Informed decision-making, community engagement and participation workstream report

7. Participation and Engagement Framework

Public Engagement means better services

Serena Nusing, Glasgow School of Art for Police Scotland (2019)

7.1 A meaningful and effective engagement involves genuine dialogue, respect, integrity, transparency and accountability. It provides an opportunity for all people to shape services and influence decisions made. Evidence and insight from engagement helps identify practical solutions and determine changes required to meet local or national needs or demand. In a policing context, it is important to consider power and relationships with participants of engagement processes. Processes should not exclude people who have contact with policing in ways that involve any criminality or incidents only for this reason. Engagement should be agile and flexible, taking a holistic approach to ensure that services are better for all.

"People's needs are better met when they are involved in an equal and reciprocal relationship with professionals and others, working together to get things done."^[27]

From consulting to involving

7.2 Formal consultations with fixed timeline and approach to determine the level of support or agreement share a limited level of decision-making with the public and communities.

7.3 Emerging democratic practice highlights a range best practice approaches which can be delivered to enable better outcomes from engagement processes, such as:

7.3.1 Shared community spaces for dialogue and communication;

7.3.2 Idea generation – open, visible and safe space for problem identification and creative thinking;

7.3.3 This can be supported by further engagement through surveys, focus groups and workshops to test concepts, capture concerns and benefits from a wider audience;

7.3.4 Citizen experience mapping and behavioural research - understanding interactions with technology e.g. community interaction with using digital assistants;

7.3.5 Towards agreed recommendations, principles or other outputs informed by citizens working together with subject-matter experts.

Levels of participation, adapted for Police Scotland – based on Arnstein’s Ladder of Participation

Level of decision making power

Empower

• Allow participants to make, create, share and take action and decisions together. Delegate decision-making in the hands of people, groups and organisations.

Involve

• Actively involve people throughout the whole process- from early stages and planning to implementation and evaluation. Encourage interaction between everyone and facilitate exchange of ideas. 

Discover

• Identify what the problem is, thing which work well and things that don’t.
• Understand problems in-depth and use information gathered to inform and make decisions.

Review

• Gather feedback to inform a final decision.
• Use in decision-making process after having determined what the problem is.

Inform

• A one-way conversation.
• The public is not involved in decision-making process.

7.4 It is important to stress that designing meaningful public engagement processes takes time, resources and expertise. However, not all public engagement requires maximum use of resource to achieve quality outcomes for the organisation, colleagues or the public; importantly, lack of resource should never stop any engagement, as some public engagement is better than none at all.

7.5 The level of participation (above) and the methods to achieve the desired outcome require careful planning and consideration to ensure the right methods are utilised from the outset – this ensures any insight, data, results or recommendations are robust and can stand up to scrutiny, by being clear about why approaches were taken, and puts the care and welfare of participants at the centre. The level of participation also depends on the purpose of engagement and what the questions are, as this will determine the nature of involvement.

7.6 Careful consideration should be given if the process and those involved can influence the issue to be considered, policy to be developed, or decision to be made. Choosing the right 'level of participation' ensures transparency of dialogue and will determine the most appropriate methods to use.

7.7 The table below seeks to set out explorative examples of the levels of participation and what parameters are relevant to each. This is not by any means a full picture of all participation methods available within different contexts, rather it seeks to show by example each level of participation.

Inform

Distribute or make information accessible in regards to policies, decisions, services and legislation.  

Broadcasting messages or information when people are not involved in the decision-making process.

Engagement methods: Website, Social media, Bulletins, Reports, Open data, Media releases, Speeches, Conferences.

Review and influence

Gather feedback to inform final decisions.

Use in a decision-making process after having determined the problem or issue and have identified participants in the process.

Engagement methods: Consultation, Survey, Working groups, Meetings, Online feedback and discussion, Usability testing.

Discover and collaborate

Gain insight and feedback to inform decisions. Encourage interaction and communication between participants and facilitate exchange of ideas.

