We Live Here

The Government has high
expectations for localism

Saturday, 21 April 12

With neighbourhood planning
and budgeting ...


... they have given localities complex,
technical issues to manage.


And the decision-making
infrastructure is not always ready


If we can get participation right , it
will have huge beneﬁts for
systemic reform


Imagine...

... you’re bothered by young
people making noise in your
street, and you don’t complain.
Instead, you talk to other
residents, and start up a sports
club for them, with your
councillor co-ordinating local
public services to help out.


Imagine...

... you work for a health action
project, and rather than
spending money on leaﬂets and
advertising you have free access
to every civic network in your
area, and a trusted place to
reach thousands of active
citizens.


Imagine...

... you work for the council and
have to take a tough decision,
and your instant reaction is to
throw open all the evidence and
the context to councillors and
people in the community and
work with them to ﬁnd a
solution.


That’s the vision.


We’re not there yet.

People aren't
participating enough in
Text

their communities


Participation falls short in community action...

37%

Charities unable to fulﬁl their
goals due to lack of volunteers
63%

Source: National Survey of Charities and Social Enterprises, 2010


... and in the political system

Local election turnout
80

60

40

English mets
20 English districts
French cantons

0
1973 1976 1980 1982 1986 1988 1992 1995 1998 2000 2004 2008
Source: French elections: France-politique.fr; UK elections: LGC Elections Centre, Plymouth University. Only years where
all three election types took place included. UK local elections held on same day as general elections excluded.

And those who do participate ...

Civic assn
20.5% Participation in civic action
2007-10

Volunteer
Donate
2.1%
4.5%

Civic & volunteer
3.6%

Civic & donation
3.7%
Do all three
1.2%
Do nothing
64.4% Source: Third Sector Research
Centre, Working Paper 73

... aren’t representative
Most engaged Least engaged

Middle aged (40-64)

No qualifications

Degree

Actively religious

Routine occupations

Manager/professional

0 15 30 45 60
Source: Third Sector Research Centre, Working Paper 73

People want to give more time ...

18%

47%
18%

Do volunteer, can’t do more
18%
Don’t volunteer, want to
Do volunteer, want to do more
Don’t volunteer, not interested

Source: Third Sector Research Centre and Giving White Paper, HMG 2010

... and would make a big difference if they did ...

Political party members

“Willing localists”

0m 1m 2m 3m 4m 5m 6m 7m

‘“Willing localists” are citizens not actively involved in a wide range of community and
socio-political activities but who seem the most willing to do so and are those most likely,
realistically, to become so in the future.’ - Hansard Audit

Source: “Willing Localists” - Hansard Audit of Democratic Engagement 2010; UK Voting Age Population: IDEA 2010; Political
party members - House of Commons Membership of UK political parties Standard Note SN/SG/5125 2009.

But they don’t.

Why not?


They don’t trust politics


They want to make a
difference on
their own terms


And politics hasn’t responded
to the way the world is changing


What do we need?

• More connected and self-reliant
communities

• Better opportunities for civic action,
better understood

• Everyday democratic participation


With We Live Here, we ....


Identiﬁed formal and informal
civic activist networks in three
communities (this is Hangleton)

Connected them online
(this is Brunswick)


Talked to them about what they want next


started to pass control
of the network to the
participants...
and thought about how we can ensure
control stays with local people ...


...not the Council


We have learned
• Don't assume small areas are small tasks

• Inclusive engagement takes longer and starts from
farther back

• Social Media Surgeries are a huge hit

• Behaviour change in the Council is essential - and
sooner than we thought

• People don't think about "democracy", they think
about their needs


And now we're going to

• Work with a group in each area to
develop ideas

• Continue to build connections and bring
people online

• Create maps and event calendars
• Make democratic connections and
conversations


Meeting citizens’ needs

“A lot of positive has come out of this project.
It’s all about what citizens need. There is an
appetite in our community to move it on and
take a broader look at ways groups
communicate between themselves, and how
we can make the communication with the
council two-way conversation rather than one-
way.”

- project participant


Meeting service needs

“We want to work collaboratively across agencies and bring
the council closer to the community. We see We Live Here
building a system that uses traditional and new media to form
the basis for new neighbourhood decision making. Our vision
is of an involving public service of loose connections and
networked organisations - We Live Here is an essential
element of that.”

John Barradell, council chief executive
April 2012


Cost-effectively

Single service consultation
Setup & run a WLH location*
Citizens Panel
Budget consultation
5% of average council comms budget
Large-scale consultation
Consultation on infrastructure project
0 75 150 225 300

Source: Consultation budgets published by Derbyshire and Ellesmere Port & Neston councils; TPA research; CLG.
* setup and ﬁrst year of WLH at “Connecting” level.

Building towards the vision
even if the route is unclear


We've got support for the next stage

• Our communities
• Our partners
• Council
• NHS
• Police


But we want to take it further

• Deeper conversation in existing pilots
• New pilots
• Citywide conversation


And develop the approach
• Methodology and learning write-up
• Reusable tools
• Practitioner and councillor learning
• Network growth and development


Because this is the mission

“Until we rebuild, both from the bottom up
and from the top down, our institutes of
governance and democracy, we will not be
able to stand up to the fundamental
challenges that we are facing”
Manuel Castells

If you want to follow our journey

Speak to Susie Latta at Demsoc
(susie@demsoc.org), follow @demsoc
or visit the blog: http://weliveherebh.org.uk

We Live Here

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