in it together - creative collaboration · 2013. 1. 26. · in it together a proposal for an...

in it together

a proposal for an empowering approach to engaging

a discussion and consultation document prepared by a community engagement working group

June 2008

in it together a proposal for an empowering approach to engaging

1

Foreword Dudley Community Partnership is the Local Strategic Partnership for Dudley, bringing together people from the public sector, private sector and voluntary, community and faith sector. Dudley Community Partnership’s role is to extend and improve partnership working within the Borough whilst ensuring that communities are actively involved in determining service delivery. The partnership also has a responsibility to address inequalities that exist within the Borough. Dudley Community Partnership should help to ensure that services provided by the public sector and the voluntary sector are seamless for the service user, and continually improving. Who is this proposal for? This proposal is written consciously and purposely to inform a strategy for Dudley Community Partnership. It therefore is limited in scope to those activities which occur in Dudley on the authority of the Dudley Community Partnership. Content in this document may of course be applied more widely, but it should be clear that this proposal does not seek to replace the community engagement strategies of partner agencies, which will have a different, but complimentary, focus. in it together is a proposal which we hope will be used by the following people to develop seamless and continually improving services: Leaders of public service agencies and voluntary, community and faith organisations,

including Elected Members, Trustees, and Directors in paid and non-paid positions; Senior and middle managers in public service agencies and voluntary, community and

faith organisations who are active in Dudley Community Partnership, including community-based networks;

Front-line workers and volunteers active in Dudley Community Partnership, including in community-based networks;

Community Development Workers employed by, or volunteering for, public service agencies and voluntary, community and faith organisations.

The accompanying in it together A1 poster indicates the range of groups and community-based networks in the Dudley Community Partnership. To view the poster go to www.dosti.org.uk/downloads. What does this proposal say? By way of introduction, this proposal introduces the concepts around ‘community’ and ‘community engagement’ and explains why we need a partnership approach to engaging. Section 2 goes on to explore ideas around an empowering approach to engaging, and a practical tool which could be used to support this. Furthermore, diversity and difference are explored in Section 3. A vision and principles for an empowering approach are outlined in section 4, along with problems that we’ve identified (though there are some solid foundations to build on). Section 5 proposes a series of actions and highlights resource implications. Section 6 describes how progress could be monitored if the proposed approach was adopted.


2

Contents 1. Introduction

community community engagement why we need a partnership approach to engaging

2. An empowering approach to engaging dimensions of community empowerment a matrix for planning and reviewing engagement

3. Diversity and difference the lion and the crane

4. A partnership approach to engaging vision problems to overcome a good start (compact and community strategy) principles

5. From principles to practice actions resource implications

6. Checking progress reflection governance scrutiny

in it together: background briefings In order to keep this discussion document to a reasonable number of pages, a number of background briefings have been produced to provide more information about ideas presented in this proposal. They are all available at www.dosti.org.uk/downloads, or hard copies can be requested from Lorna Prescott at Dosti by calling 01384 265363. in it together: A1 poster (DCP structure and Dosti networks) 1. in it together: how this proposal was developed 2. in it together: definitions 3. in it together: our motivations for engaging 4. in it together: why we need to improve our approach to engaging 5. in it together: the benefits of engaging 6. in it together: actions 7. in it together: consultation on this proposal

Signposts: Within this document there are signposts to documents and information developed and published by other organisations which we think may be of interest to readers of this document. The signpost picture and pink text is used to signpost you to the documents, all are available at www.dosti.org.uk/downloads.


3

1. Introduction in it together is a proposal written by a working group on behalf of the Dudley Community Partnership. See background briefing no 1- in it together: how this proposal was developed to find out more about the Working Group. The Working Group are consulting the Dudley Community Partnership membership between June and September 2008 to establish whether people agree with the ideas presented in this document. The accompanying A1 poster indicates the range of partnerships and groups within the Dudley Community Partnership structure, and details community-based networks involved in the Dudley Community Partnership through Dosti. Go to www.dosti.org.uk/downloads to view the poster. This proposal is written consciously and purposely to inform a strategy for Dudley Community Partnership. It therefore is limited in scope to those activities which occur in Dudley on the authority of the Dudley Community Partnership. Content in this document may of course be applied more widely, but it should be clear that this proposal does not seek to replace the community engagement strategies of partner agencies, which will have a different, but complimentary, focus. We believe that the ideas presented in in it together are quite different to those in community engagement strategies produced in other localities. In order to make this document itself engaging we have written it in a conversational style and included cartoons to add humour. in it together is purposely different, for the following reasons: We have tried to present information to you in a friendly, understandable way; We have tried to use plain English wherever possible; We have presented the journey that a few people went on to develop this proposal. By way of an introduction, we attempt to explain in this section what we mean by community, what community engagement is, and why this work is needed.


