Nottingham City Council

consultation
toolkit
Consultation toolkit
June 2006
Introduction
Foreword
Introduction
- How to use this Toolkit
- How it will be updated
Why carry out research and consultation
What to consult about - What do we ask?

Section one: Laying the foundations

Consultation Quality Guidelines

Consultation Key Questions

1: What are your key objectives?

2: What level of engagement is required?
3: With whom do you want to engage?
4: What consultation is being done elsewhere?

Section two: Planning your consultation

& making it work
Developing the Project Plan: Key Questions

1: What is the most suitable method for engagement?

2: What resources are available (time & money)?
3: What type of information do you require?
4: How do you ensure a representative sample?
5: How do you design a questionnaire to meet your needs?
6: How can you enable everyone to participate?
7: What training & skills are available/will be required?
8: How does the target audience want to be engaged?
9: Who is going to implement the consultation exercise?
10: How are you going to encourage people to engage with you?
11: How are you going to help people to make informed choices?
12: How are you going to analyse the data?
13: How are you going to evaluate your consultation?
14: What is the effect of your consultation?
15: How are you going to act on the findings and give feedback?
16: What information should you publish?
Section three: Consultation methods
Quick Method Selector

Consultation Method Commentaries

Section four: Engaging with groups

we find hard to reach groups
Defining hard to reach groups

Groups that historically we find hard to reach

Typical characteristics of groups we find hard to reach

Accessing groups we find hard to reach

Enabling groups we find hard to reach to participate

Understanding your audience

How to get people involved

Section five: Translating outcomes

into policy
Analysing and interpreting your findings

Reporting on your results

Appendices
1: Contacts for further advice or guidance

2: Consultation Checklist - Consultation Quick Planning Guide

3: Pre-Consultation Planning Form

4: Post-Consultation Evaluation Form

5: Nottingham Language Solutions Guideline Rates

6: Research consultants used previously by Nottingham City Council

7: Consultation Strategy Group - Departmental Representatives

8: Bibliography

9: Glossary of Terms

10: Nottingham City Council Consultation Framework 2006 -2009

Foreword
Consultation is an integral part of local government, particularly
reinforced by programmes such as Best Value, Social Inclusion,
Community Planning and Community Safety. The councils'
emphasis on neighbourhoods and the increasing importance
placed by the Audit Commission on consultation reinforces the
need for councils to use consultation as an integral part in
designing, delivering services and measuring satisfaction.

This Toolkit is a companion document to the councils' Consultation Framework document, which
sets out the councils' commitment to consultation and the basic principles of good consultation.
The council expects that any consultation carried out is used to:

• Engage and gain the views of relevant communities;

• Plan what needs to be achieved;

• Establish how far the services meet their objectives from the customers' perspectives;

• Enable changes to services in line with customer feedback;

• Determine how visible changes can be tracked as a result of consultation;

• Provide feedback on the results and actions arising from consultation.

The toolkit provides a number of options for undertaking consultation and should be used as a
starting point, to ensure that the approach adopted is appropriate for the particular consultation.

The effective use of the toolkit should result in better engagement with our communities,
improvements in services for customers and an enhanced image for the council as a provider of
high quality services through listening and responding to customers' needs.

On behalf of the Consultation Strategy Group

June 2006
Introduction
Effective research and consultation with people
living and working in the Nottingham is fundamental
in the decision-making process of the Nottingham
City Council. People's views and observations can
help shape and improve our service delivery.
Consultation is an essential part of giving local
people and service users an opportunity to inform
local government about services, which should
meet their needs. Listening to and acting on the
outcomes of effective consultation enables the
Council to become more responsive to the needs
and priorities expressed by local people as citizens
and service users. To be effective we need to work
in collaboration with colleagues across the Council
and in partner organisations.
On April 25th 2006 the Council's Executive Board
approved a Consultation Framework 2006 - 2009
(see Appendix 10) for the authority. This robust
framework shows the Council the way forward in
raising the quality and effectiveness of its
consultation, and establishes common consultation
standards. This toolkit has been specifically designed
to help the implementation of the framework.
This Guide has been written as a practical guide for
officers of the Council who organise or run
consultation initiatives. They may, increasingly, be
doing this within their own departments, or in
collaboration with colleagues in other departments,
or in partner organisations.
If you have organised consultation events in the
past, the list of key questions and techniques in the
Guide may encourage you to pause for thought and
to try some new approaches. If you are managing
your first consultation, then the Guide will lead you
through the questions that must be addressed to
ensure success. The Guide encourages staff to
regard consultation as an ongoing process rather
than a one-off exercise. It also stresses the need for
those who are organising consultation to recognise
and value the ideas and knowledge that everyone
involved can contribute to the process.
The new proposals for Comprehensive Performance
Assessments (CPA) from 2005 attach far greater
importance to the way in which councils' ensure
that the diverse needs of communities are reflected
in the way that services are designed, delivered with
and for local people. Under new proposals for CPA,
the methodology is being strengthened to test more
fully how well councils understand their local
communities and provide community leadership,
and how this understanding of local people and
places translates into the councils' ambitions and
priorities and what, in practice, councils are
achieving in terms of outcomes for local people.
Furthermore, there will be a specific judgment on
the quality and impact of the councils' efforts to
promote user focus and diversity.
User focus, diversity and human rights will be
integral parts of the new corporate assessment.
These judgements will influence each theme score
and therefore make a significant contribution to the
overall assessment score. This reflects the
importance that is attached to ensuring that the
diverse needs of communities are reflected in the
way that services are designed and delivered with
and for local people.
How to use the toolkit
The aim of a consultation toolkit is to provide a
useful guide to undertaking consultation. It is not
definitive, but is intended to help you plan and
design appropriate consultation before embarking
on what can be long and potentially expensive
exercises. The appropriate sections may be used to
checklist the stages of the planning and
implementation process, according to the needs of
individual consultation exercises. This toolkit
supports the advice already available in the
Councils' "Making Information and Services More
Accessible" pack which is available from
http://intra.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/corporate/equalities
/mia.asp or the Councils' Action on Diversity Team
How will it be updated
The first edition of the toolkit will be produced in
hard copy format enclosed in a slide bind folder that
will not be stapled. This will allow pages to be
replaced as and when required. The toolkit will also
be available in CD format and on the Councils'
Intranet site (most up-to-date version).
Subsequent updates will be produced only in Adobe
format and placed on the Intranet homepage.
Officers will be notified accordingly so they can
download the pages as appropriate. These new
pages can be simply inserted into the toolkit folder.
If you require further copies of the toolkit in hard
copy or CD format please contact:
Tony Leafe
Consultation Strategy Officer
Customer Services
The Guildhall Annex
South Sherwood Street
Nottingham
NG1 4BT
Tel: 9154474
Email tony.leafe@nottinghamcity.gov.uk
Why carry out research and consulation
Effective research and consultation is the only way to • Help the Council foster a working partnership with
ensure that our services are user-focused. It can help our users, so they understand the problems facing
us plan, prioritise and deliver better services and it us, and how they can help.
creates a working partnership with our users so that
• Alerts the Council to problems quickly so we have
they have an interest in better services.
a chance to put things right before they escalate.
Other benefits of research and consultation include:
• Symbolises our commitment to be open and
• Helps prioritise Council services and make better accountable.
use of limited resources.
• Helps set performance standards relevant to users
needs (and monitors them).

What to consult about - what do we ask?

We probably think of consultation as asking people what they think about our services and what services
they would like. These are important, but there are also other things you may want to find out, including:

Knowledge What do they know about the service? How informed are their opinions? What do
we have to tell them?

Experience How much have they used a service? Is their experience typical? Are people
generally missing out on something?

Behaviour How and when do they access the service, and what would they prefer? Would
later opening help? Is transport an issue?

Satisfaction Do they like what they're getting? Are their expectations depressed, reasonable or
unrealistic? What sorts of targets should we be setting for improvement?

