Participation Nation Reconnecting Citizens to the Public Realm Stella Creasy (Editor) Greg Power Karl Wilding Tony Juniper Viki Cooke Dave Prentis Douglas Alexander Richard Wilson Kirsty McNeill Sophia Parker Valerie Hannon Ben Page Michelle Harrison Véronique Jochum Nick Johnson Nicholas Jones Debbie Lee Chan Michelle Singer Susan Williams (Contributors) involve Participation Nation Reconnecting Citizens to the Public Realm This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/uk/). This means that you are free to: to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work. Under the following conditions: — Attribution. You must give the original author credit. — Non-Commercial. You may not use this work for commercial purposes. — No Derivative Works. You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. — For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the licence terms of this work. — Any of these conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder. — Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the author’s moral rights. Involve, 212 High Holborn, London WC1V 7BF 020 7632 0120 [email protected] www.involve.org.uk ISBN 978-0-9552421-4-4 2007 Contents Acknowledgements V Disclaimer V About Involve VII About IIPS VII About the authors IX Foreword by Rt Hon Hazel Blears MP XIII Introduction: Participation at the Core by Stella Creasy, Involve 1 Part one: Participation in Action: Policy and Practice 1 All together now? Empowerment, engagement and cohesion 9 Nick Johnson and Karin Gavelin 2 Learning to participate: reflections on the work of 17 innovative schools Valerie Hannon 3 Creating a climate for participation; global warming, the public 25 and the search for elusive solutions Tony Juniper 4 Participation and legitimacy: the case for good deliberation 31 Viki Cooke 5 Who benefits? The culture of public engagement 39 Ben Page and Debbie Lee Chan 6 The timesqueeze generation: what the public are doing with their 49 spare time Michelle Harrison and Michelle Singer II Contents Part two: Participation in Action: Responses across the Public Realm 7 House rules: making participation mean better representation 63 Greg Power 8 Local government and community engagement: how will 71 the white paper help? Cllr Susan Williams and Laurie Waller 9 The pressure’s on: the lessons from how NGO’s engage 79 with the public Kirsty McNeill 10 Participation - the role of the voluntary and community sector 87 Karl Wilding and Veronique Jochum 11 The media and public engagement – friend or foe? 95 Nick Jones Part three: The Public Realm Responds: Reconnecting with the Public 12 Participation: a new operating system for public services? 103 Sophia Parker 13 Experts and navigators: public services in a participatory society 113 Dave Prentis 14 Politics and political engagement: for the public good? 121 Rt Hon Douglas Alexander MP 15 Critical mass: broadening the reach of public engagement 127 across society Richard Wilson and Alice Casey Part four: Participation Nation – The Seminars 16 Better things to do with our time? A Conservative vision 135 of citizenship Oliver Letwin MP, Bill Wiggin MP, Mary-Ann Sieghart and Ben Page; chair: Richard Wilson 17 Myspace not yours? Public engagement and the 137 YouTube generation Ros Taylor, Iain Dale, Tom Steinberg, Nigel Dacre and Oswin Baker; chair: Richard Wilson Contents III 18 Better things to do with our time? A progressive vision 139 of citizenship Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP, Polly Toynbee, Tim Horton and Ben Page; chair: Stella Creasy 19 Competing for airtime: is the future of participation corporate, 141 social or political? Rt Hon John Denham MP, Arlo Brady, Andy Martin, Scott Keiller, Polly Billington and Simon Atkinson; chair: Stella Creasy IV Acknowledgements V Involve and IIPS would like to thank all the authors who have contributed their time and ideas to make this publication possible. Involve also thanks all the speakers of the four Participation Nation seminars that took place between March and May 2007, and Ben Page and Debbie Lee Chan at Ipsos MORI who generously contributed time and financial support to make the seminars happen. Personal thanks also got to Ali Howes, Edward Andersson and Alice Casey for this assistance with the seminars and this publication. In addition we thank Susannah Wight who copyedited the book. Disclaimer The views presented in this pamphlet are those of the authors and speakers and should not be interpreted as the opinions of Involve or IIPS. V1 About Involve VII Involve is a not-for-profit organisation specialising in understanding public engagement in all its forms. The organisation was set up by a number of leading practitioners and researchers in the public participation field and is chaired by Geoff Mulgan. Involve provides advice, training, research, events and networking services to organisations and individuals interested in public participation. The organisation focuses on the practical reality