Citizen Panels and Focus Groups

Report: 9
Date: 25 June 2003
By: Clerk

Summary

The Committee has previously considered a report from the Commissioner on this subject at its meeting of 27 February 2003. This report recommends that the MPA proceed with establishing an MPA/MPS citizens’ panel that can be consulted on MPA and MPS policing issues.

A. Recommendations

That

1. quotes from selected appropriate consulting firms in establishing a citizens’ panel be sought and a programme be implemented with the successful firm for the present fiscal year; and
2. relevant statutory authorities in London such as the Metropolitan Police Service, Greater London Authority, Association of London Government and others be consulted to assess the potential of cost-sharing partnerships in the on-going use of the citizens’ panel.

B. Background

1. The national survey of Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (Police Research Series, Paper 148, Home Office 2002), looked at how frequently partnerships used different consultation methods and how useful they found them. The following table shows the results:

2. The process by which the MPA fulfils its statutory duty to ‘obtain the views of the public about policing’ has largely focused on community consultation methods. This in turn has largely focused on just one structural mechanism, Community Police Consultative Groups.

3. As the above chart shows, there are many other legitimate and well-tested public feedback processes undertaken by statutory bodies. For example, the Metropolitan Police Service, Greater London Authority, Association of London Government and other bodies carry out pan-London attitude surveys, customer satisfaction surveys and the like on a regular basis. Similarly, local authorities carry out a variety of public surveys, focus groups, etc, at the borough level.

4. Resource pressures and Best Value requirements suggest the need for the MPA and Metropolitan Police Service to consider different models and techniques for obtaining the views of the public about policing.

5. Citizens or residents’ panels offer a number of advantages. They

• provide a reliable method of ensuring an inclusive cross section of local people,
• provide the MPA with ongoing easy access to citizens and can be used on a regular basis for different issues,
• can allow for more focused and intense discussion and recommendations around specific topics,
• can be carried out more quickly and permit a more rapid ‘quick-time’ response to particular issues,
• can be used to answer questionnaires (where a high response can be expected as the panel members have already agreed to take part), as well as for other forms of research, such as focus groups,
• make it possible to identify easily a particular population sub-group if the MPA wants to gain the knowledge of say, women or senior citizens, and
• they can be far less costly over time than a comparable one-off survey.

6. Establishing a panel, which can be between 750 to 8,000 in number, involves the following stages. The panel recruitment can be undertaken using a random sampling technique in person, by telephone, or by post. From those who reply positively, a representative sample for panel selection is then structured and matched with the local demographic data. Thirdly, regular surveys and focus groups can then be held on issues of interest. The results are then analysed and can be fed back to respondents via newsletters. The panel will need to be maintained and refreshed to avoid stagnation. In summary, citizens’ panels’ which offer the possibility of reliable and quantifiable findings, combine formal research methods with a wider participatory approach. They have been described as an effective method of deliberative democracy.

7. There are wide ranges of ways by which the MPA can use a citizens’ panel. For example it can:

• provide quick-time responses of public perceptions to particular and time sensitive policing issues,
• help the MPA understand better the policing needs of Londoners and the problems they experience,
• assess Londoners knowledge about policing services and the extent to which people know what is available and how to access it,
• assist in ensuring policing services are designed to meet public needs and priorities,
• identify public priorities for police spending,
• monitor satisfaction across the total population and with particular population sub-groups, including levels of satisfaction over time, as a measure of service improvement and identify causes of dissatisfaction,
• identify who uses police services and reasons for non-use,
• help set police services standards and evaluate specific quality initiatives.

8. Establishing and using a citizens’ panel cannot be undertaken by the MPA in-house. Considerable expertise in statistical methods of social survey techniques is required to cover such issues as proper sampling, panel structuring, questionnaire design, data population and processing and analysis.

9. The citizens’ panel will need to be large enough to capture statistically valid population sub-groups across London and to be able to carry out focused surveys or focus groups with particular groups such as ‘hard to reach’ communities. It is suggested that the MPA/MPS panel be around 1,000 people.

C. Equality and diversity implications

The use of a citizens’ panel will contribute significantly to the MPA’s efforts in ensuring that its approaches to consultation are inclusive of London’s diverse communities, and will contribute to the consultation requirement of the Race Relations (Amendments) Act 2000.

D. Financial implications

To be cost effective a citizens’ panel is seen as a long-term venture (i.e. a minimum of 4 years). The start-up costs of recruiting, selecting and maintaining the panel, including all sampling, design, printing, postage and panel profiling according to preliminary estimates from qualified companies can be between £50,000 to £70,000. Surveys of the full panel can cost anywhere from £10,000 to £20,000 and focus groups at around £1,000 each. First year costs therefore, including set-up and undertaking for example, two full surveys and five focus groups could cost an estimated £75,000 to £132,000. In subsequent years, operating costs drop to between £65,000 to £86,000. Costs to the MPA can be further reduced by seeking full-time partners or by selling space on the survey questionnaires on an ad-hoc basis. The financial implications arising from this report have already been budgeted for within this fiscal year and £80,000 has been set aside within the current budget.

E. Background papers

None.

F. Contact details

Report author: Tim Rees, MPA.

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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