In the lexicon of modern politics, the phrases ‘community engagement’ and ‘consultation’ are all too often overused, lacking both clarity and commitment from those who spout it. The fact that they are a tick box exercise does none of us any favours; it feeds public cynicism and tends to turn off the residents we want to work with.
So, the challenge is to demonstrate exactly what community engagement and genuine consultation means, what it looks and feels like to local people, councillors and officers.
In Lambeth, it means 6,000 tenants working to develop what’s now been adopted as the Lambeth Housing Standard.
It means 18 months of intense collaboration to make significant savings without closing any libraries, using volunteers alongside staff and making the buildings centres of the community.
It means a pioneering project to hand over the management of parks and green spaces to local people in cooperation with us in the town hall – and if there’s any doubt about the success of community engagement, just look at the string of awards for Van Gogh Walk in Lambeth or the Edible Bus Stop.
The plans for redevelopment in Brixton have been created with and by local residents, businesses, arts and community groups. Traders, shopkeepers and entrepreneurs are running business improvement districts, setting their own agenda and determining their own priorities.
There are other examples across the borough where ‘engagement’ has covered the sharper end of service provision for health and social care. Next year the Young Lambeth Cooperative will take financial control and management of some services they use.
Be under no illusion, community engagement is hard work. It requires a massive shift in the gears of local government and there’s no doubt that for some people that’s a challenge. It calls for commitment, compromise and confidence from citizens and their councils. Above all, it’s about listening and learning – the range of engagement and influence is as diverse and complex as the projects and people involved.
What I’ve learned in Lambeth is that these projects have all enhanced services, empowered individuals and led to a greater enabling role for the council. For elected members that means often being the bridge between local people and town hall officers. For staff, it means a new way of working and perhaps a reminder of what public service really means. For local communities, it means influence, renewal and an opportunity for new faces and voices to be seen and heard. We’ve all learned that by asking different questions we’ll get creative answers; we’ve learned to let go a little, to trust each other more and not be wedded to hard, fast outcomes but rather the values that shape them along the way.
Who’d have thought that against a backdrop of economic and social fragility, hand-wringing about political inertia and dislocation, there’s a quiet revolution that’s reshaping public services.
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Lib Peck is leader of Lambeth council. She tweets @CllrPeck and is speaking at next week’s Winning With Women conference on Leading change in communities: Running a successful campaign. Sign up for your ticket here.
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