Consultation methods and procedures
To help maintain quality standards in our consultation work, we have published procedures and guidance that is designed to support staff in meeting our quality standards
Individual consultation exercises
Once a service has decided to carry out a consultation exercise, the service manager must ensure that the details of the exercise are entered onto their service plan. These are:
- the title of the exercise
- the name of the responsible officer
- the purpose of the exercise - what is being consulting about and why
- the timescales of the consultation - the start and end dates of the exercise
- details of who will be consulted
- the consultation method that will be used - for example postal, telephone or on-line questionnaires, face-to-face or telephone interviews etc
- who the results of the exercise will be reported to - for example, the name of the select committee, executive director or member who will receive or approve the consultation findings.
When the consultation exercise has been completed and the reports etc written, further information is added to the service plan:
- the findings of the exercise - a summary of the views gathered
- changes to the service as a result of the consultation - a description of what has or will be done to change or improve the service, policy or project following the exercise.
We use this information from service plans to compile our annual consultation plan and publish information on consultation exercises on the internet.
Ongoing engagement with user groups
Many services have user groups that provide regular feedback on how well the service is meeting customers' needs and on specific issues.
Service managers complete the user group section on their service plan for each group the service works with, giving:
- the title of group
- the purpose of the group - the reason for the group's existence e.g. a specific area's tenant association or day-centre user group
- contact information - the name, telephone number and email address of the council officer who acts as the contact point for the group
- details of the meeting arrangements - information on the frequency of the group's meetings e.g. monthly, fortnightly etc
- the membership criteria - the criteria for attending the meeting e.g. need to be a resident of the area or user of a day-centre.
These details are published on the internet to assist service users who may wish to get in touch with the groups that speak on their behalf, and to show the full range of groups we consult with.