Memorandum by the Audit Commission (LGC
23)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. Recent legislation and improvements in
practice mean that local authorities now consult more and more
effectively. Consultation is a key element of community engagement,
and enables local authorities to learn more about their communities
and their needs, as well as to gain important information about
services and customer satisfaction. Good consultation can help
local authorities to be more efficient.
2. The Audit Commission has published studies
which look at how well local authorities are consulting. A management
paper in 1999 gave guidance when best value, including the obligation
to consult when reviewing services, was introduced. In 2002 we
published case studies of good practice, and examples of learning
from them, which identified key principles of effective consultation.
These extend beyond the mechanics of how local authorities consult,
to encompass commitment and culture; on-going citizen engagement;
and the importance of real results and feedback.
3. We have also drawn together learning
from inspection and comprehensive performance assessment (CPA)
reports; and from piloting new methodology for CPA in 2005, which
places greater emphasis on community engagement and consultation.
There are clear examples where consultation has led to improved
services and outcomes. However, there are also problem areas where
authorities are failing to consult with sections of their communities;
failing to provide feedback; or failing to translate consultation
into action.
4. Robust and effective consultation, as
a part of citizen engagement and outreach to diverse communities,
is an important element of improving both decision-making and
service quality. Local authorities can only be truly effective
if they know their communities, and are willing and equipped to
engage with them in a meaningful way. Although the picture is
still mixed in practice, we are confident that a greater emphasis
on user focus and diversity in CPA in 2005 will lead to greater
efforts by local authorities in this area; which will in turn
lead to improved performance and service quality.
INTRODUCTION
5. The Audit Commission's submission to
this inquiry is based on its knowledge of the public consultation
undertaken by local authorities, gained through specific studies
and guidance on consultation; comprehensive performance assessment
(CPA) of all single tier, county and district councils in England;
and inspection of local authorities under best value legislation,
principally the Local Government Act 1999, which requires local
authorities to consult when conducting best value reviews.
BACKGROUND
6. Local authorities are experienced in
consulting. In reviewing progress on public consultation, the
House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee, in its
2001 report Innovations in citizen participation in government
(paragraph 75), commented that "the period since the
middle 1990s has seen an explosion of interest in involving the
public more frequently, more extensively and in much more diverse
ways in the conduct of decision-making within the public services
. . . Much of the progress in public participation methods has
come and will continue to come at the local level".
7. Legislation places a number of different
requirements upon local authorities to consult. These include
broad duties such as those in the Local Government Act 2000, under
which local authorities must "consult and seek the participation
of such persons as they consider appropriate" in developing
strategies to promote the social, economic or environmental well-being
of a local area.
8. Some duties to consult are much more
closely prescribed, for example, the duty to consult tenants and
leaseholders if a local authority spends more than £1,000
per block or £50 per flat on improvement work to a building.
9. The Greater London Authority's powers,
as exercised by the Mayor of London and defined by the GLA Act
1999, are "only exercisable after consultation with such
bodies or persons as the Authority may consider appropriate".
The GLA is obliged to consult with London boroughs and representative
organisations, including those representing ethnic and religious
groups.
10. The review and inspection regime set
up under best value (Local Government Act 1999) identified "consult"
as one of the "four Cs" required to deliver an effective
best value review[34].
Local authorities were therefore required to consult on each of
their services at least once every five years, and on their overall
policies and priorities more frequently. The requirement to review
services every five years was repealed in 2002. This means that
there is now no guarantee that services will be regularly reviewed
and inspected, or that citizens will be guaranteed an opportunity
to comment; although guidance from the Office of the Deputy Prime
Minister states that local authorities are now able to focus reviews.
11. It is intended that reporting the outcomes
of CPA will give more information to local people about what their
local authority is doing. When judging how a local authority is
meeting service users' needs, corporate assessment will take into
account the council's use of consultation. Also performance indicators
of resident and user satisfaction derived from surveys will measure
how satisfied people are with services. However, we recognise
that, in the future, assessment will rely more on performance
data supplied by the local authority and less on consultation
evidence via review and inspection.