4

Community How would you respond if we asked you to think about communities that you belong to, and why you belong to them? This is what members of our Working Group did, and our individual experiences of ‘community’ indicate that communities are not easily identifiable tangible entities waiting to be involved in partnerships and policy development. For the purposes of clarity, we will use the following definition in this document:

‘community’ is a group of people who consider that they have something in common

Communities therefore include groups of people with shared interests, or a shared identity. They can also be groups of people who relate to a place, perhaps because they work or live there. See background briefing no 2 - in it together: definitions for more thoughts about this. The members of Dudley Community Partnership are aware that there is a strong sense of place within communities in Dudley. This can sometimes be confused by the artificial boundaries drawn on maps which define political boundaries and service provider led programme boundaries (such as neighbourhood policing areas). Members of the Dudley Community Partnership are committed to working together to reduce this confusion, and respond as much as possible to places which are defined by the people who live there. As well as this the Dudley Community Partnership recognises and works with communities of interest and communities of identity, who bring additional perspectives. Community Engagement


5

Community engagement is a term used frequently by government to describe the involvement of local people, by public agencies, in the planning and shaping of services. It is jargon – an expression used by a group of people that is difficult for others to understand. One reason for its complexity is that community engagement is usually understood to embrace a range of activities, some of which are more familiar to some people than others. It also has an implied ‘top-down’ nature; that is, it doesn’t take into account the fact that communities may want to instigate and lead engagement themselves. There are some common misconceptions about what community engagement is, so we will address these before going on to describe community empowerment and an empowering approach to engaging. Community engagement is not just representation! ‘Community representation’ is a misused concept. Representation is essentially a means of overcoming the problem of decision making where large numbers prevent everyone from being involved. Most community groups, by their nature, are part of a participatory democratic system, not of a representative one, and do not claim the legitimacy of the ballot box. They only claim to represent their own members and users, and then only on specific issues with which the organisation is concerned.

The New Community Strategies – How to Involve People, Community Development Foundation, 2000

Within the Dudley Community Partnership, people who are involved through community-based networks are encouraged to undertake the following: Contribute to strategic decisions about services, reflecting the interests of and

drawing on the views of people from community and voluntary organisations; Promote the work of the voluntary, community and faith sector, ensure relevant

issues from are raised and that the voice of the sector, is heard; Feedback to the voluntary, community and faith sector, through networks.


6

Community engagement is not just consultation! There are 5 commonly recognised aspects of engaging. One aspect of engaging is not necessarily better than another, the aspect(s) of engaging to be used will depend on a number of factors, and should be carefully considered. The 5 aspects of engaging described by David Wilcox in his Guide to Effective Participation are: Information giving underpins all other aspects of engaging, and may be appropriate on its own in some circumstances. However, you are likely to hit problems if all you offer is information and people are expecting more involvement. Consultation is appropriate when you can offer people some choices on what you are going to do - but not the opportunity to develop their own ideas or participate in putting plans into action. Deciding together is a difficult aspect of engaging because it can mean giving people the power to choose without fully sharing the responsibility for carrying decisions through. It may be appropriate when it is important that other people ‘own' the solution, or when you need fresh ideas. Acting together may involve short-term collaboration or forming more permanent partnerships with other interests. Acting together may be used when one party cannot achieve what they want on their own, or the various interests involved all get some extra benefit from acting together. It is also used when there is commitment to the time and effort needed to develop a partnership. Supporting communities means supporting independent community-based groups to develop and carry out their own plans. It is an appropriate aspect of engaging when there is a commitment to empower individuals or groups within the community and when people are interested in starting and running an initiative.


