21 August 2008What is Sevenoaks District Residents' Panel?
What is the Panel used for?
Who is on the Panel?
How does the Panel work?
Further information
What is Sevenoaks District Residents' Panel?
The Residents' Panel is a consultative panel of approximately 1,000 local residents which aims to give local people a chance to have their say about life in the District and local public services.
Sevenoaks District Council is committed to engaging with local people and listening to their views on the issues that affect their lives. Consulting and involving the public, service users, local businesses and others is a key core activity for local authorities. There are also very good practical reasons for setting up a Panel, which include:
Who is on the Panel?
The members of the Sevenoaks District Residents' Panel are from a range of backgrounds from all over the District. The Panel is broadly representative (in terms of gender, age, economic status and ward) of the District's adult population as a whole and can provide a reliable cross-section of local views.
How does the Panel work?
The District Council set up its first ever Citizens' Panel in September 2002, after invitations and questionnaires were sent out randomly to residents across the District. In addition, to supplement the Panel, hard-to-reach individuals were recruited on a face-to-face basis.
The Panel is maintained to involve around 1,000 local people. The Panel provides a unique opportunity to gain the views and opinions of a cross-section of the local community on a regular basis. The views gained through the Panel are fed into all aspects of the District Council's decision making.
During 2005 the Panel was refreshed, we gave those who were already members of the Panel the option to stay, and also recruited new members to ensure the Panel is broadly representative of the District's adult population.
Sevenoaks District Council has worked with independent research companies specialising in consultation, to manage the Panel.
Consultation with the whole Panel generally takes places two or three times a year.
The method of consultation will generally be postal survey.
A survey may include questions from a number of District Council services and/or partner organisations.
Parts of the Panel may be used for other forms of consultation, such as focus groups.
What have the Panel told us?
Contact the Panel Co-ordinator
