Contact: Keith Kerslake, ext 7317

1 Introduction.

1.1 This paper outlines a plan of work that will form an updated consultation strategy for 2002-3. Until now the authority has worked to fulfil the key tasks outlined in the last Consultation Strategy which was approved by members in February 2000.

1.2 The revised strategy will also give members a flavour of progress on a number of other key issues. For example, how successful the County Council has been in collaborating with other partners in consultation work, the progress of the consultation element in the best value reviews and what actions have been taken as a result of the reviews and corporate consultation work.

2 Government Guidance.

2.1 The Government feels it is important to consult with local taxpayers, service users, partners and the wider business community so that local authorities and Councillors are able to make more informed decisions. More and more emphasis is being put on consultation by government to shape the local government of the future.

3 Consultation-What it means.

3.1 Consultation effectively means the customer requirements must be paramount in the thinking of any organisation. Consultation techniques are equally applicable in political and social policy decision-making as they are in the private market place. Frequent and robust consultation amongst Hampshire residents will enable them to feel more informed about the authority on a political level and on service delivery issues. More importantly, is communicating the outcomes and actions as a result of asking for their views.

4 Corporate Communications Team.

4.1 The Corporate Communications team will provide the following:

· Advice and support for all new departmental consultation

· Manage corporate internal and external market research

· Advise departments on commissioning market research

· To advise on consultation for cross-cutting best value reviews.

· Seek opportunities to link research programmes with District Councils and other partners

5 Corporate Research.

Since 2000, the authority has undertaken some major pieces of work to gain a picture of what staff, residents and business perceive as the important issues for them, the role of the County Council, quality of life indicators and service-delivery satisfaction levels. Some exercises have been additions to the last strategy. These have been primarily government requirements. Although some of the work with staff was necessitated through the adoption of Employment in Hampshire County Council in November 2000. The corporate research projects have been:

· Residents' survey '99/00.

· Staff survey 2000

· Staff focus groups-pay and benefits.

· BVPI research 2000

· Hard to Reach Groups-ethnic minorities, elderly people, physically disadvantaged, young people etc.

· Research amongst the Business community.

· Research amongst residents to assess their preferences for a new system of local political management.

· Establishment of a Citizens' Panel

6 Translating findings into actions.

6.1 Formal market research is a relatively new concept to local government. In the past consultation has sometimes meant informing the few most interested and most vociferous via formal or informal public meetings. Structured research reaches those who do not usually voluntarily participate. Experience to date does show that residents do like to participate. They like to feel part of the decision-making process. Furthermore, when people are more aware of the work of the authority they are generally more interested and motivated. They also tend to value the work of the authority more highly.

6.2 Having sought the views of residents, it is an easy job communicating the findings. However, we need to continue to seek improvements to the way the authority analyses results and acts upon them; both corporately and departmentally. Do we really sit down and challenge ourselves and ask what is this piece of research really saying to us? How do we incorporate the findings to lead to improvements in the service that we can deliver? How quickly can this be achieved? We have already used the results to inform our thinking when developing community strategies, our Public Service Agreement, setting spending priorities and informing best value reviews. Heightened awareness in the community of the fact that local authorities have a duty to consult will lead to expectations of change or at least an explanation of why a certain course of action is being pursued. The establishment of the Citizens' Panel will improve Hampshire's reporting of the outcomes of each exercise and what the resulting actions will be.

7 Best Value Reviews.

7.1 There remains room for improvement in the use of effective and robust consultation in the best value review process. Departments need to routinely seek advice corporately, and ensure that they use appropriate research methods to provide the depth of information and evidence required. Decisions on research options need to be taken as part of the scoping stage of the best value review and timetabled-in accordingly. It is essential that in order to get value from consultation that it is considered at this point, rather than later in the process.

7.2 Where advice on the type of consultation necessary has been intrinsic to the process of the best value review, it has had an important influence on deciding the final outcomes. Both in the Passenger Transport, the Network Improvement and Grants to the Voluntary Sector reviews, robust research has given a measure of current performance and improvements for the future. These reviews sought the views of the general public and particular organisations. Where a service has a range of internal customers, the consultation processes that are applied are as crucial to the review as direct public consultation. This must be borne in mind for future reviews, particularly if they are selected for a formal inspection. Poor consultation can affect a review quite dramatically as does inadequate challenging, comparing and reviewing competition. Best Value Inspectors are looking for a rigorous approach to each review.

8 Partnerships.

8.1 Hampshire County Council continues to meet quarterly with district partners, unitary authorities and Fire and Police to exchange information and findings on consultation work. There has been some progress in collaborating on some of the County's research projects. Fire and Rescue were eager to collude in the BVPI research undertaken in 2000. The police were contributors to some of the work the County commissioned amongst ethnic minority groups and young people. They have also worked with the County Council by including some community safety questions in the first Citizens' Panel questionnaire which was distributed to panel members in October this year.