7

Community engagement is not just instigated by pubic agencies! Communities themselves often seek to engage public agencies to address their issues of concern. This can be made difficult when it comes to partnerships of different agencies, because the meeting cycle and agenda is often determined by a public sector agency, and sometimes they have to respond to what the government tells them to do. Community concerns are sometimes only sought when a public agency or partnership is required to go out and find out about them, as opposed to a partnership being open to hearing them at any time. Why we need a partnership approach to engaging Anyone whose work relates to communities will probably be aware of the ever increasing legislation and guidance coming from the national government which requires communities to be engaged in local issues. But before we mention specific government initiatives, let’s look at engagement from another perspective. People involved in, or working for, community groups, faith groups and voluntary organisations in Dudley Borough are often keen to be engaged in activities led by public sector agencies or partnerships. Communicating, holding service providers to account and working together are some of the reasons they have given as their motivation for engaging, as these reasons cited illustrate: To find out what’s going on and what changes are due; To facilitate a flow of information, opinion and ideas between the people of Dudley

and those who run the borough on our behalf; To make sure providers are doing what service users expect them to be doing; To be in the right place at the right time if there is work to be done; To participate in the consultation and delivery of improvements; To ensure a quality of service or some other form of benefit to one or both sides. “It is imperative that my group engages with both the public and private sectors because we all come from grass root backgrounds, we live and are elected to represent the areas the government and councils want to improve. We need to participate in the consultation and delivery of improvements making sure it is what the community want not what somebody wants to impose on us to meet some government target”

Allan Miles, Chairperson, Dudley Federation of Tenants and Residents Associations And if that wasn’t enough reason for public sector agencies and partnerships to engage communities, here’s a flavour of how the government is encouraging or even requiring action. If you work for Dudley Council you may be aware of Strong and Prosperous Communities – The Local Government White Paper, which was published on 26 October 2006. A couple of ideas in it relevant to this discussion paper are: Empowerment through engagement - enabling citizens to help shape their own

communities. “Give citizens the means to participate in decision-making at every level in order to help solve issues which are important to them.”


8

“On citizen-centred services, we would strongly advocate the importance of user focus: looking at effectiveness from the viewpoint of the user rather than from the organisation that delivers the service.”

The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill followed in December 2006. A key theme within this legislation is local governance and empowerment. In particular, the bill introduces a new duty for local authorities to involve local people in local services and policies. The Sustainable Communities Act 2007 begins from the principle that local people know best what needs to be done to promote sustainability of their area, but sometimes need government to act to enable them to do so. (It is anticipated that the government will publish integrated guidance on all of the above.) If you work in Dudley Primary Care Trust you will know that Our NHS, Our Future demonstrates the Department of Health’s commitment to strengthening community engagement. West Midlands Police have responded to the idea of neighbourhood policing as an approach to engage with communities, and with the local authority and other partners are required to meet new legislation and guidance around community engagement and accountability contained in the Crime and Disorder Regulations 2007 and Delivering Safer Communities: A guide to effective partnership workin.g Many of those who work with children and young people are familiar with Every Child Matters and the related Children Act 2004 and their respective expectations for children and young people to participate in a range of activities which enable their experiences to be taken into account. We could go on, and many readers will have other examples to add to this list. But for the purposes of this discussion paper it is hopefully suffice to say that communities want to be engaged in partnerships with public sector agencies, public sector agencies in Dudley are keen to effectively engage communities, and in addition the government says the public sector has to engage communities. And the public sector and partnerships will be measured on community engagement under yet another new government arrangement – the Comprehensive Area Assessment. Any readers not so familiar with some of government legislation and guidance can find a bit more detail in background briefing no 3 - in it together: our motivations for engaging. So, there is a desire within Dudley’s communities to engage in partnership working, and drivers from national government requiring public sector agencies to improve their community engagement. In addition, Dudley Community Partnership is required to develop a strategy for community engagement in relation to its Next Generation Local Area Agreement. (Visit http://www.dudleylsp.org/local-area-agreements to find out more.)


9

2. An empowering approach to engaging Dimensions of Community Empowerment Community Empowerment is about how we work, and what happens as a result. Community Empowerment is the result of putting Community Development values and commitments into practice.

You can read about what Community Development is in a facsheet published by the Community Development Exchange, available from www.dosti.org.uk/downloads

There are five Dimensions of Community Empowerment described by ‘changes’ (www.changesuk.net). The five dimensions are: confident; inclusive; organised; cooperative; and influential. They are described in a little more detail in the diagram below.

