Outcomes of the Romsey Citizens’ Assembly

Report of the Deputy Leader & Planning and Romsey Future Portfolio Holder

Recommended:

That the Council endorses the recommendations of the Romsey Citizens’ Assembly, and that they are used to help shape the South of Town Centre Masterplan, the next Local Plan and the forthcoming refresh of the Romsey Future Vision document.

That the Council places on record it’s thanks to the residents of Romsey who took part in the Citizens’ Assembly and to the volunteer witnesses who gave evidence as part of the process.

SUMMARY The report summarises the outcomes resulting from the council’s participation in the Innovation in Democracy programme. It seeks an endorsement of the recommendations made by the Romsey Citizens’ Assembly which can then be used to help shape the south of town centre Masterplan, the next local plan and the refresh of the Romsey Future Vision document.

Introduction

Since 2011 the council has undertaken a cross-party programme of work transforming the way it operates to be more place-based in its focus. Evidence-based decision making sits at the core of the council’s operating model and underpinning this has been active and genuine community participation.

In 2019 the council was selected by government as one of only three areas in the country to take part in the Innovation in Democracy programme and help pioneer new approaches to citizen engagement. In Test Valley this culminated in the holding of a Citizens’ Assembly in Romsey which focused on addressing the question of how the South of Romsey Town could be improved, aligned to the work being undertaken by the council and Romsey Future partnership.

This report sets out the outcomes from the Romsey Citizens’ Assembly and also reflects on the learning drawn from the council’s engagement in this high profile national programme.

Background

Test Valley Borough Council was selected by government, as one of only three areas in England, to take part in the Innovation in Democracy Programme (IiDP). The programme was co-sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. It involved piloting innovative approaches to citizen engagement through participatory and deliberative techniques through a Citizens’ Assembly.

With the council’s long-standing commitment to empowering communities which has resulted in the development of innovations such as the community councillor model and supporting more inclusive community-led planning; the IiDP provided an opportunity for the council to explore how this could be further strengthened. In addition the council also wanted to explore how deliberative techniques such as Citizens’ Assemblies could complement and add value to the work of councillors as part of the decision making process.

In 2018 the Romsey Future Partnership with the support of the council commenced work on developing a masterplan for the area south of Romsey town centre. The project has proactively engaged residents and stakeholders throughout to ensure it is an inclusive process. Romsey Future wanted to build upon this and further explore how to engage with the wider community rather than just those who would usually engage through traditional consultation methods. This aligned with the opportunity to pilot a citizens’ assembly in Test Valley as part of the Innovation in Democracy programme.

In consultation with councillors and the Romsey Future partnership, it was agreed that the IiDP citizens’ assembly pilot would focus on Romsey and the opportunities to enhance the area south of Romsey town centre. A specific question for the assembly was set - ‘how do we improve the area around Crosfield Hall and the Bus Station to deliver the maximum benefit to Romsey?’ This question was chosen to align with the strategic vision of the Romsey Future partnership and to compliment the development of the South of Romsey Town Centre Masterplan.

Romsey Citizens’ Assembly

The Romsey Citizens’ Assembly took place over two weekends in November 2019.

The assembly consisted of 42 residents from Romsey and the surrounding area. They were selected using a sortition process to ensure the assembly was representative of the area. This involved sending an invite to 10,000 homes in Romsey and the surrounding area and then, from those who registered their interest, a random-stratified sample was built to match the pre-determined demographic criteria, for example age, occupation and how often they visited Romsey town centre.

Supported by the IiDP delivery partners (The Democratic Society, Involve and the RSA) members of the assembly were taken through a process of learning, deliberation and decision-making over the course of the two weekends. This enabled members of the assembly to establish consensus and develop recommendations in response to the question they had been asked to consider by the council and Romsey Future.

A key aspect of the citizen assembly process is the breadth and depth of evidence that assembly members were able to draw upon when considering the question. A combination of national and local expert witnesses gave evidence to the assembly on a range of subject matters from master planning, environmental matters, the future of town centres, wellbeing and health alongside residents’ lived experience stories on issues such as disability, young people and community life. This approach enabled the assembly members to make informed decisions to shape their final recommendations. Participants reflected through the subsequent evaluations on how this evidence-led approach had enabled them to take a more informed view, which in some cases had changed over the course of the assembly, as opposed to more standard consultations which are often responses based on an individual’s own perceptions.

As part of the final weekend the assembly brought together its learning in order to produce a final set of recommendations. To do this, assembly members voted as to how much they opposed or supported each of their proposals. Those receiving more than 50% ‘strongly support’ formed the recommendations that were then presented in summary to the council as part of the final session of the assembly. The recommendations also formed the basis of the Romsey Citizens’ Assembly report that was published by the Democratic Society in December 2019 (Annex 1 to the report).

Recommendations from the Citizens’ Assembly

There were seven substantive recommendations that received over 50% ‘strongly support’ votes at the end of weekend two:

Make Romsey an attractive, vibrant town, a centre of excellence, including green spaces and wildlife corridors.

