 
Camden's Citizens Panel
Method(s) Used
Name of person who posted the project:Ali Howes
Location of project:United Kingdom
Date when the project started:2004
Date when the project ended/project ongoing:
Background to project:CamdenTalks, Camden Council�s Citizens' Panel was established to help the council, the Police and local PCT gain a deeper understanding of resident�s priorities and perceptions and to track opinion over time.Purpose of project:CamdenTalks is a consultative panel of nearly 2000 residents. It aims to give local people a chance to have their say about life in the borough and about local public services. Together, the Camden NHS Primary Care Trust (PCT), the Metropolitan Police, and Camden Council set up the panel. The council now coordinates it.Project activities:The panel has approximately 2,000 members and was recruited in 2004 using a number of approaches, to reflect the need to attract a wide range of participants.For the main membership, random sample postal recruitment was conducted, supplemented by face to face recruitment of young people and residents from black and minority ethnic groups. Snowballing and networking was employed to recruit disabled residents. Since initial recruitment, the panel has been partially replenished to replace a third of its original members, in order to mitigate against attrition and panel exhaustion. In terms of panel activities, members are invited to take part in a rolling programme of research and consultation , which is based around two surveys a year. The surveys allow responses by post or online. Other activities include focus groups, workshops and deliberative forums on topics such as the council�s budget, planning issues and improving customer services. Panel members have also been involved in mystery shopping council services, user testing on-line services and had an important role in the consultation for the Council�s new community strategy. Project results:The results from the Citizens� Panel are regularly fed into decision-making, and a review of the panel that was published last year shows the there has not only been an impact on service delivery but on panel members themselves.The Panel has featured in the local and national media. Panel members are kept informed of the results of the surveys via the panel newsletter "CamTalks" and results often appear in the local media and are all available on the council website. Contact details:Ed WallaceTel. 020 7974 2704 Fax: 020 7974 6057 E-mail. ed.wallace@camden.gov.uk Post: Room 305, Chief Executives, London Borough of Camden, FREEPOST LON 20084, London, WC1H 9BR http://www.camdentalks.org/ 
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