You can read more about empowerment in a facsheet published by the Community Development Exchange, available from www.dosti.org.uk/downloads. Please note that this particular factsheet is written for public sector workers.


10

The working group proposes that the Dimensions of Community Empowerment are used to guide an empowering approach to engaging. Community-based networks in the Dudley Community Partnership have started working with the Dimensions of Community Empowerment through their work on influence, using Dosti’s Axis of Influence.

You can read more about the Axis of Influence in a document published by the Community Development Exchange, available from www.dosti.org.uk/downloads.

A matrix for planning and reviewing engagement A simple tool which the working group tried out which relates to the dimensions of community empowerment was a matrix with accompanying questions about activities to engage. The matrix prompts consideration around the aspects of engaging – indicating that there are different ways to approach each aspect, some of which are more empowering than others. Some key questions can be used to help to develop a more empowering approach.

1. Why is the engagement planned? What are the ‘drivers’ for the engagement? E.g. are you fulfilling a statutory consultation requirement, ticking boxes, or consulting about different alternatives or amendments to services?

2. What are the desired outcomes for the agency (your organisation)? 3. What are the desired outcomes for community? 4. Who will you engage with? 5. How will you engage with the community – what will you do?


11

The positioning of activities on the matrix is quite subjective, but by using the above questions, as well as toolkits, feedback and the experience and skills of those involved in Dudley Community Partnership, a consistency of positioning can be achieved. A matrix to encourage planning and review of empowering engagement

B

More empowering

Less empowering

A

Information Giving

Consultation Deciding together

Acting Together

Supporting Communities

By way of example, if you placed your Information Giving activity at position A in the matrix your recognise that it doesn’t make the recipient feel empowered, perhaps because the information has no allusion to local circumstance, has no pictures, or pictures which the intended recipient wouldn’t identify with; nothing in it makes the recipient feel a connection with what you are saying. Whereas if you placed your activity at position B in the matrix you feel that it will make the recipient feel more empowered. You have taken steps to ensure that the information is of relevance, recipients feel involved and identify with what you are telling them - they feel that you are speaking to them and are aware of them and their circumstances. You make effort to provide information at times and in ways which suit them. Of course, these are extremes and there are a range of approaches in between these two examples. The grey shaded area of the matrix indicates the position which Dudley Community Partnership should aim to hold for all its engagement activities. It should describe both the community outcome and the agency outcome – both should be more empowering. Working Group members who tried using the matrix and related questions to review engagement they had undertaken found it helpful and reflected that:

“I now realise that we could have started our engagement process earlier.” “I identified that agency outcomes for my agency are centred around legal

requirements.” “The matrix puts things in context. The different levels on the horizontal and the vertical

are helpful.” “It helps you to be clear. What do you want as a result of engaging?”


12

3. Diversity and difference The dimension of empowerment around inclusion helps us to think about diversity and difference. By way of a reminder, this dimension requires us to contribute to empowerment by working in ways that recognise that discrimination exists. We should promote equality of opportunity and good relations between groups and challenge inequality and exclusion. If we ignore this dimension of empowerment we risk some groups feeling isolated or excluded, or feeling that others gain favour at their expense. If we successfully address this dimension of empowerment we can promote greater understanding and awareness between different communities and groups. People are more likely to find common ground and understand the rationale for allocation of resources if inclusion is addressed. It also enables us to hear diverse voices. The lion and the crane - a way to think about inclusion A lion and a crane are both thirsty and need a drink. The crane needs a tall vessel to be able to drink the water through its long bill. However that doesn’t suit the lion, who needs a large flat vessel to drink from. So while you give both the same amount of water, you need to give it to them in different ways.

Engagement strategies often focus on communities, the public or the groups of people to be engaged. Instead, in it together attempts to address how the Dudley Community Partnership empowers staff to work with communities, which is about organisational culture and an awareness of what a decision making process looks like. In order to promote inclusion, people carrying out work within Dudley Community Partnership need to recognise power differences and have strategies for dealing with competing demands and working constructively with conflict. It isn’t possible to reconcile differences all the time, so engagement activities need to build in recognition that there will always be conflict.


