Citizens' Panel

Brent Citizens' Panel was set up in 1999 as a partnership between Brent Council, the local police and the Brent Health Action Zone.  As at December 2011, the panel consists of nearly 2,000 local residents who reflect Brent's diverse population.

Why have a Citizens' Panel?
The main aim of the panel is to provide a platform through which we can listen and accurately gauge residents' views on local services.

The benefits of a panel are:

• a bottom up (rather than a top down) approach to public engagement
• regular and quick access to a broadly representative group of residents
• resource which can be surveyed using both qualitative and quantitative research methods
• opportunity to understand why people's views are changing
• option for more focused research among users of specific services such as exploring views of library users.

How does it work?
Panel members have agreed to express their views through regular postal and/or online questionnaires. They may be required to complete up to three questionnaires a year. In addition to this, many have chosen to get involved in other types of consultations like focus groups, telephone interviews etc.

Focus groups
Panel members are invited to take part in a discussion which often looks at specific service issues.

Telephone interviews
Panel members could be contacted by telephone to obtain their views on service issues, where a more immediate response is required.

How has the panel been used?
The panel has been used for a number of qualitative and quantitative surveys. Examples of these can be found on the Consultation Tracker.

For more information and to join the Citizens' Panel, please email consultation@brent.gov.uk or telephone 020 8937 1073.