8.2 Joint working with other district authorities has not been so successful. This is largely due to funding issues, and the fact that they already have their own mechanisms for consultation. However, the County Council and district partners will continue to share information about forthcoming projects in the hope of linking up in the future.

9 Community Planning.

9.1 Hampshire County Council will have a duty to consult with residents and business once the community strategy is written. This has been a joint exercise between the County Council and districts and will form a strong working relationship between the authorities. This initiative will inevitably ensure that local authorities work together in a more fruitful way.

10 Developing Research Skills.

10.1 Corporate Communications have run four individual day-long courses on research and consultation for Best Value. These have been undertaken by MORI. These courses have been open to anyone in the authority embarking on a review for the first time. The main message for people is to select the right research approach for the review to get the information that is most meaningful and relevant. The course contains theory and practical exercises. The evaluation following the courses has been good. The plan is to continue to run the course next year.

11 Research Contractors.

11.1 The Corporate Communications Team have developed an approved research contractor list in conjunction with the contracts department in Property, Business and Regulatory services. There were approximately 35 tenders sent to the County Council for consideration for inclusion on the list. All were credit checked and references sought. The approved list has 5 research companies who show a high level of competency in carrying out work for local authorities and who hold the necessary market research credentials. Most importantly the County Council has negotiated special rates for different pieces of work undertaken. The research agencies are listed below:

· MORI-Market and Opinion International

· Miller Associates

· MVA

· ORCI-Opinion Research Corporation International

· Andrew Irving Associates.

12 Work Planned 2002-2003

i) Residents' Survey.

12.1 By the Autumn of next year it will be 3 years since the residents' survey was undertaken in 1999. This exercise gave the authority its first key strategic messages from residents concerning service delivery, budget priorities, communications, how well informed residents feel about the County Council, and the overall image of the County Council. This exercise should be repeated again to track perceptions on a wide range of issues covered last time. It is proposed that a residents' survey 2002 is undertaken interviewing 1600 respondents across Hampshire in-home as in 1999. The question design should mirror that of 1999, but there will be additions and deletions where appropriate. The Citizens' panel will continue to be used as a relatively quick and inexpensive barometer of public feeling. However, as with all self-completion methods they do tend to attract those that just like filling in questionnaires. It is a valuable tool for building a relationship with a large number of people, but it would not be robust to use the panel for a residents' survey.

ii) BVPI's.

12.2 In the Autumn of 2003, the authority will be statutorily required to undertake the BVPI (Best Value Performance User Satisfaction Indicators) survey amongst the Hampshire population. Although the research is a basic test in assessing service satisfaction levels amongst residents, it is an important exercise upon which the authority will be judged on its performance by central government.

iii) Staff Survey.

12.3 It is proposed to undertake a second full census staff survey in 2002/3. It will have been 3 years since the last exercise was undertaken. Staff are crucial to the success of the organisation and in particular service delivery. It will be an opportunity to track attitudes towards the issues that arose last time and to the changes that have been made both corporately and departmentally.

iv) Staff Panel.

12.4 There have been a number of ad-hoc research exercises amongst members of staff since the Staff Survey of 2000. e.g. pay and benefits. There is also an increasing need to consult staff on a number of subjects, whether by department or across the authority. Following a paper that went to the Corporate Management Team in the summer, it is proposed that Hampshire establishes a staff panel during 2002. This will be a very innovative step to involving a cross section of staff on a range of issues. Few other authorities have such a mechanism for engaging staff. This will put Hampshire at the forefront of staff consultation nationally.

v) Business.

12.5 The research amongst the business community undertaken earlier this year, is the first piece of corporate research undertaken by the authority. There have been exercises undertaken by the Training and Skills Council which have been useful background knowledge for the authority. However, there is a need to seek and use business opinion for a range if topics relevant to the work of the County Council and national issues. It is, therefore, proposed that we establish a business panel. This will enable the authority to access a broad spectrum of businesses in the future. Of those asked in the recent business survey if they would mind being re-contacted in the future on a number of relevant topics 59% (295 businesses) were willing to participate.

vi) Budget.

12.6 Realising the importance of setting the council tax levy, the County Treasurer's department have undertaken consultation work prior to deciding on the rate of increase for the year. This will continue on a yearly basis. The findings from research has provided a guide to officers and members when deliberating the rate of increase for the financial year.

vii) Evaluating Publications and Promotional Material.

12.7 Hampshire County Council produces literature to promote services and inform the public on a wide variety of issues. With the introduction of County-wide publications such as `Hampshire Now' and the `Best Value Performance Plan', every effort must be made to ensure that the content and presentation is broadly in line with what residents would like to read about.

13 Costs.

13.1 The full costs for the projects outlined in paragraphs 12.1-12.7 will be met from the Corporate Communications consultation budget.

Recommendations.

1 That the corporate research undertaken to date be endorsed by Leader and Executive members.

2 That the findings are used by executive members when formulating policy decisions.

3 That the corporate research programme of work for 2002/3 be agreed.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers.

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB: the list excludes:

1. Published works.

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

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