Wants In an ideal world what would they like? Is there something you hadn't thought of
which you could actually provide? But be careful of open-ended questions, which
raise expectations you have no chance of meeting.

Needs Are there things which would be good for people? Who decides? Do you need to
persuade them of that?

Attitudes People's current attitudes may not be well informed, but if that's what they think,
that is the reality you have to deal with. Do you need to enter into a dialogue with
them?

Considered The "Holy Grail" we are doing all this for the people's benefit, so we should be
taking into account what they really think when they know what it's all about, if we
and can find what they think. (But what if different sections of the community think
informed different things?)

opinions
section one:
Laying the
foundations
Whenever decisions are being made about issues that will affect
the lives of people who live or work in Nottingham, community
engagement must always be a primary consideration. All City
residents and stakeholders should be given the opportunity to
participate in the decision-making process - from defining issues
through to formulating and implementing the solutions.
Effective and comprehensive planning is essential to ensure that
consultation meets your needs and is carried out to the highest
possible standard.
The Nottingham City Council's consultation framework provides
guidelines that set standards for assessing the quality of its
consultation exercises. The level at which the guideline is
applied should be appropriate to the task and the method of
consultation used.
Consulation quality guidelines:
Are consultation processes necessary and
effective?
• the information sought is not already available.
• the process and outcomes are monitored to
assess effectiveness.
Are consultation processes open and fair?
• everyone affected by the consultation needs to
feel that their interests are taken into account or,
at the very least, that they can make their
comments.
• everyone has the same opportunity to participate
and be informed.
• there is no cost to residents who participate in
the process.
• Removing the things that stop people from
taking part encourages the fullest participation.
Do consultation processes support informed
participation:
• participants have sufficient time to respond.
• sufficient information is provided for people to
make informed contributions.
• there is a named contact for further information
or explanation.
• participation is voluntary and decisions not to
participate are respected.
Are consultation processes explained?
• clear information is provided about what the
participant and consultant gain from the
consultation.
Consultation key questions
Before planning any consultation activity, you first
need to clearly understand the overall aims of the
consultation exercise. To do this, it is necessary to
consider the following Key Questions:
Key question 1: What are your key
objectives?
The first stage of the planning process is to clarify
your objectives; in other words you need to ask
yourself, what are you trying to achieve by
engaging with the community?
You need to consider why you are embarking on a
consultation exercise and what you hope to get out
of it. You need to identify who and what are the
drivers for your engagement activity, what
information is required and how the information will
• consultants are honest and open about the
scope and range of the consultation.
• how the information gained from consultation will
be used in decision making is explained.
• conditions of participation are clear, for example,
how to claim expenses or make objections and
complaints.
Are consultation processes confidential and
ethical?
• participants will be told if any part of the
information they provide could be used to
identify them personally.
• data protection rules are implemented and
monitored.
• are guided by codes of good practice.
Do consultation processes end with feedback to
participants?
• feedback is provided about the outcomes of the
consultation . This can be indirect feedback, for
example through an Area Committee meeting,
but the method of feedback must made clear at
the outset of the consultation process.
Do consultation processes accommodate issues
raised by local people?
• there are procedures in place to receive
unsolicited comments, complaints, enquiries,
requests and ideas.
impact on policy or strategy development.
Key question 2: What level of
engagement is required?
Once you have set your overall objectives, you need
to consider the appropriate level or type of
engagement that you require from the community in
order to meet your objectives. For example, if you
already have a clear steer on a decision or initiative
then it is probably unwise to commit resources to
anything more than information giving. Furthermore,
if you choose a high level of community
engagement, you need to be sure that you are
embarking on the consultation exercise with an
open mind and are willing to consider new,
innovative and perhaps controversial suggestions.
Most importantly however, you must be prepared to
consider change as a result of the outcome. The
various levels of engagement are outlined in
Section 3: Consultation Methods.
It is important to understand that the greater the
level of engagement or involvement, the greater the
opportunity to empower citizens and build capacity.
However, high levels of engagement such as
collaborating or empowering have greater resource
implications in terms of both time and cost, as the
citizens and stakeholders who you are engaging
with may require a great deal of support and
training.
Key question 3: With whom do you want
to enage?
The next step in planning consultation is to define
your target audience - the communities with whom
you want to engage. It is important to remember
the differences between communities of interest
and communities of place and to recognise that
individuals belong simultaneously to a number of
both types of community.
It is essential that you plan any consultation activity
within the overall context of ensuring that the
outcome will reflect the diversity of Nottingham's
population. This means that you must carefully
consider how you will achieve this within your
community of place or your community of interest.
People will identify with different communities
according to their circumstances and the issues
under discussion. It may frequently be necessary to
engage with a range of individuals, groups or
communities in order to achieve your objectives. In
some circumstances it may also be beneficial to
engage not only with current service users but also
with previous and potential customers.
Key question 4: What consultation is
being done elsewhere?
Before embarking on what could be a resource
intensive process of engagement, it is useful to
carry out your own research or review, to identify
what is already being done within the authority.
This exercise has three main benefits:
Identifying examples of best practice
Don't re-invent the wheel. It is likely that you will be
able to learn from other engagement projects that
will have taken place throughout the authority.
Saving resources
It may be possible to join other projects or build on
existing work to meet your needs. You may even be
able to use the results from other engagement
activities to eliminate the need for new research.
Avoiding duplication and streamlining
consultation
All the departments within the Council are
constantly involved in community engagement,
particularly information giving and consultation. At
any one time there will be numerous consultation
exercises taking place. Residents are consulted on
numerous occasions and frequently about the same
or similar topics. This will inevitably lead to
consultation overload - the very detrimental effect of
over-consulting with communities. Residents and
other stakeholders will become tired of answering
our questions, especially when they are not seeing
any tangible outcomes. This will inevitably lead to
cynicism, apathy, and a resistance to becoming
involved. Perversely, too much engagement can
lead to disempowerment.
We should therefore be joining our consultation
exercises wherever possible by using one exercise
or project to address a number of issues. The aim
is to have less consultation but with the same
outcomes - in other words to streamline the
engagement process.
The authority has an eConsultation Finder database
on its website. It is recommended that anyone
wishing to undertake a consultation activity visits
this database prior to commencing. If the planned
activity is at an Area/Ward level, as well as visiting
the eConsultation Finder database it is also
recommended that you contact the appropriate
Neighbourhood Managersa prior to
commencement, to avoid consultation fatigue and
to encourage more joined up consultation.
section two:
Planning your
consultation and
making it work
Commitment from all managers and staff is the key to effective
consultation. As well as understanding why it is important to talk
to your service users, you must be prepared to respond to what
you learn and to make changes. Without this commitment,
consultation becomes a 'tick in the box' exercise and consultees
will become cynical and unwilling to participate in future
consultation.
Key question 1: What is the most
suitable method for engagement?
Once the aims and objectives of the consultation
exercise have been agreed you must consider how
you are going to engage with the community. You
will need to identify the method or methods of
engagement that are most suitable for your needs in
order to ensure that you are achieving fitness for
purpose.
There are a wide range of engagement methods
that can be used and selecting those that are most
appropriate is crucial if you are going to collect
information that is relevant and of value (see Section