13

4. A partnership approach to engaging

This proposal is written consciously and purposely to inform a strategy for Dudley Community Partnership. It therefore is limited in scope to those activities which occur in Dudley on the authority of the Dudley Community Partnership. Content in this document may of course be applied more widely, but it should be clear that this proposal does not seek to replace the community engagement strategies of partner agencies, which will have a different, but complimentary, focus. The working group recognises that community engagement can be instigated by both communities themselves, around their issues of concern, and by public service providers and partnerships in relation to public services and in response to local, regional and/or national drivers. The purpose of this proposal therefore is to describe an approach and practical activities which will promote a coherent and consistent means of engaging across the whole of the Dudley Community Partnership. Vision The vision of the working group in relation to community engagement is that:

By 2011 all members of Dudley Community Partnership take an approach to engaging communities in Dudley Borough which is empowering for all involved, and leads to real,

positive changes in people’s lives. This proposal focuses on process, as well as outcomes, because engaging people is an ongoing process. We are more interested in the ways that we develop an empowering approach to engaging than developing targets and measures for engaging. And despite an evidenced need for improvement (see background briefing no 4 - in it together: why we need to improve our approach to engaging), Dudley Community Partnership has already made a good start.


14

Problems to overcome So, what does community engagement across the Dudley Community Partnership feel like now? The short answer to this is: confusing and frustrating! Concerns relating to structures Members of the working group were shocked and concerned to see complexity of the detailed structure charts of Dudley Community Partnership’s Theme Partnerships. There are well over 50 different groups meeting across the Dudley Community Partnership structure (see the in it together A1 poster: Dudley Community Partnership Structure). The following are four major concerns which were discussed by the working group: The complexity in the structure of Dudley Community Partnership is a barrier to

engaging people effectively; Not just is it unworkable, but it carries risk. The structure itself is doing damage.

People feel isolated from it and resources are being wasted - for example the same individuals attending different meetings discussing similar things;

The structure has the potential to give the illusion of useful work when actually there is no improvement to services, and no further linking of services to make them seamless for the service user;

In addition to the complexity, a further barrier to engagement is presented by the Dudley Community Partnership organising itself around themes. Communities who have organised themselves around place do not fit at all into the structure, and struggle to find spaces to influence polices, strategies and plans which affect their area.

Concerns about engagement mechanisms which aren’t joined up The working group has identified three key engagement mechanisms used by different partners within the Dudley Community Partnership. Each is, in a different way, supported by the Dudley Community Partnership, but with no real attempt made to make them work effectively together. These are: Dosti, a network of networks, embracing around 800 local voluntary organisations,

community groups and faith groups through 20 networks. Dosti aims to build the capacity of member networks to collectively influence strategic decision making. Dosti are the recognised community, voluntary and faith sector partner in the Dudley Community Partnership.

Community Renewal, an approach to renewing neighbourhoods which takes forward the previous Neighbourhood Management approach and currently supports 7 Neighbourhood Partnerships. The Community Renewal Team facilitate links and relationships between Neighbourhood Partnerships, specialist task or theme groups, Area Committees and both Dudley Council and Dudley Community Partnership’s reporting and planning structures.

PACT (Partners and Community Together), a series of meetings held in all parts of the borough, responding to a geographical approach to policing. The purpose of the meetings is to enable community safety issues to be raised by the public and local groups and to be addressed by partners. It has been acknowledged that community views from these meetings are not considered by various Theme Partnerships within


15

the Dudley Community Partnership. West Midlands Police are leading on a review of the PACT meetings, with staff from the Community Renewal Team and Dosti. Responses to this discussion paper will also inform that review.

Concerns about the partnership engagement processes

Some perceptions collected by Dosti and shared with the Working Group demonstrate that people involved in community, voluntary and faith organisations often don’t have good experiences of being engaged. A few of their comments are provided below. More are included in background briefing no 4 - in it together: why we need to improve our approach to engaging. “There is confusion about how the Dudley Community Partnership does planning, how it

implements plans and how it communicates.”

“Officers talk in jargon, we don’t know what they are talking about.”

“Engagement has to have integrity and be genuine. If you want to engage me and then you don’t really listen to me then I won’t bother.”

“Sometimes I can make a difference, but I feel quite intimidated and have to get the

nerve to speak up.”

“Some people in the group have no idea who I am! I feel like a bolt on, because other members of the group work together and see each other between the meetings.”

“Where does the power really lie? Other people pull strings regardless of joint decisions.”