12. Other aspects of the legal framework
in which local authorities operate may indirectly place an emphasis
on the importance of public consultation. For example, citizen
engagement and user focus, including the development of appropriate
consultation, will help local authorities comply with the European
Human Rights Convention, which the UK signed up to in 1998.
CONSULTATION IN
CONTEXT
13. We have found that consultation is one
of many important aspects that make up community engagement. The
improvement network website (see paragraph 28 below) draws on
audit and inspection reports in this area to outline a matrix
of related activities which increase community engagement. These
comprise information; communication; consultation; involvement
and participation; and empowerment.
14. Similarly, the drivers and audiences
for consultation will vary, as well as the methods. Local authorities
will take a different approach when consulting users about a directly
provided service, as compared to the consultation they may undertake
when brokering consultation on a local regeneration development
with, or on behalf of, another organisation. In consultation about
services, it is important to distinguish between service users
and citizens who do not, or cannot, use the service. Good practice
would take both of these into account. Also, local authorities
need to be wary of treating consultation with representatives
and stakeholders as being the same as consultation directly with
users.
15. Local authorities' use of consultation
is likely to generate greater benefits than simple feedback on
the issue consulted about. In the Commission's 2003 report on
user focus and citizen engagement, CPA work with local authorities
identified that user focus "is not just a regulatory obligation.
It is also part of good management and providing high quality
services. Consulting and involving service users, and finding
out what the general public want from their local services, can
help councils to carry out their work more efficiently and effectively."[35]
16. Consultation is also important for local
authorities to understand the composition of their community and
the needs and aspirations of sections of it. In our report in
2002 on learning from audit, inspection and research briefing,
we found that "communication with users is essential to inform
them about equality and diversity initiatives and to build community
relations".36 Consultation may itself serve to build community
cohesion, especially where it is undertaken with groups who are
not normally consulted, or whose views are hard to hear, such
as young [36]people.
17. Robust methodologies; continuing citizen
engagement; and good practice in consultation are also important
to ensure that a local authority is acting accountably in circumstances
where it may need to override the results of local consultation
in order to meet wider or strategic needs.
LESSONS FROM
STUDY WORK
UNDERTAKEN BY
THE AUDIT
COMMISSION
18. In 1999 we published Listen up!,
a management paper to help local authority officers and members
plan, carry out and use public consultation more effectively.
The research underpinning the paper found a mixed picture. Local
authorities were not achieving these things consistently. The
research found that:
— local authorities did not use consultation
appropriately;
— consultation was of inconsistent
quality; and
— it was not always evaluated effectively.
19. Listen up! also found evidence
of innovative good practice by local authorities, some of which
are written up as case studies. These demonstrated:
— strong links between consultation
and decision-making;
— a strategic approach to consultation;
— that high standards were applied;
— that all sections of the community
were involved;
— there was clear reporting to members;
and
20. Listen Up! found that many local authorities
needed to strengthen their consultation programmes in order to
meet the requirements of the Local Government Act 1999. Also,
some would need to overcome internal barriers to effective consultation,
such as the "worry that consultation will raise public expectations
to levels that cannot possibly be met"[37].
21. Local authorities should not under-estimate
the importance of feedback, such as reporting results and findings
to consultees, and the evaluation of both outcomes and processes.
"Evaluation should be a fundamental part of consultation
design."[38]
22. In 2002 we published a public sector
management paper, Connecting with users and citizens. This gave
practical information and contacts of particular use to service
providers at an operational level. This study identified four
key challenges relating to consultation:
— getting people interested;
— involving the right people;
— making use of technology; and
It also gave case study examples where public
and voluntary sector agencies, including local authorities, have
successfully addressed these.
23. Connecting with users and citizens identified
difficult areas under each of these headings, such as a lack of
long-term responsibility and meaningful involvement; of feedback
on outcomes; and the reluctance of local authorities to hand over
control and ownership of the consultation process.
