face
to face or telephone interviews. |
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| Costs | Each "Speak Out!" survey costs about £8,000. This is paid for by the service(s)
making use of the panel. The panel originally cost £25,000 to establish and the three organisations
contribute £8,000 between them each year to maintain it. The maintenance involves replacing a third
of panel members each year. |
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| How to use | In order to ensure that panel members do not receive several questionnaires at once a
forward plan of surveys is drawn up by the three organisations. The Council will only get to use
"Speak Out!" twice in a year, so if you are hoping to use "Speak Out!" you need to plan it well in
advance. A decision about the topic for a "Speak Out!" survey is generally made about 3 months in
advance to allow time for the questionnaire to be designed and printed. There is a three-year forward plan of "Speak Out!" surveys, closely linked to the pro gramme of Best Value reviews. If you want your service to be included in the forward plan, please contact Mike Barnett (ext.2221) in the first instance. If you are successful you then need to think about transferring your topic into questions to be included in the questionnaire. In particular you will need to ensure that your questionnaire is easy to understand, the Research & Consultation Unit will be able to provide assistance. |
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| Contact |
For general information about "Speak Out!" and assistance in questionnaire design contact Mike Barnett,
Senior Research Officer tel:01274 432221. You may also wish to contact people who have made use of "Speak Out!" in the past to find out how it helped them. Some examples are: |
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Crime & Disorder Waste Strategy Libraries Grounds Maintenance |
Gillian Mayfield Damian Fisher Jane Heap Dick Webb |
432035 432411 434681 432409 |
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| Section B | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 | Section D |
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Introduction and Framework Section A Section B Section C Section D Section E |
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