of public participation and has four core activities: — Advocacy – building the case for genuine citizen empowerment — New Thinking – improving understanding of what works in public engagement — Better Practice – supporting institutions and citizens to engage effectively — Networking – bringing people from the participation and empowerment field together. Involve’s work is supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. About IIPS The Institute for Insight in the Public Services (IIPS) develops and promotes citizen insight to support the transformation of public service delivery in the UK. VIII About the authors IX Douglas Alexander MP is the Labour MP for Paisley & Renfrewshire South. He is currently the secretary of state for international development. Alice Casey is a researcher for Involve. Viki Cooke co-founded Opinion Leader. Viki has played a leading role in pioneering deliberative methods to help shape policy including citizens’ juries, citizens’ forums and citizens’ summits. Stella Creasy is head of research and development for Involve. Karin Gavelin is a researcher for Involve. Valerie Hannon is the director of strategy for the Innovation Unit, a not-for-profit organisation promoting innovation in children’s services and the public sector. Michelle Harrison is the chair of the Institute for Insight in the Public Services (IIPS) and a director at Henley Centre HeadlightVision and BMRB. Véronique Jochum is a research officer at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO). She leads the research team’s work on social capital and active citizenship. Nick Johnson is the former head of policy for the Commission for Racial Equality and is a leading writer and commentator on issues of integration, equality and identity. Nicholas Jones was a BBC industrial and political correspondent for 30 years (1972–2002) and has written extensively on the relationship between politicians and the news media. X About the authors Tony Juniper is director of Friends of the Earth. He has been a leading figure in many of the main environmental campaigns of recent times. Debbie Lee Chan is a research director within the Participation Unit at Ipsos MORI. Kirsty McNeill sat on the coordination team of Make Poverty History. She is a Labour councillor and the parliamentary candidate for Bermondsey and Old Southwark. Ben Page is chairman of Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute, and managing director of Ipsos MORI Public Affairs. Sophia Parker is an adviser on person-centred innovation and co-production to a range of organisations. She is also an associate at the think tank Demos. Greg Power is a director of Global Partners and Associates. He was previously a special adviser to Rt Hon Robin Cook MP and Rt Hon Peter Hain MP. Dave Prentis is the general secretary of UNISON. He is president of Unity Trust Bank. Michelle Singer is head of knowledge venturing at Henley Centre HeadlightVision. Laurie Waller is a researcher for Involve. Karl Wilding is head of research at NCVO, where he directs a research programme around issues including the size, scope and value of voluntary and community organisations. Susan Williams is leader of Trafford Council and has been a serving councillor for nine years. Richard Wilson is director of Involve. XI XII Foreword XIII By Rt Hon Hazel Blears MP These are exciting times for those of us who are committed to community empowerment. As a nation we are currently renegotiating what it means to be a good citizen in the 21st century. The topic of this pamphlet could not have been more timely. Policy making and politics is about finding shared solutions to the shared problems our nation faces. And whether obesity, climate change or terrorism, there are no shortage of issues to be addressed in the modern world. Yet I believe we can also find solutions to these problems by tapping the vast reserve of passion, knowledge and wisdom that resides in the British population. So over the past ten years this government has sought to forge a new relationship between citizens and the state. From the national level – as set out in the Governance of Britain green paper – to the arena of local community – as outlined in the recent Empowerment Plan – we have devised wide ranging changes which bring decisions and power closer to citizens and the elected officials who represent them. The arguments for and against community empowerment have bounced back and forth over the past years. My firm conviction is that the time for talk is over. I have a fundamental belief in the ability of people to work together – a belief grounded in my experience as Secretary of State, as an MP and as a citizen. I got involved in politics because of my belief in the power of local activism, in local decision making and action to achieve change. People are not the problem, they are the solution. Yet for this to be the case we need to take concrete steps to ensure that our diverse communities are empowered to make a difference.