24. Case studies demonstrated that local
authorities, acting innovatively and flexibly, could address these
problem areas with considerable success. Wiltshire and Swindon
Users Network took the lead on a best value review of direct payments
on behalf of Wiltshire County Council, including user-controlled
survey work as part of the consultation. Wiltshire social services
has subsequently delivered 90% of the recommendations, including
some tangible outcomes as a direct result of the consultation,
such as:
— the ending of late payments;
— allowing those in receipt of direct
payments to buy equipment; and
— doubling the number of people on
direct payments.
25. Torfaen Borough Council undertook a
large scale vision exercise involving over 400 people. The council
used detailed information from this exercise in its strategies
and improvement plans; and a number of improved youth services
were agreed, including improved leisure premises.
26. Learning from the case studies, our
report in 2002, Connecting with users and citizens, identified
some key principles of effective consultation, including:
— commitment and culture: prioritising
users must be part of organisational culture. We found that "consultation
that arises from a statutory requirement or management directive
will often fail to deliver the goods;"[39]
— support and structure: leadership
and collaboration between organisations is important, as is the
need for a strategic approach to long and short term consultation.
New technology can allow quieter voices to be heard;
— handing over control: "consultation
and involvement should be led by service users"[40];
— learning from experience: previous
good practice and regular evaluation should be built in; and
— real results: consultation needs
to be timely in order to influence decision-making, and the results
need to be visible and communicated well to those taking part.
27. Connecting with users and citizens
also reports on the Commission's own consultation with service
providers and voluntary organisations, which gained a range of
views on good practice and factors for success and lack of success
in consultation. Commitment, resourcing and feedback are key factors
for success.
28. We have recently collaborated with the
Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA), the Chartered Institute
of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), and the Employers'
Organisation to develop the improvement network website, a tool
to help local authority managers plan how to improve their services.
It provides practical problem-solving tools; real-life examples
of services that have been improved; and signposts to useful advice
and data.
29. Customer focus and community engagement
is one of the top five improvement themes. The content is evidenced
from our studies and from local work carried out in audited and
inspected bodies; and through the improvement work of our partner
organisations. It includes definitions; hot topics; tips; good
practice examples; links to documents and other resources, such
as IDeA Knowledge's Connecting with Communities web tool[41];
and best practice case studies, such as that of Exeter City Council[42].
During the first six weeks following the launch, the community
focus and engagement pages of the improvement network received
8,399 hits, 18% of the total.
LESSONS FROM
ASSESSMENT AND
INSPECTION WORK
UNDERTAKEN BY
THE AUDIT
COMMISSION
30. Since the introduction of best value,
we have published 2,831 inspection reports. Best value legislation
requires local authorities to consult with the public in reviewing
their services. Each of these reports, therefore, provides some
insight into the success of individual services and local authorities
in their efforts to consult about services. Some local authorities
have set out a comprehensive and thorough specification for consultation
in the best value reviews.
31. Some inspections have focused directly
on relevant cross-cutting issues; and have been able to identify
good practice. For example, an inspection of community engagement
by Salford City Council found examples of the benefits in improved
services that some types of engagement can bring, including:
— more informed and strategic area
plans;
— improved satisfaction with street
cleansing; and
32. In 2002 we published a briefing on equality
and diversity which summarised learning from audit, inspection
and research to date. This paper shows that consulting with actual
and potential users is a critical success factor in improving
equality and diversity in line with local authorities' legal duties
to promote racial equality. It found evidence that members of
black and minority ethnic communities are more than one and a
half times more likely to be dissatisfied with their local authority
than white citizens.[43]
33. Since it was introduced in 2002, CPA
has taken a more comprehensive view of local authorities' performance
and their capacity to improve. Through key lines of enquiry, under
the headings of ambition and prioritisation, we have been able
to assess their approach to consultation and other aspects of
community engagement, and how this reflects on their corporate
performance.
