Joint Community Involvement and Consultation Strategy

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Joint Community Involvement and Consultation Strategy

2010/13

1 What do we mean by Consultation and Engagement?

The word consultation has been used to describe a range of different activities. The following is an outline of 6 common understandings:

Consultation intended to influence outcomes – This is characterised by processes that provide maximum opportunities for participants to express their opinions and for these views to influence outcomes.

·  Thorough reporting/decision making – This is the most inclusive and empowering of participants. It results in action being taken as a direct result of the views expressed by the participants. Participants individually will have significant influence over the outcomes of the process. An example of this being community consultation to identify local neighbourhood policing priorities.

·  Thematic reporting/decision making – This also bases its work in the commentary of participants, however consultants are only committed to act on the dominant/majority themes of participant feedback. Participants have the power to influence the outcomes. Again consulting with local communities to identify local priorities is an example of this type of consultation.

·  Ideas gathering – In this type of consultation, the consultant is looking for themes or ideas for improvement. However, it remains with the discretion of the consultant to decide which ideas are acted upon. An example of this is staff focus groups and quality circles that are used to identify areas for improvement and suggest ideas to improve.

·  Concept testing – This approach is a means of seeking advance reactions to a proposed position or product. This market testing will determine whether the proposition is supported, modified, discarded or replaced. The consultant is likely to be affected by the responses and strong opinions. Again the consultant determines how much influence participants have. An example of this type of consultation used by the Authority and Constabulary is the annual public consultation to assess support for various precept levels in the budget setting process. Alternatively the building of a new police station in Carlisle.

Consultation not Intended to affect outcomes – This is characterised by processes that result in participants listening to the consultant.

·  Information provision/concept promotion – This process might be designed to explain a concept or change positively to key affected/interested groups. The process might be designed to make participants feel valued or included. It might be intended to sell a position, pre-empt future opposition or it might simply provide core information to the participants. An example of this is the Chief Officer road shows that have taken place across the constabulary to brief key stakeholders on the new strategic vision, objectives and principles.

·  Nominal Exercise (Legal or statutory requirement) – There are some situations in which consultation is a prescribed part of a legislative process. The aim is to inform participants in the legal process. Again it is the consultant who determines the process and outcomes.

2 Why do we want to consult and engage with our key stakeholders?

2.1 Strategic requirement to consult

The vision of the Constabulary and Police Authority is to build a safer and stronger Cumbria. The following shows the key strategic objectives of the Constabulary:

·  We will protect life by keeping people safe from harm.

·  We will prevent crime and antisocial behaviour, keep our roads safe and prevent terrorism.

·  We will prosecute by making sure that crimes are detected, criminals are caught and people are brought to justice.

·  We will deliver a professional service which is the best possible, community focused and responsive.

·  We will have pride in what we do and who we are.

Effective communication, consultation and engagement so that our communities, partners and staff feel informed about local policing and involved in improving quality of life within their own communities is absolutely critical to achieve this vision and objectives.

In addition, the Home Office has imposed one national target on the police service, to improve public confidence by increasing the percentage of people who agree that the police and local councils are dealing with antisocial behaviour and crime that matter in their area. Key to achieving this target is to understand what affects confidence and more importantly what actions need to be put in place in order to improve. It is therefore essential that we consult with our local communities to both increase our understanding and jointly work on initiatives aimed to improved confidence. Early evidence suggests that the greater the involvement and engagement in policing, the greater the confidence the public will have.

Effective involvement and consultation is also aligned to the government’s commitment to develop a service that focuses on the needs of the citizen by being more responsive, visible and reassuring. This is reflected in a number of key developments and publications:

·  Policing Pledge.

·  Citizen focus agenda.

·  Sir Ronnie Flanagan’s report to the Home Secretary on policing.

·  Louise Casey’s “Engaging Communities in Fighting Crime”.

·  Governments Green paper “From the Neighbourhood to the National: Policing Our Communities Together”.

·  LAA Stronger indicators e.g. influencing local decision making.

Cumbria Constabulary and Cumbria Police Authority are committed to working together to enhance the quality and extent of community engagement and consultation with the public and stakeholders. This document sets out the strategic aims and priorities for community engagement and consultation that the Constabulary and Authority will be working towards during the next three years.

2.2 Statutory requirements to consult

There are a number of statutory responsibilities on the Police Authority and Constabulary to consult the public. The following summarises the main duties to consult:

§  Equality Legislation states that it is our legal duty to consult and involve people across the six diversity strands. This is to consult, involve and engage with people from all six diversity strands which are covered by UK legislation which are age, disability, ethnicity, gender, religion or belief and sexual orientation. Cumbria Constabulary will also fulfill our duties under our Single Equality Scheme which promotes equality for all, widening performance improvement to include areas such as social-economic, educational attainment and social deprivation along with the six diversity strands.

·  The 1994 Police and Magistrates Courts Act states that the views of the public must be taken into consideration when formulating annual policing priorities.

·  The 1996 Police Act specifies that Police Authorities have to make arrangements to consult with the public about the policing of their area and periodically review these arrangements.

·  The 1998 Crime and Disorder Act requires Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (Community Safety partnerships in Wales) to involve the community in drawing up and implementing a strategy for reducing crime and disorder in their area. Clear links can also be drawn with the Community Strategy process being driven by local authority partners and the Constabulary and Authority’s contribution to this.

·  The provisions of the 2006 Police and Justice Act still require police authorities to secure ‘Best Value’ in all the functions delivered by the Constabulary and must consult with service providers and Council Tax payers as part of that duty.