“We feel that officers pick and choose who to involve, they always go to the established organisations.”


16

A good start Despite the concerns shared above, the Working Group feels that the Dudley Community Partnership is fortunate to have public sector partners who are committed to and experienced in involving communities, and a voluntary, community and faith sector who themselves are committed to, and experienced in, involving communities. This proposal seeks to build on existing commitment and experience and make it even better. The Dudley Community Partnership has two existing strategies which provide firm foundations from which to develop an approach to engaging which is empowering and leads to positive change are the Local Compact and the Community Strategy 2005-2020. Local Compact The Local Compact States that local public sector agencies are committed to

supporting an independent and diverse voluntary and community sector, which strengthens the voice of users and local people in the delivery of services. It says that all parties should strive for integrity, accountability, openness and honesty in all their dealings. It also says that good communications and dialogue between the public sector and voluntary and community sector is essential, together with a clear consultation framework.

Acknowledges awareness among voluntary and community organisations that, if they are to achieve their aims, they must work closely with the public sector. It suggests that common aims and objectives are required, with the voluntary and community sector to be acknowledged as an equal partner.

Is clear that the two sectors recognise that they have distinct but complimentary roles in the development and delivery of public policy and services

Has associated Codes of Practice, including one on volunteering, and one on consultation.

Readers unfamiliar with the Local Compact should note that there is an agreement that consultation by the public sector will allow 12 weeks for a response to be made and explain why if a shorter period is given. In addition, the Compact Code of Practice on Consultation states:

To be effective, consultation needs to be part of a continuing process of dialogue between the parties involved. Consultation should always lead to a decision which is

shared with the participants even when this is a decision to do nothing. The ‘continuing process of dialogue’ referred to above is what this proposal’s approach to engaging is establishing a framework for. This proposal should therefore be considered as fundamental to the development of another Code of Practice associated with the Local Compact. Anyone reading this doucment should familiarise themselves with the Local Compact. The Local Compact can be viewed at http://www.dudleylsp.org/local-compact.


17

Community Strategy In considering an approach to engaging which is empowering and leads to positive change, it is also important to be familiar with the vision of the Dudley Community Partnership, as described in its Community Strategy 2005-2020– the Dudley Borough Challenge. The vision is for stronger communities throughout the Borough and is described as follows.

A strong community has many qualities. It exists where all people are happy and proud to live and where there is decent housing, a clean and safe environment and an area that is attractive, vibrant and harmonious. People in a strong community would not be disadvantaged by where they live, their culture or social background, their age, gender or how much money they earn.

From Community Strategy 2005-2020, Dudley Community Partnership (2005) An approach to engaging which is empowering and leads to positive change is essential if progress is to be made towards this vision for stronger communities. The Community Strategy can be viewed at http://www.dudleylsp.org/community-strategy/dudley-borough-challenge Principles It is proposed that members of the Dudley Community Partnership commit to an empowering approach to engaging - underpinned by existing shared principles and values. A pre-requisite which the working group identified is an improvement in the quality of relationships within partnerships, building relationships which are grounded in realism and honesty. Five underpinning principles for an empowering approach have been developed, each of these being actions consistently referred to through the life of the working group. 1. Promote a joining up of practitioners and engagement activities within the Dudley

Community Partnership and across partner agencies as far as is realistic and appropriate.

2. Consultation activities to be embedded as part of a longer term, wider process of engagement.

3. All engagement to be jointly planned, delivered and reviewed by all members of each partnership or group, including those reflecting the views and interests of communities.

4. Provide better feedback throughout engagement activity 5. Dudley Community Partnership to be open, supportive and accessible to communities

and for a larger number and more diverse reach of people to be engaged in its work. We hope that responding to these principles will bring about a range of benefits - as described in background briefing no 5 - in it together: the benefits of engaging


18

5. From principles to practice This proposal seeks to address the concerns described on pages 15 and 16 by encouraging Dudley Community Partnership members to discuss them and suggest changes which could help to remove some of the barriers to effective engagement. Dudley Community Partnership Board members in particular will be asked what could

be done to address the complexity of the Dudley Community Partnership structure, taking into account the views of the wider membership of the partnership, including those who aren’t involved directly in the array of partnerships and groups.

People involved in Dosti networks, Neighbourhood Partnerships and PACT meetings will be asked how they would like to see these arrangements joined up or improved.

