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Here’s the problem

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Planning, budgets and services are increasingly being localised

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We need strong participation and decision-making at that level

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That needs more participation in community action...

37%

63%Charities unable to fulfil their

goals due to lack of volunteers

Source: National Survey of Charities and Social Enterprises, 2010

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... and in the political system

0

20

40

60

80

1973 1976 1980 1982 1986 1988 1992 1995 1998 2000 2004 2008

English metsEnglish districtsFrench cantons

Local election turnout

Source: French elections: France-politique.fr; UK elections: LGC Elections Centre, Plymouth University. Only years where all three election types took place included. UK local elections held on same day as general elections excluded.

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Because those who do participate ...

Do nothing64.4%

Do all three1.2%

Civic & donation3.7%

Civic & volunteer3.6%

Volunteer2.1%Donate

4.5%

Civic assn20.5% Participation in civic action

2007-10

Source: Third Sector Research Centre, Working Paper 73

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... aren’t representative

Middle aged (40-64)

No qualifications

Degree

Actively religious

Routine occupations

Manager/professional

0 15 30 45 60

Most engaged Least engaged

Source: Third Sector Research Centre, Working Paper 73Monday, 30 April 12

People want to give more time ...

47%

18%

18%

18%

Do volunteer, can’t do moreDon’t volunteer, want toDo volunteer, want to do moreDon’t volunteer, not interested

Source: Third Sector Research Centre and Giving White Paper, HMG 2010Monday, 30 April 12

... and would make a big difference if they did.

Political party members

“Willing localists”

0m 1m 2m 3m 4m 5m 6m 7m

Source: “Willing Localists” - Hansard Audit of Democratic Engagement 2010; UK Voting Age Population: IDEA 2010; Political party members - House of Commons Membership of UK political parties Standard Note SN/SG/5125 2009.

‘“Willing localists” are citizens not actively involved in a wide range of community and socio-political activities but who seem the most willing to do so and are those most likely, realistically, to become so in the future.’ - Hansard Audit

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People aren't participating enough in

their communitiesText

But they don’t.

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If we can get participation right , it will have huge benefits for systemic reform

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Imagine...

... you’re bothered by young people making noise in your street, and you don’t complain. Instead, you talk to other residents, and start up a sports club for them, with your councillor co-ordinating local public services to help out.

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Imagine...

... you work for a health action project, and rather than spending money on leaflets and advertising you have free access to every civic network in your area, and a trusted place to reach thousands of active citizens.

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Imagine...

... you work for the council and have to take a tough decision, and your instant reaction is to throw open all the evidence and the context to councillors and people in the community and work with them to find a solution.

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That’s the vision.

What do we need to do?

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People want to make a difference on their own terms

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They don’t trust politics

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• Build more connection and self-reliance in communities

• Create flexible opportunities for civic action, better understood

• Grow everyday democratic participation

We Live Here aims

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This is what we’ve done

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Identified formal and informal civic activist networks in threecommunities (this is Hangleton)

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Connected them online (this is Brunswick)

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Talked to them about what they want next

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started to pass control of the network to the

participants...and planned ways to ensure control stays

with local people ...

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...not the Council

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• Don't assume small areas are small tasks

• Inclusive engagement takes longer and starts from farther back

• Social Media Surgeries are a huge hit

• We have to work with the council on changing service behaviour sooner than we thought

• People don't think about "democracy", they think about their needs

We have learned

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• Find the early win, and build reciprocal relationships in localities

• Better local/central communication in the team

• Put Social Media Surgeries at the front of the offer

• Clearer distinction between development thinking and project implementation, while staying agile

We have developed our approach

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• Work with a group in each area to develop ideas

• Continue to build connections and bring people online

• Co-design online tools for two-way conversation with public services

• Plan for democratic discussions

And now we're going to

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Meeting citizens’ needs

“A lot of positive has come out of this project. It’s all about what citizens need. There is an appetite in our community to move it on and take a broader look at ways groups communicate between themselves, and how we can make the communication with the council two-way conversation rather than one-way.”

- project participant

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Meeting service ambitions

“We want to work collaboratively across agencies and bring the council closer to the community. We see We Live Here building a system that uses traditional and new media to form the basis for new neighbourhood decision making. Our vision is of an involving public service of loose connections and networked organisations - We Live Here is an essential element of that.”

John Barradell, council chief executiveApril 2012

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Cost-effectively

Single service consultationSetup & run a We Live Here site location*

Citizens PanelBudget consultation

5% of average council comms budgetLarge-scale consultation

Consultation on infrastructure project

0 75 150 225 300

Source: Consultation budgets published by Derbyshire and Ellesmere Port & Neston councils; TPA research; CLG. * setup and first year of WLH at “Connecting” level.

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Building towards the vision even if the route is unclear

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• Our communities

• Our partners

• Council

• NHS

• Police

We have committed local partners

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• Core team

• Existing pilots

• Up to two new pilots

• Involvement in neighbourhood democracy plans

They will support us to take it forward

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• We have in-principle commitments to continue the programme

• Further Creative Councils investment would give us:

• Research and learning

• Support for service redesign

• Step up engagement and community capacity

Creative Councils

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“Until we rebuild, both from the bottom up and from the top down, our institutes of governance and democracy, we will not be able to stand up to the fundamental challenges that we are facing”

Manuel Castells

Because this is the mission

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