Use to discover and identify what the problem is, things which work well and things that don’t. 
Understand problems more in-depth and use this information and insights gathered to inform and/or make decisions.  

Engagement methods: Observation, Survey, Focus groups, One-to-one meetings, Digital engagement, Prototyping, Public meetings and workshops, Online feedback and discussion, Multi-stakeholder forums, Advisory panels, Consultative committees.

Involve

Actively involve people throughout the whole process.

Use it to involve individuals, groups and stakeholders in the whole process – from early stages and planning to implementation and evaluation.
 
Work directly with the public and stakeholders throughout the process to ensure issues and concerns are understood or considered. Two-way or multi-way communication where learning takes place for everyone. Share data and insight in partnership working to ensure development of mutually agreed solutions or joint plans.

Engagement methods: Co-design, Service design projects, Participatory methods, Deliberative dialogue, Citizens’ Assemblies or other forms of mini-publics.

Empower

Allow participants to make, create, share and take action and decisions together. 

Delegate decision-making to the hands of people, groups and organisations on a particular issue.  
 
Genuine trust and desire to collaborate and cede power for better outcomes. Moves from ‘us and them’ or ‘service provider’ and ‘service user’ to ‘all of us together’.

Engagement methods: Co-production, Integration of stakeholders into governance structures, New forms of governance which respect relationships with public and communities and their expertise.

7.8 Accessible and inclusive engagement

7.8.1 To create good services and maintain levels of trust and confidence in policing, it's necessary to know what people need. Policing serves diverse communities across Scotland – it's vital that inclusion is at the heart of all consultation and engagement processes. Sometimes it will be necessary to adapt the consultation or engagement process, such as for ensuring that people with disabilities or people affected by marginalisation and social injustice, such as people affected by poverty, can take part meaningfully.

7.8.2 Make sure you don't exclude any people in the way you do engagement – take great care to plan your engagement, recruit participants, choose locations or design in-person sessions. Engage with experts or people with lived experience to help think about what a safe space needs to include for people to be able to participate comfortably. The Equality Act 2010 applies to public engagement and thought must, by law, be given to how engagement with people with disabilities or other complex needs is facilitated, taking into account any reasonable adjustments.

7.8.3 Including all people from diverse backgrounds in engagement will ensure:

7.8.3.1 An understanding of how people with different needs or abilities might use or be impacted by your proposal as well as the barriers they face;

7.8.3.2 Consideration to refine your design, functionality, content or service delivery based on how different users experience them; and

7.8.3.3 Your engagement meets best practice guidance accessibility standards and the legislative requirements in place to support equality, diversity and inclusion e.g. Equality Act 2010.

7.8.4 Where possible, it's always best to go beyond the minimum standard expected by law by taking a human-centred approach to finding out what works best for the people you wish to involve – and then implementing this and keeping under regular review.

7.8.5 Communities across Scotland are made up of diverse groups, each with differing needs and backgrounds. It is vital that engagement does not stigmatise by assuming that a person belonging to a particular group will have certain needs based on any pre-conceived ideas. A policing service suited to the varying needs of the public and communities across Scotland requires representation within engagement from people who are often seldom-heard. Take a human-first approach and avoid making judgements at all stages throughout the engagement process.

7.8.6 Ensure compliance with the Equality Act 2010, a legal framework to tackle disadvantage and discrimination that protects the rights of people grouped under nine protected characteristics. The protected characteristics are listed within the Act as:

• Age
• Disability
• Gender reassignment
• Marriage and civil partnership
• Pregnancy and maternity
• Race
• Religion or belief
• Sex
• Sexual orientation.

It is essential that the views of all, including protected groups, are represented and considered.

