To give more focus to discussions we have decided to establish what we call “Commissions of Enquiry”. These will be arranged around topics with a clear lead researcher, timetable and structure for contributions and reporting. Current proposed topics include:
- What do the public want local government to deliver in the face of budget cuts?
- How to empower people through personal responsibility?
- What is the impact of communications?
- How do we drive behaviour change?
- What should replace the Place Survey?
These topics start off as general discussions on our Community of Practice website. www.communities.idea.gov.uk/c/7723643/home.do
From these discussions we will be looking for a researcher to volunteer to lead it. Once a lead researcher is established their responsibilities will be as follows:
- To establish a firm timetable for the Commission of Enquiry process – probably a 12 week periodTo ensure the Commission of Enquiry is properly resourced – committing a certain proportion of their time, that of others within their council and from other organisations. We do not expect the lead researcher to work alone, rather to develop a small team of 3-4 people to manage the workload
- To review initial ideas from the online discussion and collate a set of key research questions to cover and clear research objectives. This should be collated into a 2-3 page consultation document to be agreed with the LGinsight Executive Committee
- To open up a more structured discussion on the Community of Practice website – asking contributors to submit studies they have conducted or have heard about. They should also ask contributors to highlight individuals or organisations that are thought leaders in this topic
- To conduct a desk research exercise through a university or library service to identify academic and other papers of relevance
- To contact thought leaders in the topic by email, telephone or face-to-face to ask them to contributeTo blog about progress on a weekly basis through the Community of Practice
- To provide regular updates to the LGinsight mentor assigned to the project (more about that below)
- To review materials submitted and ensure that the quality demanded by LGinsight is met. This could involve contacting members to clarify issues and suggesting ways in which the research could be reinterpreted and more insights extracted.
- To produce outputs which can be reviewed within the Community of Practice and then disseminated more publically through the media, internet and LGcommunications members. This could be a written report or something creative.
LGinsight will provide the following:
- A fellow researcher who will act as a mentor. They will be responsible for ensuring that the Commission of Enquiry will keep to schedule and is properly supported by LGinsight.
- Support in terms of resources for proposed events, mailouts, website maintenance, dissemination of information and anything the lead researcher wishes to ask for. It is not envisaged that any new research, such as a survey, will have to be carried out. However, if there is a gap that needs to be filled there will be an opportunity to extend the Commission of Enquiries to a second phase to give time for members to step in and fill it through their work.
The intention of this process is to give the lead researcher and their team (which will cut across a number of local authorities) more resources to tackle the research objectives than they could achieve on their own. They will be able to tap into the knowledge of active members of the Community of Practice site, open discussions with thought leaders and be supported by LGinsight. It is also an opportunity for the team to develop in-depth expertise in a topic area. This would be good professional development and an opportunity for local authorities to show their contribution to the sector.