Keep britain Tidy 21 Feb 2011

CARROT OR STICK? Behaviour change in a vanguard authority Keep Britain Tidy conference 21 February 2011 Daniel Ratchford - Strategic Director, Environment & Leisure

Smarter choices: policy context
Local government has always had two distinct – yet overlapping – roles: (1) delivering services, and (2) shaping people’s choices
Recent decades have focused on (1); so much so, that many recent commentaries on ‘behaviour change’ mistakenly treat (2) as something entirely new
But in fact, government has always focused on behaviour change
The recent debate about behaviour change is fundamentally about a ‘tilting’ of government approaches:
towards freedom, personalisation, and the right to choose
and away from top-down direction, uniformity, and coercion
And there are some interesting policy choices to make in all of this

Smarter choices: policy context

Smarter choices: Sutton’s approach
Sutton is widely recognised as a leader in the field of behaviour change
Our award-winning “ smarter choices ” programmes have provoked interest from around the world – especially Smarter Travel Sutton
But these are simply a refined and well-delivered example of a range of approaches that we have been using for a long time
We have learned some interesting lessons along the way
In particular, we think that behaviour change should focus on “more of the carrot, and less of the stick…”
Our approach is about working with our residents to enable them to make smarter choices about how they live their lives

Smarter choices: some examples In Sutton, we recognise that there is a wide scale of behaviour change approaches “ Carrots” “ Sticks” Events Community champions Physical changes One-to-ones Social advertising Peer pressure Education Financial incentives Making it easier Legislation Enforcement Fines Prosecution Naming and shaming Service changes Fees and charges

Smarter Travel Sutton
Our most successful smarter choices initiative - a three-year, £5m behaviour change programme delivered in partnership with TfL
Working with residents to enable them to make better choices about their travel
Encouraging them to walk, cycle and use public transport more (and their cars less)
The benefits are:
less congestion
lower carbon emissions
cheaper transport
better health

Smarter Travel Sutton
There are already positive outcomes:
a 6% reduction in car use
a 75% increase in cycling
a 16% increase in bus use
100% of schools covered by a school travel plan
16,000 employees covered by a workforce travel plan
Smarter Travel Sutton is the best-recognised brand in the borough, and has already won a host of industry awards
We are learning lessons from Smarter Travel Sutton to apply in our other smarter choices programmes

Smarter Travel Sutton Smarter Travel Sutton is “more of the carrot, and less of the stick…” “ Carrots” “ Sticks” Events Community champions Physical changes One-to-ones Social advertising Peer pressure Education Financial incentives Making it easier Legislation Enforcement Fines Prosecution Naming and shaming Service changes Fees and charges

Ten lessons from Smarter Travel
Be clear about the your objectives
Be transparent with residents
Segment your audience
Use a wide range of approaches
Find the movers and shakers in the population
Ensure you have the resources , time and commitment
Measure what works, and what doesn’t
Deliver in partnership with others, at a local level
Find ways of mainstreaming behaviour change
The most successful behaviour change campaigns aren’t about ‘tricking’ residents into doing things differently – they’re about working with them to enable them to make smarter choices

Smarter choices: other examples Our smarter choices initiatives give residents greater choice over their lives – and the ability to reassess some established habits and behaviours Choose to keep the streets clean… Choose to use SEN pick-up points… Choose to remain drug-free, and to stop smoking… Choose to eat more healthily… Choose to drive safely – or not at all… Choose to obey the law, and to report crime… Choose to behave more considerately… Choose to use your local shops… Choose to get involved in culture… Choose to take more exercise… Choose to access services over the web… Choose to try not to spread the flu… Choose to walk to school sometimes… Choose your own care package… Choose when you want to get pregnant… Choose to reduce, re-use and recycle… Choose to produce less carbon… Choose to learn… Choose to drink less alcohol… Please choose not to let your dog foul…

Smarter Streets: keeping Sutton tidy
Our newest behaviour campaign is around littering and street cleaning
For some time we’ve been encouraging people to be part of the team that keeps Sutton clean
Ideally, we’d like residents and business to:
drop less litter
tell us about it when they see it
sometimes pick some up
We’re now running some experiments around the borough in different approaches to community involvement in doing this…
… with lots of help, and lots of interest in the results

Our initial survey results of residents in our trial areas are fascinating, and encouraging:
60% are satisfied with the street cleaning service
The most common forms of litter are sweet wrappers, cans, bottles and fast food packaging
A quarter would be willing to report litterers
A third would be happy to take part in an occasional litter pick
Two thirds would be willing to pick up a piece of litter a day
The majority think that whoever drops litter should be responsible for picking it up…
… closely followed by the council

Smarter choices: Sutton’s approach

[email_address] www.twitter.com/danielratchford #behaviourchange www.sutton.gov.uk

Keep britain Tidy 21 Feb 2011

by Daniel Ratchford

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