Proposed actions responding to the principles for an empowering approach to engaging will be discussed and commented on. The actions, outcomes and ways of measuring progress are provided in detail in background briefing no 6 - in it together: actions.

1. Promote a joining up of practitioners and engagement activities within the Dudley Community Partnership and across partner agencies as far as is realistic and appropriate. Action 1a) Establish and support a Community Engagement Forum Members to include staff and volunteers undertaking community engagement activities in Dudley Borough. Many members would be people who undertake engagement activities instigated by, or likely to be considered by, the various boards and groups within the Dudley Community Partnership. Forum activities to include bringing people from different organisations together to get to know each other, learn together, reflect on their engagement activity, consider this proposal and associated action plans, and identify issues to pass to the Co-ordination Group (see below). The Forum would be a means through which an empowering approach to engaging could be considered, developed, tested and reviewed by those responsible for engagement. This Forum could be jointly convened and facilitated by staff from Dosti, the Community Renewal Team, Neighbourhood Policing and Dudley PCT on behalf of the Dudley Community Partnership. Action 1b) Establish and support a Community Engagement Co-ordination Group This group would identify engagement activities across the Dudley Community Partnership and in partner agencies and improve the links between them. It would also develop and lead delivery of an action plan for this proposal – to be published on the Dudley Community Partnership and Dosti websites. The action plan would utilise the existing communications, toolkits, processes and training programmes of partners and partnerships and develop more specific communications, toolkits, processes and training, as deemed appropriate.


19

2. Consultation activities to be embedded as part of a longer term, wider process of engagement. Action 2: Use the matrix (from page 12) and other agreed engagement planning tools Encourage and embed the use of the matrix and other engagement planning tools across the Dudley Community Partnership, through the people involved in the Community Engagement Forum and Community Engagement Co-ordination Group. Dudley Council is developing and trialling a community engagement database to assist the planning and reviewing of engagement, as well as to reduce duplication and maximise use of resources. An accompanying Community Engagement Toolkit is to be published by Dudley Council, taking into account the ideas in this document. Both could be utilised. 3. All engagement to be jointly planned, delivered and reviewed by all members of each partnership or group, including those reflecting the views and interests of communities. Action 3: Allow time for inclusive planning, delivery and review of engagement and pro-actively seek involvement from the communities to be engaged Members of the Community Engagement Forum could assist partnerships to this and to make links with members of the communities potentially being engaged. 4. Provide better feedback throughout engagement activity Action 4: Plan in feedback at the outset and utilise existing communication vehicles Partnerships should use planning tools to ensure that feedback is considered at the outset and that engagement is clearly linked to decision making and change. They should provide feedback through Dudley Together (quarterly newsletter to all Dudley residents), Dosti Connections (quarterly newsletter to over 1000 voluntary, community and faith groups), Dosti and Dudley Community Partnership e-news, websites and events, as appropriate.


20

5. Dudley Community Partnership to be open, supportive and accessible to communities and for a larger number and more diverse reach of people to be engaged in its work. Action 5a): Continue to support engagement though Dosti, Neighbourhood Partnerships and PACT meetings, but in a more coherent way This support involves partners providing resources for staff and direct costs necessary for: The hosting of meetings and events around issues of community interest; Financial support to community-based networks and partnerships to enable them to

communicate (via newsletters etc.) and come together; Tailored activities to assist community-based networks and partnerships to assess

their capacity to influence and increase their capacity to influence local partnerships, using the Axis of Influence;

Training sessions and support in community development, community engagement and facilitation skills to partnerships and community groups;

Piloting and developing a framework for public agencies and partnerships to explore how open they are to community influence in relation to their potential to respond to it (research for this involved 20 people from across Dudley Community Partnership);

Developing a system of symbols that Dudley Community Partnership can use to indicate the type of engagement being undertaken on event invitations etc.

Resource implications The costs to Dudley Community Partnership of implementing the proposed actions will be incurred in staff time (of those involved in partnerships undertaking community engagement), and in continuing to fund Dosti, Community Renewal and the PACT meetings, all of which have, to date, been funded by the DCP, Dudley MBC, and West Midlands Police respectively.


