Through Participation Partners - a new pilot programme - policy teams across central government will have access to free expert advice and support on public participation. Participation Partners is funded by the Democratic Engagement Branch of the Ministry of Justice and is delivered by participation experts, Involve.

The programme provides tailored support for those who find themselves managing an engagement exercise for what might be the first time in their career, and helps make sense of existing tools and guides on engagement. Participation Partners will guide officials through the process of bringing a team together, designing, planning, running and then - very importantly evaluating the exercise.
Participation Partners offers:

• Help to decide what skills and disciplines should be brought together to form the engagement team.
• Sessions with public engagement practitioners to talk through the planning, design, delivery and evaluation of an engagement exercise in detail
• Identification and explanation of available tools and other resources for managing a public engagement exercise
• Support to use selected tools
• Ongoing access to practitioners for advice

Interested civil servants in central government should get in touch with Jacky Moran at the Ministry of Justice.