7.8.7 Police Scotland, as per the legislative requirement placed upon the organisation by the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 – and subsequently amended in 2015 and 2016, is required to publish equality outcomes and report on progress. Police Scotland and the SPA currently have eight equality outcomes:

• 1. Reporting Hate Incidents – Confidence and Support;
• 2. Accessibility of Services and Communication;
• 3. Meaningful Engagement;
• 4. Violence Against Women and Girls – Confidence and Support;
• 5. Workforce Insights;
• 6. Leadership;
• 7. Officer/Staff Retention; and
• 8. Recruitment and Progression.

7.8.8 Children and young people in Scotland are an integral part of our communities.

7.8.9 There are approximately 1 million children under 18 years of age in Scotland from diverse backgrounds and with differing needs. Children have rights enshrined in law under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). This is due to be incorporated into domestic law in Scotland in the coming months, which will increase the protections available to children under the age of 18.

7.8.10 Children and young people often say they are described as being important for the future. However, there is much frustration with this statement among children and young people as they are here now and should be valued on the unique contributions they can bring to decision-making and service delivery, so that services can be better at meeting their needs.

7.8.11 Scotland has a proud history of involving children in the design of services, policy and wider democracy. Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to deliver community learning services such as youth work where much of this involvement practice is delivered. There are local structures and groups in place across Scotland which can act as a conduit to engaging directly with children and young people and it is important for those designing consultation and engagement programmes to ensure these local networks are fully understood.

7.8.12 At a national level, there are organisations like Young Scot, the Scottish Youth Parliament and the Children's Parliament who are experts in involving children and young people in participative processes for major strategic programmes. Police Scotland is seeking to establish a new national model for the participation of children and young people in our service delivery and this is progressing through governance.

7.8.13 Police Scotland has developed a professional team with a lot of experience and expertise in facilitating high-quality engagement with children and young people. The team work closely with the national Children and Young People's team based within Partnerships, Prevention and Community Wellbeing Division. Any service area looking to involve children and young people in their engagement process should work with the professional team.

7.9 Ethical guidelines for engagement

7.9.1 Engagement and research should aim to maximise benefit for individuals and society;

7.9.2 Engagement and research should be conducted with integrity, fairness and respect;

7.9.3 The wellbeing, privacy and human rights of individuals and groups should be protected at all times.

7.9.4 We have a responsibility to make sure the physical, social and psychological wellbeing of participants is not negatively affected by the engagement activity:

7.9.4.1 Physical: involves keeping participants safe from physical harm. Engagement activities should be carried out in safe locations. When using non-police venues, we should ensure there are unobstructed fire exists and should familiarise participants with the locations of fire exists and fire assembly points. Consider first aid and how participants will travel to and from the location. Risk assessment that everyone facilitating the engagement activity understands is vital.

7.9.4.2 Social: ensure that the activity will not have a harmful affect to participants' sense of belonging to their community. Avoid any activity which risks causing conflicts between neighbours or which singles out a particular thematic group, such as Gypsy Travellers, Refugees and asylum seeking people or people from religious groups. Great care and expertise is required to work alongside people from these groups to ensure all needs are met. Check-in and refine as you go and ensure that anonymity can be guaranteed where required.

7.9.4.3 Psychological: some engagement might involve discussing potentially upsetting issues, such as the impact of crime, wellbeing, racism, etc. Be mindful that engagement which explores sensitive subjects may cause significant distress, particularly when the activity is perceived as an unnecessary intrusion into participants' private life. Attempt to find ways to minimise any distress caused to participants and signpost to relevant support agencies. Consider holding engagement sessions at suitable partner agency venue so that support is on hand if needed. Digital engagement (online workshops, for example) should be avoided if the nature of the content being discussed is sensitive or could cause further trauma for people. Ensure that full information is provided about what participants can expect, so they can make an informed choice about whether they wish to participate, or not. All of this is about being aware of people and their individual needs and taking a human-first approach.

7.9.5 Participation in engagement activities should be based on freely given informed consent. This should be explained in appropriate detail, and in language that people understand, what the activity is about, why it is being carried out, how results will be used. Data should be processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and GDPR principles.