3: Consultation Methods section for further
information).
The methods, which are available, all have
advantages and disadvantages and once your
objectives have been agreed, the final choice may
depend on a variety of factors. When selecting an
appropriate method of engagement ask yourself the
following questions:
Key question 2: What resources are
available (time and money)?
Consultation can be time and resource intensive.
This is dependent on the level of involvement that
you are aiming to achieve and the audience with
which you want to engage. For example, if you want
to hold focus groups with a particular hard to reach
ethnic minority community, you need to consider the
additional resources that will be required -
employing an interpreter, supplying translated written
materials etc. You need to assess time and financial
constraints and be realistic when identifying the
most appropriate mechanisms of engagement.
Key question 3: What type of information
do you require?
When choosing between quantitative and qualitative
research, you must be mindful that research can
require a high degree of skill and expertise if it is to
be carried out well and produce meaningful results.
Here the main consideration should be the level of
detail required from the research.
Quantitative - Quantitative research provides a
large amount of data about predetermined
questions. This type of research is useful for
providing a snapshot of public opinions and
attitudes and the results are measurable and can be
used as a benchmark. The disadvantage of
quantitative research is that it is not suitable for
exploring issues in depth.
Entire target populations can participate in
quantitative research or the research can be
designed so that a smaller, representative sample is
selected. The most popular method for quantitative
research is the survey.
Qualitative - Qualitative research is used to explore
issues in depth. A typical example of qualitative
research is focus groups. The main advantage of
qualitative research is that it allows participants to
talk freely about issues, rather than simply respond
to predetermined questions with set responses.
However, the nature of this type of consultation
means that it is not practical or even possible, to
involve all members of your target population or
even a fully representative sample. You are therefore
unlikely to elicit the views that reflect those of the
entire community. However, mechanisms such as
focus groups are a useful way of engaging with hard
to reach groups.
Key question 4: How do you ensure a
representative sample
Sampling - Key to a quantitative survey is the idea
that respondents are broadly representative of the
larger community. This requires a sample. For
example, if half the population of Nottingham is
male, then any sample aiming to survey the
population as a whole should be made up of 50%
male and 50% females. There are two main ways of
selecting a sample: probability and non-probability
sampling.
Probabilty sampling
A probability sample is one in which each person in
the target population has an equal, or at least
known, chance of being selected. There are three
main types:
1) Simple random sampling - This type of
sampling is useful when you have information about
everyone in the "population" that you are interested
in surveying: for example, tenants on a housing list,
or a list of names of everyone who has used your
service in the past year. If such a list consisted of
5000 individuals, and you were interested in
sampling 500 of them, you would simply assign a
number to each of one the people of the list and
then generate a list of 500 from the whole set at
random. Computer packages such as Excel are
able to generate random numbers, or you can buy
tables of random numbers from computer stores.
2) Systematic sampling - This is very similar to
random sampling, however this time a systematic
sample of the total population is used. For instance,
in the example given above, to select a sample of
500 individuals from a total population of 5000,
every tenth person on the list would be chosen. This
method of probability sampling saves time and is
easier to carry out. Importantly, however, this
method of sampling only gives an equal chance of
selection providing the total population list is
unclassified.
3) Stratified sampling - With the previous two
examples, it is still possible that the sample will
differ from the total population. This "sampling error"
can be reduced through stratified sampling. A
stratified sample is used when the researcher relevant to both the sampled population, and to any
knows some of the characteristics of the total sub-sample that you might wish to explore. For
population, such as electoral ward, age group, instance, if you were interested in examining the
ethnicity or gender. differences between male and female responses
within a survey, you need to make sure that there
For example, you might use names and addresses
are at least 100 men and 100 women in the total
on the electoral register to represent your total
sample population. Therefore, it is worthwhile
population for the borough. Certain wards may have
thinking about how you wish to analyse the data
larger populations than others. If the sampling
prior to developing your sampling strategy.
frame is large (for instance one person in every two
hundred), it is possible through random and Calculating your sample size - When calculating a
systematic sampling that certain populations have sample size there are two key issues that need to
more chance of being missed. As you need to be considered. They are as follows:
make sure that the sample covers the whole city, it
• Desired confidence level and sampling error
is useful to stratify your sample by ward and then
(also known as confidence interval).
randomly sample within each of the ward "sub-
frames". • Non-response and deadwood.
Stratified sampling can also be used to boost the Confidence level and sampling error
representativeness of a sample. For instance, if your
Confidence level and sampling aim to account for
sample is stratified by age, and from prior survey
the probability that there will be a difference
design you know that your returns usually under-
between your sample and your actual population. In
represent 16-24 year olds, it is worth sending out a
short, unless you are able to sample your entire
higher number of surveys to this younger population
population, you will never be 100% confident in your
to boost the probability of returns. If this approach
results. The most commonly used confidence level
is undertaken, it is necessary to re-weight that data
is 95%. The sampling error will vary depending on
at the end of the survey to compensate for the fact
the number of responses achieved through the
that they were sampled at a rate greater than the
survey (i.e. returned questionnaires - not just those
rest of the target population.
mailed out!). The greater the number of responses,
Non-probability sampling the lower the margin of error. This simple table
illustrates the margin of error with different
Often when undertaking surveys, the characteristics
responses achieved. The confidence level is 95%.
of a total population are unknown or a complete
sampling frame is not available. In such cases, non-
probability sampling is used. While such a method
Achieved Sample Size Sampling Error (%)
is relatively quick and easy, it does mean that the
sample has a greater chance of being 2500 2.0
unrepresentative or biased. The most common form
of non-probability sampling is quota sampling, this 1600 2.5
means that participants with certain characteristics 1100 3.0
within the population are targeted. For instance, the
survey will aim to fulfil certain age, gender or 820 3.5
ethnicity characteristics. Such methods often work 625 4.0
well in telephone or face-to-face surveys, where the
researcher will know when each of these quotas has 495 4.5
been completed. 400 5.0
Sample size 330 5.5
As mentioned, the main aim of quantitative research 270 6.0
methods is to produce representative and
statistically valid results. As such, the sample of the 230 6.5
population surveyed must be of sufficient size to be 200 7.0
meaningfully compared to the total population. It
should be noted that the sample size is not 175 7.5
dependent on the total population: rather it is the 155 8.0
absolute size of the sample that is important.
135 8.5
NB: Whether conducting a poll examining the
voting intention of adults in the UK or one 120 9.0
considering the voting intention of adults in
110 9.5
Nottingham, both surveys will require a similar
sample size in order for the data to be meaningful. 100 10.0
Generally, a sample below 100 individuals will not
be analytically meaningful. This sample size is
The following example illustrates how to use the
table, and what the results may mean.
In a postal survey Nottingham residents were asked
the question:
Example Q: How satisfied or dissatisfied are you
with the way the Council is running the city?
Of the 625 responses that were returned, analysis
provided the following results:
Satisfied: 70% Dissatisfied: 30%
The table indicates that a response rate of 625
gives a sampling error of +/- 4.0% at a 95%
confidence interval. Therefore, the 70% satisfaction
level given above actually means that in 95 cases in
every 100 we are sure that between 66 and 74% of
the population will be satisfied with the way that
Nottingham City Council running the city.
Similarly, if there were only 400 responses to the
survey, the sampling error would increase to 5% (i.e.
we are 95% sure that between 65 and 75% of the
population is satisfied with the way Nottingham City
Council is running the city). It is worth noting the
confidence level always remains the same to enable
meaningful comparison between surveys.
Non-response and deadwood
All of the figures listed in the previous table
correspond to an achieved sample size. However,
