Engaging Devon –
Devon County Council’s strategy for
engaging effectively
A Strategy (plan) about how Devon County
Council (DCC) plans to engage.
Published for consultation: January 2013
Contents
What is in this strategy (plan)
1.
Introduction
2.
What is good engagement?
3.
Why do we engage?
4.
Who do we engage with?
5.
How do we engage?
6.
What are we trying to make happen
now?
7.
How will we do this?
8.
How we have developed this strategy
9.
Important dates
10.
Other information and contacts
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If you need more information or a different format
phone 0845 155 1015,
email [email protected] ,
text 80011 (start your message with the word
Devon),
textphone 0845 155 1020 or
write to Devon County Council, County Hall,
Topsham Road, Exeter EX2 4QD.
1. Introduction
About the strategy (plan)
This strategy (plan) tells you how we will
engage across the work we do.
Making sure that where possible we work with
our partners on engagement.
We want to engage and work more closely
with communities and other local
organisations.
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We wish to engage and work more closely
with the communities we serve, working with
our partners and other local organisations to
develop services, these include;
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Voluntary organisations
health service
police service
fire service
other councils and agencies
This Engagement Strategy (plan) links to the
Devon County Council strategic plan.
For us to support people well we must engage
with the people of Devon in the right way.
2. What is good engagement?
In this strategy (plan), when we talk about
engagement we mean all the ways that people
are able to have their say and give their views.
Having the opportunity to give their views lets
people be involved in the decisions the council
makes.
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When we engage with people we will be clear
about;
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why we are engaging
who we are engaging with
how we are engaging
what we expect to happen
We will think about and act on what people
have said.
We will let people know the outcomes of
engagement activities (work) - we call this a
You Said We Did way of working.
To give local people and communities more
say and control over local services we will use
6 values when we engage with them.
Clear
We will be clear about how people can be
involved and make sure people understand.
Open
We will say what we can and cannot change.
We will make sure there is good information to
help people understand and be engaged.
Inclusive
We will make sure that we find the right people
to involve, including people who are hard to
reach.
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Responsive
We will listen, think about and act on what
people have said.
We will be able to show you how your views
have helped us make decisions.
Sustainable
We will engage now and in the future to make
sure that people have a say in what we do.
Partnership
We will make sure our involvement work or
activities are planned in partnership with
stakeholders.
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3. Why do we engage?
We engage with the public, service users,
carers and people who work with us.
We do this to develop services for people in
the right way and with the money there is to
spend.
4. Who do we engage with?
We will engage with people who are interested
in the work we do, including;
• Local people of all ages.
• Service users, unpaid carers and people
who may use services in the future.
• Vulnerable people and groups that are hard
to reach.
• Communities.
• Representatives of council tax payers like
your Local Councillor.
• Elected representatives like your Member of
Parliament (MP).
• Businesses and voluntary organisations.
• Our staff and partners.
• Other authorities and public service
providers.
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We understand that some people or
communities may be harder to reach than
others.
5. How do we engage?
There are 4 types of engagement or
involvement which we may use;
• Informing - when giving information.
• Consulting - when we ask for and get
peoples views.
• Participation - when we talk together and
share views.
• Co-production - working together to make
decisions.
The wheel of involvement below shows that we place equal
value on each type.
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We will use different ways to engage people
that supports their needs and lets them have a
voice.
Some of the ways we will involve and
engage with people and communities:
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focus groups
public meetings
co-production workshops
user reference groups
events
stakeholder events
6. What are we trying to make happen now?
When we engage with people and
communities, it will help Devon County
Council to;
• let everyone know what we are doing and
why
• work with communities
• build strong links with local communities
and organisations
• make good decisions that are informed by
engagement
• continue to develop services
Engaging with groups and communities will
help them to be involved in making decisions
and
Have more choice and control over the way in
which local services are shaped and delivered.
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By engaging with the people of Devon we will
find out more about the services they want
and need.
We will provide services using the money that
there is to spend.
We will make sure the services are value for
money.
We aim to improve peoples lives and make
Devon a better place by protecting the most
vulnerable.
Engaging with all the people of Devon will be
key to making Devon County Councils
Strategic Plan work.
We will engage about;
• helping communities to help themselves
• when councils are making decisions,
providing services and how well we are
doing
• when savings need to be made from
budgets
• when we think about changing the way we
provide services.
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7. How will we do this?
We will bring together engagement activities
across the Council.
We will produce a calendar or list of
engagement activity.
We will make sure people are enabled to be
involved in engagement and share their views.
The Council will work with organisations and
communities to engage on;
• Council decisions
• services
• how well we are doing
We will make sure people know what is
happening.
We will tell people what we have done and
what we are going to do - we use a You Said
We Did way of working.
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We will work with local communities to get
information to help them make the right
decisions.
We wish to work more closely with
communities, our partners and other
organisations to develop services.
8. How we have developed this strategy.
This strategy has been written by Devon
County Council in partnership with Public
Health (NHS Devon, Plymouth and Torbay)
and other stakeholders from the voluntary and
community sector.
Devon Association of Councils for
Voluntary Service (DACVS)
This partnership works to support the
voluntary and community sector to develop
and improve its contribution to the lives of
local people in Devon.
Devon Consortium
Set up in January 2005 to provide a body with
the skills, expertise, authority and mandate to
work for and in partnership with the voluntary
and community sector (VCS) in Devon.
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Fusion
The principal user led organisation (ULO) for
Devon. Fusion brings service users and their
carers into its day to day running.
Fusion brings service users and carers
together to work with public sector agencies,
like NHS Devon and Devon County Council,
as well as working with other charities and
organisations.
Voluntary Voice
A DACVS project which aims to enable the
voice of the voluntary and community sector to
be strengthened and increase the number of
voluntary and community groups involved in
partnerships, communities of interest and
forums.
Representatives are mandated through fair
and transparent election processes and have
clear methods for communicating within the
sector.
9. Important Dates
7th January 2013
The strategy (plan) will be published for public
consultation
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29th March 2013
The public consultation ends
What happens after the consultation ends?
We may need to change some of the dates
below.
We will know if we need to change any dates
when we have received all the feedback from
the consultation.
15th May 2013
All the feedback will be looked at and written
down in a report.
You will be able to look at the report on the
website www.devon.gov.uk/getinvolved
30th June 2013
Using the feedback from people we will make
any changes needed to the strategy (plan).
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You will be able to look at the strategy (plan)
on the website www.devon.gov.uk/getinvolved
31st July 2013
We will start working to make the strategy
(plan) happen.
10. Other information and contacts
To find out more information about how to
be involved in Devon County Council
engagement activity please look at our
website.
www.devon.gov.uk/index/consultation.htm
You can find out what is happening now and
how you can be involved.
Look for feedback from consultations that
have already happened.
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Let us know that you would like to take part in
consultations in the future.
You can also contact Devon Voice Residents
Panel at;
www.devon.gov.uk/index/devonvoice.htm
Devon Voice Residents Panel is a group made
up of over 1000 people from across Devon
that represent the people of Devon.
You can write to;
Corporate Strategic Engagement
Strategic Intelligence
Service for Communities
Devon County Council
County Hall
Topsham Road
Exeter EX2 4QD
You can e-mail us for more information at;
[email protected]
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