7.10 It is important to manage expectations before, throughout and after the engagement process. For example, the results of engagement activities have the potential to inform police strategy, improve services e.g. through the implementation of new technology, or find solutions to community-identified challenges. It's important to keep in mind that not all public engagement activities will bring a direct change or improvement to the lives of the participants or the communities to which they belong. Sometimes changes won't be seen or experienced for some time due to the complex operating environment of policing and the service's governance. Feedback to participants, the people who have been involved or influenced the engagement process in some way, is vital to ensure ethical practice whilst responding to individuals' needs; it's a core part of maintaining robust engagement activities that make a meaningful impact.

7.11 It is vital that the senior lead for the engagement process ensures, where appropriate and proportionate to the engagement being carried out, that there is a Data Protection Impact Assessment and Equality and Human Rights Impact Assessment in place which appropriately protects participants. Any risks should always be mitigated before the engagement process begins. Everyone involved in facilitating the process should be aware of what steps should be taken to minimise impact, as identified by the assessment process. Some geographic areas affected means it will sometimes also be appropriate to complete an Island Communities Impact Assessment.

7.12 It is important that those facilitating engagement processes are open and realistic about expected outcomes and influence of the activity. Involve participants and decision-makers from the start by exploring what success would look like for them, therefore this can help inform next steps.

7.13 Engagement Road Map Planning Tool

7.14 An engagement planning tool has been created to support decision-makers and others involved in commissioning or leading public engagement to consider some of the critical components of high-quality engagement processes.

7.15 A visual is shared below

Mapping tool to support planning for engagement processes

Public engagement considerations

Project timeline

It’s vital to consider early in the process what the approach will be for engagement and ensure enough time is available for the outcomes outputs you seek.
Good quality engagement can take time. Make sure that the appropriate time is built in so that engagement is meaningful for everyone.

• Consider timings – strategic
• Milestones
• Internal sign off processes known so far on either side
• When do we need to do this by?
• How can we be flexible in the approach taken?

Outputs from process

What will outputs look like and what will be required for any sign-off, governance or scrutiny to tell the story of the engagement activity and what people said.

• What will be useful?
• What data is required to make decisions?
• What do we need for scrutiny?
• What’s the purpose of each output?
• What is good practice from elsewhere?

Decision-making

Clear roles and responsibilities mapped for the duration of the projects. Consider who is needed for the process, and where will strategic buy-in or support be sought from?

• Project leads & strategic support
• Who needs to be kept up to date?
• Consider sign-off process & next steps
• Where does power lie?

Objectives – purpose & outcomes

Thinking about what success will look like at the end of the engagement process will support a wider contextual view of what is required to get there. It’s important to be clear from the start about the objectives of the engagement process to avoid tokenism and increase participant trust in the process.

• Where do we want to be at the end?
• What do we want at the end that we don’t have now?
• What does success look like?
• Why are we involving people in this?
• Are the key people bought in?

Topic & context

Consideration of the issue or problem seeing engagement for. This will support the design of a high-quality engagement process by supporting clear articulation of public engagement methods for which propose, for the right issue and audience.

• What is the issue & its history?
• Key questions?
• What’s in & out of scope?
• What will happen with the insights from participants?
• Key local factors to be aware of
• What don’t we know?
• How does this fit with strategy & other activities?
• Is the organisation ready?

Stakeholders & communications

Stakeholders and wider communications are important considerations. Good communications can increase transparency and trust in the process and avoid cynicism from previous negative engagement experiences.

• Who is important to engage to ensure involvement?
• What are the ways we engage different stakeholders?
• Existing channels for engagement
• Are new engagement channels required?
• External advisory & academic research
• What does our communications plan look like?

Recruitment of participants

Important to discuss participant engagement expectations as part of the recruitment approach. Consider number of participants and engaging wider through digital strategies.

• What is the local context?
• How can we use digital to reach people?
• Is there a particular number of participants needed?
• What incentives are there for participants?
• How do we promote inclusion?
• Fairness, integrity & respect at heart