to achieve these responses it is necessary to take
account of non-response and deadwood in order to
establish your sampling frame (i.e. all of the surveys
that need to be mailed out to get 625 replies, for
instance).
Non-response simply refers to all of those
participants who will not respond to the survey. For
postal questionnaires, a typical response rate would
be 20%. Therefore, to achieve a sample size of 625,
for instance, you will need to send out the following
number of surveys:
625 x 100/20 = 3125 total surveys distributed
When undertaking a survey, it is worthwhile
considering response rates to previous surveys.
However, if the survey response rates in the past
have been very low, the corresponding total
sampling frame becomes very large. For instance,
a 5% response rate will need a sampling frame of
12,560 in order to achieve 625 responses (625 x
100/5). In cases like this, it becomes more cost
effective and practical to examine ways to increase
the response rates than it is to increase the sample
size.
Deadwood refers to all of those questions that are
not returned for reasons other than refusal to
respond. It refers to the sample of the population
who are unable to complete the survey due to the
fact they may have moved away, or are on holiday,
or the address given on the survey was wrong.
Essentially, deadwood needs to be estimated. This
estimate will depend very much on context, and on
the total population-sampling frame on which you
are drawing.
For instance, if you were undertaking a housing
survey on a relatively up to date housing list, it
would be expected that deadwood would be
relatively low, perhaps 4% of the total population.
If, however, you are using Postal Address Forms for
your total population, the deadwood will be higher,
generally around 11%. To calculate the deadwood
in the total sample size, you simply multiply the total
survey figure by the percentage of deadwood:
So for 5% deadwood calculated on the above
sample of 3125 surveys:
Deadwood = 3125 x 0.05 = 156 extra surveys
needed to take account of deadwood.
Thus total surveys needed: 3125 + 156 = 3281
The figure 3281 represents how many surveys
would need to be distributed to get 625 responses,
assuming a 20% return rate and a deadwood figure
of 5%.
Key question 5: how do you design a
questionnaire to meet your needs
Once you have worked through the planning stage
and are clear about the objectives of the survey and
the information that is needed, you are ready to start
designing your questions. The following is a
checklist of things to consider when designing your
questionnaire:
• Length of questionnaire - The length of your
questionnaire will depend on the type and
population of survey. As a general guide, most
self-administered surveys should not exceed four
pages. In some circumstances the survey can be
longer, this is when the audience may be more
receptive, for example when the survey is about
a topical subject i.e. anti-social behaviour. In
general, shorter surveys achieve higher response
rates, however you obtain less information from a
short survey.
• Length of the questions - It is advisable to keep
questions short and preferably no more than 25
words in a question.
• Ask one question at a time - For example, to
include a question such as "are the staff helpful
and courteous?" is asking two separate
questions in one. Staff may be helpful but not
courteous.
• Ensure that the questions are as neutral as
possible - If you are asking questions looking for
opinions, use recognised scales, for example
"strongly agree", "tend to agree", "neither", "tend
to disagree", "strongly disagree", "don't know/no
opinion".
• Make questions as specific as possible - Instead
of allowing open-ended options for questions it
is advisable to try to categorise as much as
possible. For example a question such as "when
did you last use a call centre?" Was it in the last
week, in the last fortnight, in the last month, in
the last couple of months, in the last 6 months,
in the last year, longer, never?
• Ensure confidentiality - Any documents that can
identify a respondent should be kept in a
lockable draw/cupboard.
• Design and Layout. - To account for those
people with visual impairments, ideally a font
size of 13 should be used in your questionnaire
and no more than two typefaces should be
used. Try to avoid lines in the space where
responses are given, instead use boxes or circles
and leave enough space for comments.
• Colour - One of the best colours to use for a one
off questionnaire is yellow. Yellow paper
generates the highest response rates of all
colours and is the recommended colour to be
used by the Royal National Institute for the Blind
(NRIB). If it is not possible to use yellow, use a
pale green and stay away from pinks and blues.
• Tip: If you are sending out questionnaires to
different groups use different coloured paper for
each group. This way you can quickly identify
which groups have returned them.
• Data Protection Statement - Every piece of
consultation should always carry a data
protection statement. Guidance on data
protection can be obtained from the Councils
Information Governance Team (x58267).
• Open-ended questions - Although open-ended
questions can be time consuming to analyse,
they are good to begin to understand why
people have responded in the way they have. It
is a good idea to put any open-ended questions
at the end of each section. For example if you
have any further comments or ideas please give
them in the space provided below.
• Demographic questions - A lot of useful
information can be gained by asking simple
demographic/profiling questions. These can then
be cross-referenced (often referred to as cross
tabulations or cross tabs for short) with other
questions within a questionnaire to extract useful
information e.g. how particular groups (gender,
age, particular ethnic group, disability etc)
responded to a survey questionnaire.
Key question 6: how can you enable
everyone to participate?
Once you have defined your target community /
communities, you need to ensure that your chosen
methodologies enable everyone within the
community to participate. The nature of the
community will dictate the types of methods that
you are able to use, as well as how and when this
can be done.
Some methods of consultation can marginalise
certain groups or sections of the community,
particularly those hard to reach groups who often
experience social exclusion. You must therefore
ensure that the techniques you employ do not
discriminate against anyone and remain consistent
with representing the diversity of the population of
Nottingham.
For example, when designing a questionnaire you
should consider the barriers that may prevent
certain sections of the community from participating
- language, literacy, disability and so on. To
overcome this problem, you should use a range of
techniques such as combining a questionnaire with
focus groups. This helps to ensure that you have
obtained a full range of perspectives and
contributions.
Key question 7: what training & skills are
available / will be required?
The different types of consultation require different
levels of skills and expertise to ensure effective
implementation and meaningful outcomes.
Designing and implementing community
consultation and analysing and interpreting the
results can require a high level of expertise in
research methodology.
Participants themselves may also require training
and support to familiarise them with the issues
about which they are being engaged and also about
the organisational structures and processes. Young
people are particularly likely to need training and
support.
Key question 8: How does the target
audience want to be engaged?
Public service providers are becoming increasingly
committed to engaging with communities about
issues that affect their lives but we cannot assume
that these communities will actually want to be
involved to the level that you anticipate. They may
actually be perfectly happy with the situation as it is
or alternatively may not be interested or have the
time or capacity to take part.
You therefore need to fully explain the proposed
consultation process to your potential participants.
This requires openness and honesty about what
they can hope to gain from the consultation
process, the extent to which their involvement will
impact on the decision-making process and the
level of commitment that will be required from them.
It may be worth offering a range of appropriate
consultation mechanisms that they can choose
from.
See Section 4: Engaging With Groups We Find Hard
To Reach - for further guidance.
Key question 9: Who is going to
implement the consulation exercise?
A key consideration should be the objectivity of the
research. Of course all research/ consultation
should be as objective as possible. However, it is
easy to design consultation activities that
unintentionally introduce bias. For example, it is
relatively easy for this to occur in questionnaire
design where the responses are influenced by the
wording of the questions or the set responses that
are offered.
Similarly, focus groups that are organised and run
by the consulting organisation can sometimes elicit
biased outcomes. For example, people may not
feel comfortable airing their views about the Council
if they are in a Council House meeting room and in
a group that is being facilitated by a Council Officer.
If you are addressing a sensitive issue where there
may be hidden or conflicting agendas, one option
would be to contract with an independent provider
to carry out the research. There are many market
research companies who have a great deal of
experience with working with public sector
organisations on community consultation activities.
Although this approach is likely to be more
expensive, there are several benefits of working with
independent providers:
• They have greater capacity in terms of skills and
resources
• They are better able to be objective
• They are likely to have greater credibility,
especially if the findings are controversial.
Appendix Six gives a list of research consultants
who have previously been commissioned to
undertake community engagement on behalf of
Nottingham City Council.
Please note: the inclusion of Research Consultant
contact information in this toolkit is for information
purposes only and does not imply preferred
suppliers or endorsement.
Key question 10: How are you going to
encourage people to engage with you?
Consultation not only requires a time commitment
from the authority involved but also the participants
themselves. You must therefore consider how you
are going to encourage people to give up their time
to participate in the engagement process and how
you are going to maintain their interest. People are
most likely to become involved if:
• The issue is of interest or matters to them;
and/or
• They stand to lose or gain something.
You should always be open and honest from the
outset about what can be achieved or influenced
through your consultation activity and the limitations
and constraints within which you are operating. You
should also be realistic about outputs and time-
scales. Be clear about whether participants can
expect to see tangible outputs in the short term or if
you are developing a long-term strategy that might
not see benefits for several years. In other words,
you must be mindful of inadvertently raising
expectations.
Key question 11: How are you going to
help people to make informed choices?
If people are to influence the development of policy
and strategy, they need to be given sufficient time
and information to explore ideas and think them
through, especially if the issues are complex. You
cannot assume that participants have a prior
knowledge of an issue, particularly if it is one that
does not directly impact on their day-to-day lives.
Therefore providing background information is
sometimes necessary. Care must be taken to
ensure that any background information is clear,
concise, honest, completely unbiased and clearly
presents both sides of an argument. The
information should be in an appropriate format. You
should consider any barriers that your chosen
format may impose, for example language
problems, literacy or sensory impairment.
Key question 12: How are you going to
analyse the data?
You should know how you are going to code, input
and analyse your data from the outset. These can
be complex tasks that require expertise and in the
case of quantitative analysis, appropriate software
(e.g. SPSS, Snap v8) can be of great assistance in
order to help ensure that results are meaningful and
accurate.
Please note: There are various SPSS and Snap v8
licenses throughout the authority. Please contact
your Consultation Strategy Group representative for
guidance.
Appendix Seven provides contact details of
departmental representatives of the Consultation
Strategy Group.
Key question 13: How are you going to
evaluate your consultation?
Evaluating the effectiveness of consultation is vital,
and should be included at the initial planning stage
of your consultation exercise. If you have planned
properly, identified what your success and failure
criteria are and how you are going to measure them,
then the evaluation process should be
straightforward.
Effective evaluation can help you to identify…
• What worked
• What did not work
• Why it did not work
If you are in a position to be able to answer 'what
would I do differently or the same next time?' then
your evaluation will have been valuable.
To ensure your evaluation is valuable to you it is
important to set clear objectives from the start of
consultation. Ask yourself the following questions…
• Why are you doing it?
• What do you want to find out?
• Who are you going to ask?
• How are you going to do it?
• What are you going to do with the results?
Please note: Following each consultation activity a
short document stating the key findings and actions
to be taken as a result of the consultation should be
posted on the eConsultation Finder Database before
the exercise can be closed.
Key question 14: What is the effect of
your consultation?
The key question following any consultation exercise
is "has anything changed as a result of the
consultation?" At the end you need to be able to
measure whether…
• You gathered views that you could use.
• You have actually used those views.
• The consultation has led to some identifiable
change in your service or policy; and
• The consultation has changed the relationship
between you and those you have consulted.
Key question 15: How are you going to
act on the findings and give feedback?
Providing feedback is one of the most important
stages of the consultation process and is one that
can easily be missed. It is particularly necessary
when the outcomes are relatively invisible, for
example where strategies or policies have been
developed, but there are no immediate tangible
outputs. Telling people about how the information
they provided will be or is being used shows people
that their involvement is worthwhile and actually
counts, helping to avoid apathy. This in turn
encourages a willingness to participate in future
consultation.
Providing feedback is in itself a mechanism of
consultation that could require the same planning
process as the original exercise depending on the
scale. When planning the feedback process, it is
necessary to consider the most appropriate
mechanism. It is worth asking participants how they
would like to receive feedback. For example, would
they prefer a letter with a summary of the
results/outcomes, an article in a newsletter or a
meeting to present the results and outcomes?
Participants should be told how and when they
should expect to receive feedback. Feedback to the
people who take part in any consultation and the
wider public is a critical part of building confidence
in the Council and creating a long-term relationship
with people.
The results and any action/S, which follows, both
need to be reported to the people who took part.
Equally, if the Council chooses not to act on some
or all of the ideas arising from consultation then it
needs to clearly explain the reasons for this. There
can be very good reasons for not taking forward
work after a consultation, people will accept this if it
is explained not hidden. Remember, that as the
process can be slow people need to be kept
informed between stages about what is happening
and have a realistic idea about how quickly things
will happen.
You need to consider
• How will you feedback information
• Will there be any follow up involvement
• How will you check how the people you
consulted feel about the outcome?
People can be suspicious of taking part in
consultation feeling that their views may not really
be listened to and decisions have already been
made.
As a Local Authority we have to act with integrity
and honesty throughout our consultation processes.
If people have either of these suspicions confirmed
they would never take part again. They will also tell
all their friends and family. In this way one poor
piece of consultation by a section of the Council
can have a major impact on the Councils' credibility
and therefore on everyone else's attempts to
consult!
Marketing & Communications Managers will provide
advice and support as appropriate. They will ensure
all activity is produced and delivered to an agreed
standard and house style whilst also delivering
Nottingham City Council's key messages in a
consistent way.
Please note that early involvement is key, to enable
Marketing & Communications Managers to provide
advice and support that may be required.'
Key question 16: What information
should you publish?
Following any consultation exercise, for good
feedback to respondents you should be looking to
publish the following:
• Why you carried out the consultation
• Details of how you went about it
• A summary of the replies you received from
people you consulted
• An assessment of your proposed policy (or
policy options) in light of the responses you
received
• A statement of what you plan to do next
Feedback may take the form of: newsletters,
Internet (eConsultation Finder), free papers (Arrow,
Trader etc.), public meeting, letters, public notice
etc. It may be a case of telling people where they
can get more detailed information form. Whatever
communication method you use, you must be sure
that the information is reaching the respondents
and is in an un-jargonised format. You may need to
translate the information into languages other than
English, and in formats that people with disabilities
can use (such as Braille, large print or audio tapes).
Posting the information on our website is a cost-
effective way of reaching a very wide audience.
However not everyone has access to the Internet
and you may not reach important groups.
Marketing & Communications Managers will
provide advice and support as appropriate.
They will ensure all activity is produced and
delivered to an agreed standard and house style
whilst also delivering Nottingham City Council's
key messages in a consistent way.
Please note that early involvement is key, to
enable Marketing & Communications Managers
to provide advice and support that may be
required.'
section three:
Consultation
methods
Different people or communities prefer different consultation
methods and some methods work better for some consultation
activities than others. Whichever method you decide on, always
consider access for all people or communities of interest
including hard to reach groups.
The consultation methods typically used are listed on the Quick
Method Selector. Use the Quick Method Selector and the
Consultation Commentaries that follow to help select the best
method for your information need.
Quick method selector
(methods in bold are the most frequently used)

Empowering Referenda

Community Needs
Analysis Citizens'
Collaborating
Juries Futures Conferencing /
Visioning Physical Planning

Area Committees
Ladder of Community Participation

Involving User Panels Ward

Councillor Contact

Advisory Committees
Area Committees
Citizens Panel
Consultation documents
Focus Groups
Forums
Public Meetings
Seminars / Workshops
Consulting
Staff Feedback and
Suggestions
Surveys - face to face
Surveys - self completion
Surveys - telephone
User Comments and
Complaints
Website

Publicity
Informing
Exhibitions and Roadshows
Consultation methods
commentaries
Method
Area Committees
Tool to put area focus into
practice. There are nine
Area Committees based
upon combining a number
of City Council electoral
wards.
Citizens Juries
Small sample of population
(usually paid) who debate
an issue in a quasi-judicial
setting with witnesses. Aim
to obtain informed and
considered opinion or
verdict on a specific, often
controversial issue.
Citizens Panel
Comprise between 500
and 2,000 citizens who are
demographically
representative of the
population. Used as a
sounding board to test,
assess and develop
proposals over an extended
period of time.
NB - Nottingham City
Councils' Citizens Panel is
under review - 2006
Community Needs
Analysis
Framework for detailed
overview of small area.
Involves a range of
stakeholders to determine
actions following research
on complex issues
Considerations Advantages
• Directly contribute to  Opportunity for local
Local Area Action residents and other
Plans partners to be
involved in the City
Councils' decision -
making processes at
a local level
• Requires skilled  Develop deep
moderator understanding of issue
• Commissioning body  Can be used to address
must follow very complex and
recommendations or controversial issues
explain why
 Participants can be made
• Need to be clear about fully aware but can still
how to use results come to a decision from
• Consensus not required a 'lay' perspective
 Public identify with
representative citizens
• Panel members need to  Demographically
be clear of their roles representative
• Can be conducted in  Readily available pool of
partnership with other willing respondents
organisations
 Can yield a good
response rate
 Relatively cheap once
the panel has been set
up
 Can be targeted
 Track views over time
 Provides very detailed
analysis of issues thus
ensuring decisions are
evidence-based
Disadvantages
• Not always appropriate
for citywide issues
• Not all community
groups represented
• Expensive
• May not be
representative
• Difficult to include all
interest groups
• Can be time-
consuming and
resource intensive
• Not suitable for all
issues
• Extensive preparatory
work
• Cannot be used for
complex issues
• Can be expensive and
time-consuming to set
up
• Risk of over-consulting
• May not be
representative as panel
self-selecting and want
to be consulted
• Panel may become
experts and
conditioned to
providing the right
answers
• Panel membership
needs to be refreshed
regularly
• Expensive and time
consuming
• Possibly leads to over
expectation
• Needs to be managed
effectively
Exhibitions and
Roadshows
Used to provide information
and to obtain views on
specific projects or services
Focus Groups
Facilitated group discussion
to explore issues in depth
and seek views of
particular interest groups.
Can be used to generate
ideas.
Forums
Structured and regular
meetings with interest
groups. Used to provide
information, seek views and
develop / endorse local
plans and strategies for the
community or whole town.
Futures Conferencing /
Visioning
Considering future
scenarios and ways to
influence outcomes in
uncertain situations
Physical Planning
Structured consultation
method that uses a 3D
plan of the neighbourhood
to ascertain what physical
change people want for
their local area.
• Suitable venues
• Publicise the event
• Requires skilled
facilitators
• Selection of group of
prime importance
• May need several groups
to gain different
perspectives
• Generally 8-10 people
per group
• Need effective
management
• Hold at times / locations
to suit target
communities
• Independent and skilled
facilitator
• No pre-set proposals
• Seeks consensus
 Effective in publicising • Groups reached
services / organisations dependant on location
/ timing of roadshow,
 Give public flexibility to
attend exhibition etc
• Likely to obtain views
 Allow contact with public
of a small number of
people who are not
representative
• Feedback may be
limited
 Allow brainstorming of • Can be costly and
ideas time-consuming
 Can be designed to • Requires specialist
involve hard to reach expertise to facilitate
groups discussion
 Can explore complex • Lack of confidentiality
issues • Can only achieve
 Provides in depth limited representation
information • Discussions can be
 Useful for building on difficult to transcribe
survey findings and analyse
 Allow interaction and
spontaneity between
participants
 Regular process of • Attendees are unlikely
engagement to represent all views
 Useful link between • Can be dominated by
partner agencies and the most vocal
local people
• Agenda can be taken
 Can be used to seek over
local committed
involvement
 Relatively cheap
 Create a real sense of • Time-consuming
involvement by using • Resource intensive-
local knowledge and Can raise unrealistic
understanding expectations
 Can build consensus • Costly-Difficulty in
 Promote community reaching consensus
ownership of the results • Can be captured by
 Allows many viewpoints large interest groups
and exchange of
information
 Can be available as a • Difficult to ensure
tailored package, so easy representation
to set up • Can be a costly
 Is entertaining and exercise
involves those who
• Size of the model limits
wouldn't normally how many people can
participate be involved
 Makes it easy to obtain • Numerous models may
honest and wide-ranging be required
opinions
 Can deal with complex
issues
Referenda
A formal poll on a single
issue. Asks for a response
to a single question. Can
be postal or traditional. The
outcome (i.e. a 'yes' or 'no')
is binding.
Public Meetings
Formal meetings with
scheduled agendas. Used
to provide information, seek
views and develop /
endorse local plans and
strategies for the
community or whole town.
Publicity
To provide information
specific to an organisation,
neighbourhood or initiative
Seminars / Workshops
A formally organised
discussion group to
exchange and gather
information. Usually in the
format of presentations
followed by small group
discussions, ending in a
large group discussion of
key issues.
Staff Feedback and
Suggestions
Provides a system for
feedback and suggestions
from frontline staff who deal
with the public
• Initiated by government
• Issue should stand on its
own (not overly complex)
• Results usually binding
• Hold at times / locations
to suit target
communities
• Publicity for event
• Clearly defined objective
• Defined meeting
structure
• Staffing and facilitation
• Writing and editing skills
needed
• Requires skilled
facilitators
• Train staff to deal with
complaints
• Establish feedback
systems
 Opinion of entire • Expensive
population can be • Limited use
obtained quickly and
efficiently • Requires publicity to
improve response rate
 Postal ballots can be
used to improve turnout • Should only be used
for issues that require
 The organisation must little or no explanation
act on the outcome
• Can only give a yes /
 All voters are equal no response or a
 Incites discussion choice between limited
options
 Opportunity to provide • Attendees are unlikely
information and receive to represent all views
feedback • Large group may be a
 Builds relationships with barrier
local community
• Can be dominated by
 Can be used to seek the most vocal
local committed • Turnout can be poor
involvement
• Can be difficult to
 Relatively cheap separate individual and
 Allows public to let off general complaints
steam
 Potential for regular • Can be costly and time
updates consuming
 Can reach a wide • May be seen as junk
audience mail
• Not always read by
target audience
• Media coverage may
slant the story
 Opportunity to share • Requires a great deal
large amounts of of organisation and
information specialist moderation
skills
 Large numbers of
people can participate • Can be costly and time
consuming
 Opportunity for dialogue
between all key • Can be dominated by
stakeholders the most vocal
 Opportunity to engage
in multi-disciplinary
discussions
 Participants can ask
questions and explore
issues in detail
 Encourages participants
to network and share
experiences
 Shows you value staff • Relies on staff
and are open to participation
suggestions • Time consuming-
 Valuable source of Not necessarily
information on service representative
use and users
Surveys - face-to-face:
One-to-one interviews with
stakeholders. Can be used
to gather views and
opinions and to measure
attitudes, satisfaction and
performance. Interviews
may be structured, semi-
structured or un-structured.
Surveys - self completion
Research exercise used to
gather quantifiable
information on
uncomplicated issues. Can
be used to gather views
and opinions and to
measure attitudes,
satisfaction and
performance. Postal
surveys usually used.
Surveys - telephone
Telephone interviews with
stakeholders. Can be used
to gather views and
opinions and to measure
attitudes, satisfaction and
performance.
User Comments &
Complaints
Provides a system for direct
feedback from service
users
• Needs statistical and  Can ensure a good
research expertise to response rate
administer and avoid
 Easier to engage with
bias hard to reach groups
• How to access hard to
 Can be used to obtain
reach groups responses from
• How to provide feedback demographically
to respondents representative sample
• May need external  Allows issues to be
resources and trained explored in depth
researchers
 Allows flexible structure
of interview
 May be used to explore
sensitive issues
• Need statistical and  Effective way of quickly
research expertise to gaining information from
administer and avoid a lot of people
bias
 Analysis relatively
• Most suitable for straightforward
attitudinal surveys
 Data can be compared
• How to access hard to against local and
reach groups national benchmarks
• How to provide feedback  Can be used for
to respondents sensitive issues
 Open ended questions
can explore issues
in-depth
• Needs statistical and  Fast results
research expertise to
 Can manage the
administer and avoid response rate
bias
 Easier to engage with
• How to access hard to hard to reach groups
reach groups
 Can be used to obtain
• How to provide feedback responses from
to respondents demographically
• May need external representative sample
resources and trained
 Can be easy to analyse
researchers
• Make feedback forms  Easy to set up
accessible
 Provides input from
• Data confidentiality service users
• Determining if failures  Can identify weaknesses
one-off or general and strengths
 Formal mechanism for
pursuing a complaint
• Interviewer cannot
respond to any
questions
• Not necessarily
representative
• Can be costly and time
consuming
• Personal safety of
fieldworkers may be at
risk
• Specific skills are
required to conduct the
interview
• Can be difficult to
analyse
• Can be labour intensive
and expensive
• Unsuitable for complex
issues
• Open-ended questions
difficult to analyse
• Can yield a low
response rate
• Difficult to engage with
hard to reach groups
• Cannot be certain of
veracity of responses
• Cannot be used for
complex issues
• Interviewer cannot
respond to any
questions
• Can be perceived as
intrusive
• Limits participation to
people with a
telephone
• Unlikely to yield
positive comments
• Not representative
• Essentially reactive to
existing systems
User Panel
A small group of users that
meets regularly to provide
input on service delivery
and development over a
long period of time.
• Small size, no more than  Gives user perspective • Limited and not
12 necessarily
 Group has knowledge,
• Have clear objective and experience and representative
timeframe understanding of the perspective
issue / service • Group can grow too
• Moderation of group
close and lose
 Ongoing dialogue
objectivity
 Membership can be
rotated to maintain a • Cannot be used for a
balance of old and new wider range of services
members • Does not address
needs of non-service
 Opportunity for direct
liaison and feedback users
between panel • May exclude minority
members and service groups
providers

Ward Councillor Contact
A contact point for citizens
to express their views and
concerns about issues that
affect them.
• Hold at times / locations
to suit constituents
• Accessing hard to reach
constituents
 Good for public relations • Results can be
unrepresentative
 Makes people feel that
they are being listened
to and that their issues
matter
 Enhances the
representative role of
local councillors.

Website • Access to computers  Cost effective • Won't reach everyone

Using information
technology to inform and
gather feedback. E.g. online
questionnaires
may be limited
 Quick response rate
 Easy to keep information
current
 Potentially wide-reaching
 Can be used to engage
with some hard to reach
groups
• Requires technical
expertise
• May exclude some
groups egg elderly, low
income
• Results can be
unrepresentative

 Useful for panel surveys

On the Councils' "Key to Effective Consultation" Intranet site you will find information on
more than 40 different consultation methodologies:
http://intra.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/corporate/consult/default.asp
section four:
Engaging with
groups we find
hard to reach
Diversity and community cohesion are crucial to promoting
greater knowledge, respect and contact between various cultures
and to establishing a greater sense of citizenship. In order to
promote understanding between different communities, to
accurately and reliably inform decision-making and improve the
quality of life of all citizens, it is essential that community
engagement activities reflect the diversity of Nottingham's
population.
If our engagement samples don't mirror the demographic make-
up of the city's population or if they exclude certain communities
then the results will not be representative. This means that the
policies or decisions that they inform will be biased, leading to
outcomes that may not improve the quality of life of all citizens or
improve community cohesion.
Defining hard to reach groups
The term hard to reach is widely used to describe • Physical inaccessibility (e.g. disability, older or
those groups or communities who experience social frail people)
exclusion and disempowerment. They are generally
• Language (e.g. first generation immigrants to
perceived by agencies as being by their nature
the UK)
difficult to access. However, it is important to note
that many of these communities are not actually • Cultural perceptions and traditions
that hard to reach and do not consider themselves (e.g. disadvantaged young people)
as such. It is simply that organisations have not put
• Social expectations (e.g. children and young
enough effort into seeking their views.
people who are often not considered as
It is essential that when formulating your appropriate to be engaged with and who
consultation strategy, particular consideration be themselves often do not expect to be taken
given to engaging with locally appropriate hard to seriously)
reach groups. A hard to reach group is any group
or section of the community who it is difficult to
access for any reason such as:

Groups that historically we find

hard to reach include:
• Asylum seekers What is important to note is that defining all of the
above categories, as hard to reach is both simplistic
• Children and young people
and misleading. Consideration needs to be given
• Drug users to the particular characteristics of population sub-
groups. For example, in many areas minority ethnic
• Faith communities
communities may be generally well integrated into
• Gay, lesbian and bisexual men and women, the local community and therefore not difficult to
transsexual and transgender people access. However there may be specific sectors,
such as first generation Muslim women, who are
• Homeless people not so well integrated, and whose views and
• Minority ethnic communities experiences are not catered for in existing
(particular sections of) engagement mechanisms. This sector should be
considered as your hard to reach group.
• Offenders / ex-offenders
When identifying your hard to reach groups, it is
• Older people necessary to consider the groups within the local
(especially frail and/or isolated older people) population. The Action on Diversity Team
• People with disabilities (0115 9157224) and Neighbourhood Managersa
would be a good starting point. You should also
• People with learning difficulties remember the overarching requirement to remain
• People with mental health problems consistent with representing the diversity of the
population of Nottingham
• People who travel or commute into the area
• Rural communities
• Single parents
• Small businesses
• Travellers
• Tourists
• Victims of domestic abuse
• Young men of working age
Typical characteristics of the groups we
find hard to reach
A Home Office study of accessing hard to reach
groups has identified several defining characteristics
of hard to reach groups.
Numerical size and concentration
It is more difficult to engage with groups who are
relatively small in number, and are widely dispersed.
However, individual sectors of the community
should not be neglected simply because they
represent a small population of an area.
Internal organisation
Regardless of size, groups may be hard to reach
if they are not well organised in terms of having an
established network of community organisations or
agencies that can be approached to assist in engaging
with the target groups. However what is important to
note is that although a community may appear well
organised, the community leaders are likely to be the
most vocal members and therefore may not be
representative. This may lead to some elements of the
community remaining HARD TO REACH.
Accessing the groups we find
hard to reach
Once you have identified your hard to reach groups,
you need to identify ways of accessing the groups.
You should have already reviewed work that has
already been undertaken in your area of interest.
This may have highlighted any hard to reach groups
that you will need to engage with, as well as having
paved the way for gaining access to these groups.
Enabling groups we find hard to reach
to participate
Once you have identified and accessed your hard to
reach groups, it is necessary to take measures that
will help to overcome the barriers that prevented
them from participating in the first place. This may
involve using interpreters, visual aides, and adapting
facilities for disabled people, providing care for
dependants etc.
For instance when consulting people with learning
difficulties information needs to be clearly
accessible, it is good practice to use pictures as
well as words. When engaging with people who
have problems with written information it is
recommended that a face-to-face methodology
such as focus groups is used.
Socio-economic deprivation
Groups who are experiencing acute social and
economic deprivation may be considered as being
HARD TO REACH. For example disaffected young
white men living in highly deprived estates are
typically considered as being HARD TO REACH.
Cultural and ideological barriers
Cultural expectations or social restrictions may make
engagement with any organisations or individuals
outside of the family unit difficult. For example, in
some Muslim Asian groups there are social
restrictions upon women, who may be expected to
refrain form social interaction, particularly with men
from outside the immediate family.
Distinctive service needs
Many hard to reach communities and groups have
very specific problems and needs. These may
include people with disabilities, learning difficulties
or mental health problems.
If the review does not help you, you may need to
think logically and creatively of ways to access
these groups. This could be via informal networks,
social venues, or local organisations that work with
these groups. The Action on Diversity Team
(0115 9157244) would be a useful starting point
when planning how you are going to access
different groups.
You should also try to be flexible over the timing,
location and transport issues and also endeavour to
use neutral or safe buildings for exercises. For
example it would not be appropriate to use a police
station to explore issues around youth offending!
Adopting a peer process by employing members of
the community to undertake the engagement
exercise can be extremely effective in overcoming
barriers. People are more likely to feel comfortable
engaging with members of their own community.
Understanding your audience
You will need to develop an understanding of your
target group and any specific needs they may have.
Some ways of doing this include using census
information, drawing on previous research or
guidance, and talking to and involving the target
group directly in the consultation exercise.
The Councils' Action on Diversity Team has
produced a guide called "Making information and
services more accessible", The guide covers
communicating with people who speak a different
language, cross-cultural communication, asylum
seekers and refugees, people of a different gender
How to get people involved
Getting people involved in consultation can be one
of the hardest tasks of the whole process. Prior to
any form of consultation you must consider how you
are going to encourage people to give up their time
to participate, and what is of equal importance is
maintaining their interest.
It is well worth considering the following possibilities
when planning your consultation.
Timing
When considering the timing for a consultation
activity ideally it must suit the consultees and not
the project team. You will need to consider the
following;
• Time of year in terms of the weather.
• Young people; consult with them after school
and not weekends, evenings or holidays.
• Elderly people; consult with them in daylight
hours - ideally mornings.
• Black and Minority Ethnic groups; Friday is an
unsuitable day to hold a consultation event for
Muslims and Tuesday is unsuitable for Chinese
people. The Councils' Action on Diversity Team
have produced a guide for making information
and services more accessible, hard copies of
which are available from the Action on Diversity
Team on (0115) 9157244 or it can be
downloaded from their Intranet site:
http://intra.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/corporate/equali
ties/default.asp
• Office hours.
or sexual orientation, faith groups, older and younger
people, disabled people, and getting in touch with
working and single parents. It looks at a wide range
of situations from sending a letter, holding a
meeting or commissioning a survey to house visits,
catering or publishing information. Hard copies of
the guide are available from the Action on Diversity
Team on (0115) 9157244 or it can be downloaded
from their Intranet site:
http://intra.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/corporate/equalities
/default.asp
Accessible Venues
It is important that venues you use for consultation
events are accessible by public transport and have
car parking and disabled access. If possible venues
should be central to consultees and events should
be held in buildings that are well known and familiar
to participants.
Welcoming Venues
Try to ensure that you choose a venue that has a
welcoming atmosphere and host the event in an
environment that is non-intimidatory.
Refreshments
This is a positive gesture and helps to demonstrate
that participation is important and highly valued. It
is also worthwhile if you are holding your
engagement exercise at lunch or teatime.
Make it fun!
It is not just young people who want to have fun -
nobody wants to spend their spare time at dull,
bureaucratic meetings, or completing long-winded
questionnaires! You are far more likely to attract
interest if you can devise innovative and even
entertaining means of engaging, such as role-plays,
or communicating via different mediums e.g.
Internet, films or text messaging.
If you need to hold meetings, consider the format.
Is it appropriate to hold structured meetings, with
agendas, minutes and chairpersons? This is often
seen as the easy way for agencies to operate
because we are more comfortable with this style.
However, forums of this type may prove intimidating
to someone who is not accustomed to meetings
and the associated etiquette and procedures. This
may inhibit them from contributing.
Ensure that the participants are not out of pocket - • British sign language interpretation
Participants are giving you their time so you should
• Document in Braille/Large Print
ensure that it is not costing them anything
financially. As a minimum, you should offer to • Minicom and access loops
reimburse travel costs. You should also consider
• Audio tape translation
other expenses that are likely to be incurred, for
example caring costs (childcare etc). However, Language Solutions Contact details:
avoid making payments that could jeopardise
participant's benefit entitlements. Bookings:
0115 915 4498 / 0115 915 4475
Incentives
General enquiries:
It is not unusual for people taking part in 0115 915 4496 / 0115 915 4699
consultation exercises to be offered an incentive.
One example of a financial incentive could be a Payments/Invoice enquiries:
shopping voucher, preferably a store that provides a 0115 915 4695
wide range of goods such as food, clothes, music Email Address:
and so on. translations@nottinghamcity.gov.uk
It is not unusual for people taking part in exercises Opening times:
such as focus groups to be offered a financial Monday - Friday 9.00 am - 5.00 pm
incentive. Indeed offering money usually results in
a very high response rate. One concern here is the Address:
motivation of the people who attend. They may not Nottingham Language Solutions
be attending because they genuinely care about the Nottingham City Council
issue and may not therefore have a valuable input Corporate Services
to the discussion. However, this risk must be The Guildhall
balanced with the fact that it may be a useful Nottingham, NG1 4BT
means of engaging with people who would not
otherwise be interested in taking part. Again, care
needs to be taken to avoid putting participants' See Appendix Five for Nottingham Language
benefits at risk. Solutions guideline rates