·  In the 2008-11 National Community Safety Plan, one of the key strategic priorities for policing revolves around forces dealing with the problems that matter most to local communities and increasing trust and confidence in the police within those communities.

Cumbria Police Authority’s role on behalf of the public is stated in law as being to ensure an efficient and effective police service in Cumbria. Its 17 members are a mixture of county councillors elected to represent communities in Cumbria and independent members, selected from the general public in Cumbria. Authority members aim to act as ‘ambassadors’ for the public interest in policing, so it is vital they understand people’s views about policing and their experience of the service in Cumbria. It is also important that the Authority is held accountable to Government and the people of Cumbria for how we deliver a police service. More importantly, we must also do more to listen to what they want to tell us.

3 What is the strategy aiming to achieve?

Effective involvement and consultation will enable the Constabulary and Police Authority to achieve the following aims:

·  To improve public confidence and satisfaction by understanding the differing needs of the diverse communities and points of view within Cumbria and providing suitable services that are tailored to meet the needs of the community.

·  To meet our statutory obligations to consult with the public.

·  To gain understanding of the impact policing services are having in local communities and peoples experience of the police service so that we can continuously improve performance and quality of service.

·  To be open and accountable to the public by providing information to the public on our work and performance. Thereby ensuring that they are well informed.

·  To increase awareness and understanding of the work of the Police Authority and Constabulary and their different roles and responsibilities.

·  To give constabulary staff and officers the opportunity to use their expertise and experience to identify ideas and be thoroughly involved in the decision making process.

·  To build the constabulary’s capability and capacity by encouraging people to be actively involved in policing services.

·  To build and develop partnership relationships between the police, public, partnerships, private sector and the third sector.

·  To improve the quality of our decision making by taking into consideration the views of all our key stakeholders.

The overall aim of the strategy is to provide an overarching framework for effective consultation and community engagement activity throughout Cumbria Police Authority and the Constabulary.

The strategy is to use a wide range of approaches to public consultation and community engagement so that all key stakeholders have the opportunity to have a say. The strategy has been specifically developed to broaden accessibility and choice in community engagement and consultation processes.

The strategy aims to achieve the following:

·  Improve the planning and coordination of research and consultation between departments and key partners, in order to improve methodology, avoid duplication and provide value for money.

·  Ensure that all communities are supported, enabled and encouraged to participate effectively through the use of appropriate methods of research, consultation and involvement.

·  Ensure that this strategy, especially the good practice principles, are put into practice so that research and consultation is timely, effective, provides value for money and is meaningful for the people involved.

·  Ensure that consistent standards are applied across the constabulary so that research and consultation work is ‘quality assured’ and generates reliable data from the use of robust methods.

·  Ensure that the results of consultation and research are used to inform policy and decision-making and that appropriate feedback mechanisms are in place.

·  Ensure timely feedback is provided for the public following consultation, outlining how their views have been taken into account, what actions have been taken to address issues raised and how services are being improved.

·  Be a user focused’ organisation that consults, communicates and makes changes as a result of the views of communities and service users.

·  Improve services so they meet the needs of diverse communities and address any issues of inequality and exclusion.

·  Develop working relationships with voluntary and community sector partners to deliver local priorities and improve quality of life.

Who are our key stakeholders and what are they interested in?

There are a number of individuals and groups who are affected by policing activities and outcomes. These are known as our stakeholders. They include those managing and working for the Police Authority or Constabulary, those who are directly or indirectly contributing towards it strategic vision, or those affected by the outcomes.

It is important to note that whether stakeholders are individuals or groups, they are all human beings with feelings, perceptions, desires and influence. Some may be positive to the police and some may be negative. Also some may gain and benefit from a policing activity whereas others may lose or perceive the policing activity to be negative. It is therefore essential that consultation is managed effectively in order to achieve its aims.

Figure 1 shows the key stakeholders interested in either Police Authority or Constabulary activities or outcomes. These range from external customers, internal customers, various interest groups, partners and specific diverse communities including the six diversity strands which are age (younger and older people), disability, ethnicity, gender, religion or belief and sexual orientation who require greater consideration when engaging.

Figure 1 Cumbria Police Authority and Constabulary stakeholders

The following matrix summarises the stakeholders and their interests. Understanding their interests is critical to determining which method of engagement to use:

Key
Stakeholder / Interest area
Strategic
Direction / Financial / Operational
Activity / Customer
engagement / Public Safety / Performance / Job security / Working Conditions / Career / Equality
Users – Victims, witnesses / ● / ● / ● / ● / ● / ●
Citizens / ● / ● / ● / ● / ● / ● / ●
Suppliers / ● / ●
Staff / ● / ● / ● / ● / ● / ● / ● / ●
Staff associations / ● / ● / ● / ● / ● / ● / ● / ● / ●
Partners / ● / ● / ● / ● / ● / ● / ●
Politicians / ● / ● / ● / ● / ● / ● / ● / ●
Diverse groups / ● / ● / ● / ● / ● / ● / ● / ● / ●
Press and media / ● / ● / ● / ● / ● / ● / ●
Regulatory Bodies, e.g. the Police Authority, HMIC, Audit Commission / ● / ● / ● / ● / ● / ● / ● / ● / ● / ●

Figure 2 Cumbria Police Authority and Constabulary stakeholder map

4 What do we want to hear about?

There is a wide range of information that we need to obtain from our stakeholders to achieve our vision. This will vary depending upon the aim of each consultation. Whilst we welcome any views or issues raised by our stakeholders, the following are common themes that are consulted upon, which are aligned to our strategic objectives: