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Section E:
Involving Socially Excluded or Harder to Reach Groups

Involving Socially Excluded or Harder to Reach Groups

What is a “Hard to Reach” Group?

The groups who can be defined as “harder to reach” may be different with each consultation. Generally they are those groups or individuals who are likely to be excluded from a consultation exercise unless special efforts are made to include them. Examples of groups who may not readily participate are:

• people with little spare time, eg working single parents;
• people who do not understand written or spoken English well;
• those who feel culturally isolated;
• those who feel alienated from, or even suspicious of, the Council that is trying to consult them;
• those with no permanent address;
• those who are not interested in being consulted.

The following pages set out some examples of “harder to reach” groups, and ways in which they can be involved in consultation exercises.

In many cases there are community organisations who represent specific groups of people. Whilst these groups cannot be considered an adequate substitute for consulting individuals, they can be a useful starting point. A list of community and voluntary organisations in Bradford is available from Pat Fairfax (tel: 754994) in the Council’s Community Development Service (see p63 for more detail).

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