21

6. Checking progress Reflection Reflective practice is one of the values of community development work. To inform and enhance effective community engagement across the Dudley Community Partnership, those delivering community engagement activities should reflect on their actions. There are a number of ways that the Dudley Community Partnership can and does support this: Dosti already supports reflection among some voluntary, community and faith sector

representatives to Dudley Community Partnership, and will continue and develop this. The Community Engagement Forum will provide reflective activities for practitioners. In response to demand, training and support in reflection for those involved in

community engagement within the Dudley Community Partnership and partner agencies will be provided, for example through Community Engagement Forum members.

By way of example, one reflection activity could be to adapt the matrix described in Section 2 to become a post-engagement reflection tool. Other examples of things which could be included in reflective activities include: Reflection on your experiences during the engagement work – thoughts, feelings and

actions. Reflection on your awareness of diversity and inequalities. Reflection on the restraints, constraints and tensions in relation to the activity, and

how you dealt with them.


22

Governance Dudley Community Partnership Board The overall responsibility for developing empowering community engagement throughout the Dudley Community Partnership lies with its Board. Members of the Board are individuals with influential positions within their organisations and are expected to champion and support an empowering approach to engagement within their organisations work. This will require them to be empowering leaders, lead culture change and inspire and support others to be empowering in their work. Stronger Communities Steering Group The Stronger Communities Steering Group is a sub-group of the Dudley Community Partnership (visit www.dosti.org.uk/stronger for information about this group). This group will seek to ensure that an empowering approach to engaging is promoted and supported across the Dudley Community Partnership. They will lead on work within the Dudley Community Partnership around engagement, awareness of, and compliance with, the Local Compact, and wider activities to build stronger communities. They will be responsible for reporting to the Dudley Community Partnership Board on any issues arising as a result of community engagement planning, delivery and review, and for collating outcomes resulting from engagement activities. Community Engagement Co-ordination Group The proposed Community Engagement Co-ordination Group would collect information for the Stronger Communities Steering Group, and report on delivery of the implementation of a community engagement strategy. The Co-ordination Group would in turn be informed by a combination of: The proposed Community Engagement Network Dosti networks Theme Partnership members or groups leading on engagement activities The Co-ordination Group could highlight any tensions arising between the engagement activities of the Dudley Community Partnership and those of individual partner organisations. This group would report to the Stronger Communities Steering Group and interact with other groups working on plans to embed the Local Compact. Members should include those responsible for co-ordinating and/or leading community engagement on behalf of Dudley Community Partnership and/or its partners. A core group would lead on driving a community engagement strategy forward and other members could participate as and when they are planning or reviewing engagement. Bi-annual or annual reports on community engagement could be provided to the Dudley Community Partnership Board through the Stronger Communities Steering Group. The Board should respond to any issues arising and provide policy steers for engagement as necessary.


23

Key messages arising from reflection activities could be shared with the Community Engagement Co-ordination Group, to be included in reporting to the Stronger Communities Steering Group and Dudley Community Partnership Board. Where applicable, action should be taken within the partnership structure to address any issues identified through reflection. Scrutiny It is proposed that a completely separate Community Engagement Challenge Panel should be established, to meet once or twice a year. It should comprise of elected members, members of community groups and networks. It could involve peer scrutiny from volunteers outside Dudley Borough (who could be identified through the Regional Empowerment Partnership work). Members of the Challenge Panel would undertake an induction process in order for them to be familiar with and understand the Dudley Community Partnership’s community engagement strategy. When the Challenge Panel meets it will have received reports from the Community Engagement Co-ordination Group and members will bring their own experience, and views from other stakeholders, which they should elicit prior to meeting. It may decide to highlight empowering engagement practice through the making of awards or other recognition activities. The following diagram illustrates the relationship between governance and challenge groups.

Join the discussion! If you’d like to join a discussion on the ideas presented in this document, find out how by reading background briefing 7 - in it together: consultation on this proposal. You can view the background briefing at www.dosti.org.uk/downloads.

Challenge Panel

Stronger Communities Steering Group

Community Engagement Co-ordination Group

Community Engagement Forum

Dudley Community Partnership Board Dudley Community

Partnership Theme Partnership Boards

and Groups

Co-ordination Group to include officers who are part of, or who support, Theme Partnerships

Forum to include people who undertake engagement activities instigated by Theme Partnerships

in it together - creative collaboration · 2013. 1. 26. · in it together a proposal for an...

Documents