34. In 2003, we published a briefing document
summarising learning from CPA about user focus and citizen engagement.[44]
In CPA reports for single-tier and county councils, 52 out of
150 local authorities had consultation arrangements which were
poor or in need of review, and in 30, consultation had produced
no action.
35. The briefing identified five key factors
as critical to successful citizen engagement, with consultation
being a key factor in each:
— commitment to user focus and citizen
engagement;
— understanding your communities;
— communicating in appropriate ways;
and
— delivering change and improved outcomes.
36. The briefing goes on to give case studies
addressing each of these factors; for example, Rutland Council
has set up a website that provides an interaction point so that
communities can share information as well as contact the council.
37. Following CPA of district councils during
2003 and 2004, we have developed an Improvement in District Councils
web tool, a searchable database of the judgements included in
the published reports on district council CPA. As well as identifying
strengths and weaknesses, the tool allows a search for specific
examples of good practice in a given area, or breakthroughs. The
tool reveals 31 breakthroughs relating to consultation by district
councils, including, for example, Wealden Council where a direct
approach to interviewing people at home produced valuable input
into the community strategy.
38. Also during 2004, we have been piloting
the methodology for CPA of single tier and county councils for
2005 and beyond. The detailed methodology is still subject to
consultation. However, the pilot methodology placed a greater
emphasis on the role of the local authority as a community leader,
and the importance therefore of community engagement. In addition,
five out of the nine pilots were assessed under a specific extra
module looking at user focus and diversity.
39. As pilots, the detailed reports from
these assessments remain confidential. However, the inspectors
identified a number of examples where good practice in consultation
has led to service improvements, such as:
— improvements to cleaning services
evidenced by improved best value performance indicators and satisfaction
survey results;
— a change in policy on closing cash
payment offices; and
— including over-75 health checks in
regular day care activities.
40. In addition, the inspectors identified
good practice in policies and procedures, such as:
— the use of "statements of required
practice", which are internal procedure documents requiring
managers to demonstrate how their plans take account of consultation;
— a requirement that officer reports
to the local authority show how consultation has been undertaken
and taken account of, given that members have rejected reports
where this has been inadequate; and
— specific consultation on crime issues
with "hard to hear" groups.
41. The pilots also identified problem areas
familiar to us from our previous studies:
— some local authorities may be out
of touch with sections of their communities because of a failure
to consult with "hard to hear" groups, including black
and minority ethnic communities; and
— inadequate feedback, or a failure
to translate consultation into action, can lead to the local authority
losing touch again with sections of the community.
CONCLUSION
42. Robust and effective consultation, as
a part of engagement with all communities, is an important element
in improving both decision-making and service quality. Local authorities
can only be truly effective if they know their communities, and
are willing and equipped to engage with them in a meaningful way.
43. Although the picture is still mixed
in practice, we are confident that a greater emphasis on user
focus and diversity in CPA in 2005 will lead to greater efforts
by local authorities in this area; which will in turn lead to
improved performance and service quality.
34 The other three were challenge, compare and compete. Back
35
Audit Commission (2003): Learning from CPA briefing 4: user focus
and citizen engagement paragraph 4. Back
36
Audit Commission (2002): Learning from audit, inspection and research
briefing: equality and diversity paragraph 18. Back
37
Audit Commission (1999): Listen up! -effective community
consultation; briefing (paragraph 7). Back
38
ibid; paragraph 26. Back
39
Audit Commission (2002); "Connecting with users and citizens";
management paper (paragraph 25). Back
40
ibid; paragraph 33. Back
41
www.idea.gov.uk/communications/ Back
42
www.immprovementnetwork.gov.uk/imp/aio/1000161 Back
43
Audit Commission (2002); Equality and Diversity, Learning from
audit, inspection and research briefing. Back
44
Audit Commission (2003); User Focus and Citizen Engagement, Learning
from CPA briefing 4.
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