APPENDIX 29
Memorandum by North Norfolk District Council
I am pleased to submit to the above inquiry evidence
concerned with consulting citizens and enhancing participation
in local government.
I am writing on behalf of the Norfolk Citizens'
Panel Partnership Forum, constituted of a representative from
all Local Authorities in Norfolk, the Health and Police Authorities
and the Enterprise Partnership.
Together we have established a county-wide Citizens'
Panel for Norfolk of 7,000 residents. This is made up of panels
of 1,000 in each of the seven Districts. The districts are therefore
able to ask questions specific to their own area. We are also
able to get comparable "benchmarking" data by co-ordinating
questions on key issues or topics.
The County organisations receive the bigger
picture on county-wide issues or services from the entire panel.
We also have the opportunity to ask integrated questions about
issues or services which are delivered through both administrative
tiers, for example economic development or waste disposal.
The initial exercise is being run as a pilot
for 18 months to March 2001, during which time we will be conducting
four major surveys. We have employed the City of York Council
to run the pilot exercise for us, providing the required expertise
and support. It is hoped that, over the life of the pilot, the
Partner Organisations are able to develop the required "in-house"
capacity to fully manage and run the project ourselves.
Recruitment to the panel took place in October
1999. We undertook a postal recruitment with face to face interviews
to top up the hard to reach groups. The response rate across the
county was about 18 per cent. The first questionnaire to the panel
was mailed out at the end of November 1999 and the second was
conducted in August 2000 (with a county-wide response rate of
63 per cent).
I have enclosed a copy of our Terms of Reference[10],
which provides the detailed information about the panel, and the
roles and responsibilities of the partner organisations. Also
enclosed is a copy of the original report sent to the Consultation
Committee at North Norfolk District Council, which sets the scene
to the project.
Should you have any questions or require further
information, please contact myself at the address above, or Derry
Kelleher at Norfolk County Council.
Ian Burbidge
Research Office, North Norfolk District
Council
10 Not printed. Back
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