Community Consultation

Carrying out a consultation is a great way of finding out the needs and views of your community. If applying for funding it can be a great way of showing evidence of a need for your project, it can provide evidence or support for a campaign, gathering information and feelings about a particular topic or service, keeping in touch with customers, residents or communities, carrying out a village appraisal or making or when considering options for policy proposals or new schemes.

 To carry out a consultation you must have clear objectives for your consultation. You will need to these to help you decide what you need to find out and therefore what you need to ask. Do you want to inform people or ask their opinions or is it simply about engaging the community in your project?

The process of a consultation does not just have to be a questionnaire! There are lots of ways to consult people and it is limited only by your imagination. The Cabinet Office has a lot of information on various methods.

You will need to establish the stakeholders and remember to be inclusive of the diverse community in your area. Actively involve groups within the community who you have not previously engaged with such as young people. Different groups have different preferences and you may need to use different methods to reach them, think about things which may appeal to these groups. Make sure the consultation is written in plain language and there is as little technical jargon as possible. Consider any arrangements for interpreters.

Make it easy for respondents to participate, if you are sending out questionnaires include a stamped addressed envelope or give people an incentive to reply by providing a prize draw.   

You will also need to think about the practicalities. Establish a deadline for the process this will help you use the data effectively, tie up loose ends and prevent the project from going cold. 

5 Things you should know before you start

• What the purpose of the exercise is, how will you use the results
• Who you are going to consult
• That you have brought out the most appropriate issues in respect to your objectives
• That you have chosen the right methods for the groups you will be consulting
• What expenses will be incurred and how they will be met

5 Things you should tell the people you are consulting before you start

• Who is involved in the consultation and the reasons for their contribution
• What the purpose of the exercise is and how  will the results affect used
• How the results will be fed back to those who took part and others
• Who they can contact in relation to the consultation
• That the results will be anonymous