Transport Provision And Car Parking

Ensure that transport is provided where necessary.
There will need to be adequate and safe parking
within easy reach of your venue.
Engaging With Diverse Groups
It is important that you are able to gain a broad
range of views from different groups in society
when consulting. You should be aware of the
barriers that may affect different people's ability to
contribute and consider ways of overcoming these.
Lack of trust can be a significant barrier to involving
diverse groups in public involvement processes.
Some suggestions for dealing with this challenge
are outlined below.
Speaking The Same Language
Nottingham City Councils' Language Solutions is an
internal agency offering a multilingual service for
both internal and external clients. Language
solutions provide:
• A professional quality driven and comprehensive
language service that meets the needs of both
the service providers and the user.
• Help and assistance on the most appropriate
format for a particular target audience.
• Expert translation and interpretation can be
provided in over 45 languages.
section five:
Translating
outcomes
into policy
You should be clear from the outset about how the information
that has been collected is to be used to inform policy, strategy
and project development.
Analysing and interpreting your findings
As already mentioned, data analysis can be a
complex process that requires knowledge and skills
in research methodology and statistical analysis. If
the skills are not available within your organisation, it
may be worth contracting this process out to an
external provider, or asking another partner who
does have the expertise to assist.
Qualitative data (from unstructured interviews, focus
groups etc) is the most difficult to analyse, as it is
not structured and there are no standard analysis
processes that you can follow. It is useful to
analyse qualitative data by themes that have
emerged, in order to identify key issues.
Quantitative data can be simpler to analyse,
although it requires a greater knowledge of
statistical procedures. For most cases, using
frequencies and percentages will suffice as many
people understand and can relate to this level of
information. Depending on the design of your
research, you should be able to drill down into your
data and produce cross-tabs - tables that break
down results into different categories for example,
age, gender and ethnicity. This helps you to identify
any significant patterns and trends, and can be
critical in ensuring that service delivery meets the
needs of all our communities.
Reporting on your results
Reporting on your results serves three main
purposes:
2. It informs managers and decision-makers of your
findings, or the outputs of the community
engagement, together with any appropriate
recommendations in terms of project, policy or
strategy development.
3. It is a mechanism for providing feedback to
participants in the engagement process.
4. It is a mechanism for you to share your findings
and experiences with partner agencies and other
interested stakeholders.
In light of this you may need to present your
findings in a variety of ways:
• A formal, detailed report written specifically for
your organisation - this will be the most complex
report and should include detailed analysis and
descriptive statistics if applicable, together with
key recommendations.
• A summary report that can be accessible to
participants, the public and partner
organisations.
When undertaking quantitative analysis you should
be cautious about the statistical significance of your
results. Wherever possible you should try to place
your results into context, for example comparing
satisfaction scores to national / family benchmarks /
trends or the previous results.
When interpreting and analysing findings it is
essential that you remain objective. Your analysis
may come under scrutiny from participants and
other key stakeholders, especially if the subject is
politically sensitive or controversial. You must
therefore ensure that you are able to justify any
conclusions that you come to.
Please remember that any actions/policies or
procedures may need Equality Impact Assessment's
to be undertaken prior to implementation. For
guidance on undertaking Equality Impact
Assessment's please contact the Action on Diversity
Team on 9157224 and/or visit the following page on
the Councils' Intranet site:
http://intra.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/corporate/equalities
/eias.asp
• Presentations are also a useful way of
communicating your findings. They help you to
reach sections of the community who you would
not normally reach, particularly if your
presentations are entertaining.
However, no matter how you are reporting on your
findings, you should always remember the following:
• Be clear and concise, avoid using jargon and
baffling people with confusing statistics -
including people who work within your
organisation. Lengthy papers are unlikely to be
read by many people and your key message can
be lost.
• A picture can paint a thousand words -
diagrams, charts and pictures have great visual
impact and can convey your message a lot more
strongly that text.
Departments' action findings from consultation, On-going All DepartmentsCustomer
(give feedback to stakeholders). Customer Services
Services to undertake "audit trails" to evidence
actions following consultation
All topline findings reports to be posted on Key On-going Consultation Strategy Group
2 Effective Consultation Intranet site. Member's to provide topline
2006/7/8
reports to Customer
Services
Undertake Departmental staff surveys, to All Departments
include corporate issues.