4 Engagement and innovation
58. Our core task this Parliament has been to consider
political and constitutional reform, and we have pursued this
through many different avenues. These have included the many traditional
tools at a Committee's disposal, including taking oral and written
evidence, publishing reports and holding debates in the House.
We have also undertaken several more innovative practices, including
hosting online consultations, holding seminars and conferences,
recruiting a staff member as a Campaign Co-ordinator and meeting
informally with members of the public. All of these activities
have better enabled us to consider matters of political and constitutional
reform, to scrutinise the Government's work in this area, and
to inform wider debate.
59. Our work on a written constitution and on voter
engagement in the UK, in particular, has involved substantial
public consultation, including informal meetings with members
of the public, hosting online surveys, engaging debate on social
media and inviting more traditional written contributions to our
work. Our work on voter engagement benefited substantially from
the many discussions with members of the public we held at a meeting
in Sheffield organised by Parliamentary Outreach and the University
of Sheffield, where we explored the reasons why people do not
vote. Throughout our voter engagement inquiry we made a particular
effort to hear from witnesses other than the "usual suspects",
in line with the recommendation on public engagement made by the
Liaison Committee; we heard from a range of campaign groups including
Bite the Ballot, Operation Black Vote, Mencap and 38 Degrees,
and took evidence from a number of local organisations when we
visited the University of Sheffield. Live Twitter chats have enabled
the Chair to engage with the public more directly, and Twitter
and Facebook channels have enabled the promotion of the Committee's
work to the public in a more accessible way.
60. The response we received to our consultations
on a written constitution and voter engagement—with over
19,000 people giving their views in the form of written evidence,
comments on social media and survey responses—demonstrates
that there is an appetite for public discussion on political and
constitutional issues. We nevertheless continue to welcome the
contribution from the many experts in the field of political and
constitutional reform with whom we have developed relationships
over the course of this Parliament.
61. We have been particularly proactive at involving
the wider public and organisations other than the "usual
suspects" with our work. This has been beneficial both to
our scrutiny of the Government's programme of political and constitutional
reform, but has also helped to achieve the broader goal of better
engaging the public with Parliament and issues of constitutional
significance.
62. We consider that there is greater scope for
select committees to consult the public on matters which directly
affect them, such as voter engagement and the health of our democracy.
For some inquiries, seeking the views of the public through non-traditional
means, such as surveys and online discussions, may ensure that
a greater and more representative range of views is taken into
account when a committee formulates its recommendations to Government.
We hope that the new ways of working we have taken forward with
a view to increasing engagement will facilitate those committees
which wish to make similar efforts in the next Parliament.
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