Improved transport infrastructure to encourage a sense of community - with viable options for moving around.

Lots of things to attract people into the town centre that are affordable and accessible for all which everyone living in Romsey knows about and can take part in.

In Romsey there will be greener spaces in the town area that will protect enhance and increase our natural environment, which includes the wild animals and plants.

Community hub and green spaces that bring people together (across generations).

Design the transport and parking with an integrated plan that includes walking, cycling, public transport and cars and think about all the different kinds of people coming into the town (parking, accessible, but still encourage bus use, especially by younger people).

Well planned, connected accessible infrastructure (including travel, access, public spaces, education, tech and business) with good flow for transport and pedestrians to encourage business and tourists.

Following the final weekend of the Citizen’s Assembly, Officers met with assembly members to explore how they would like to present their recommendations formally to the council. Assembly members highlighted significant cross over in some of their recommendations so as a result they have been grouped together around five key themes to support wider communication. The themes include:

Movement- including improved signage and road layout, enhanced pedestrian pathways and flexible transport options.

Vibrant Town- including incentives to draw people into the town, flexible business spaces and improving the night time economy.

Green Space and Wildlife Corridors- including creating more green spaces and enhancing the existing waterways.

Community Hub- including feasibility of moving Crosfield Hall and ensuring a community hub is intergenerational and multipurpose.

Process-embedding research, impact assessments and surveys as part of an evidence-led approach.

In January 2020, assembly members met informally with cabinet to present their recommendations aligned to the themes as described above. This provided an opportunity for assembly members to discuss their recommendations with cabinet in greater detail, ask questions and explore how the recommendations could be considered as part of the development of the masterplan for the South of Romsey Town Centre, the next review of the Local Plan and the forthcoming refresh of the Romsey Future strategy.

Following the publication of the Citizens’ Assembly report in December 2019, the master planners (Nexus and Perkins and Wills) have considered the ideas and themes highlighted by the citizens’ assembly as part of the evidence-base to develop the draft Masterplan proposals. The South of Romsey Town Centre Masterplan is to be considered by Council at its meeting in September 2020.

Learning from the Innovation in Democracy Programme

The Innovation in Democracy programme provided the council with an opportunity to build upon its strong track record of empowering communities. In particular the programme has enabled the council to explore how emerging deliberative and participatory democracy techniques such as citizens’ assemblies can play an effective part in the decision making process.

The following key learning points have been highlighted as part of the national case study that has been produced following the conclusion of the programme:

Embedding lived experience evidence into future engagement techniques so that people can hear the views from across all parts of their community, enables a broader understanding of the issues and creates a more inclusive process.

Providing access to subject matter experts so that residents can gain an insight and understanding of the key issues when being asked to give their views adds value and enables a more informed response.

A Citizens’ Assembly is a valuable way in which to gain a clear insight and consensus on key issues. It is one of a number of models in which deliberative techniques can be applied, so it is important to be clear on the purpose and nature of engagement before deciding on whether a Citizens’ Assembly is the most appropriate model.

In January 2020 council officers were invited to present the Test Valley case study on the Romsey Citizens’ Assembly at the national Innovation in Democracy Conference held in Manchester. This event was attended by a wide range of councils and voluntary and community sector organisations from across the United Kingdom.

Following the conclusion of the Innovation in Democracy programme, the government has published a suite of best practice resources which includes case studies from the three participating authorities and an evaluation of the programme overall. The resources can be accessed via the following link. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/innovation-in-democracy-programme-launch

Corporate Objectives and Priorities

The Council’s Corporate Plan 2019-23 ‘Growing our Potential’ highlights the commitment to bring local communities together alongside councillors and partners to plan for their future needs. In addition it also highlights the importance of working through our place partnerships such as Romsey Future to help deliver on the shared ambitions of local communities.

The council’s participation in the Innovation in Democracy programme has enabled the onward development and piloting of new engagement techniques which will strengthen the councils approach to empowering local communities.

The Council’s Corporate Plan also highlights the once in a generation opportunity to respond to the changing face of the High street, future proofing our town centres to be accessible places where people live, shop, work and spend their leisure time. The Romsey Citizens’ Assembly has provided further detail and insight on what local people would like to see achieved in and around the South of Romsey Town Centre which provides a robust evidence base for the council to use as it progresses this project in conjunction with Romsey Future.

Consultations / Communications

The council has proactively communicated throughout its involvement in the Innovation in Democracy programme and a dedicated webpage on the citizens’ assembly was produced as part of the Romsey Future website. On these pages can be found information on how the assembly was recruited, videos of the expert witnesses who gave evidence and a copy of the report published by the Democratic Society.

The nature of the Citizens’ assembly process has enabled the council to demonstrate its ongoing commitment to innovate and strengthen the involvement of citizens in shaping their communities. The work of the citizens’ assembly has provided significant insight and evidence for the council and its partners to use as work is taken forward through Romsey Future.

Options

The Council has the option to endorse or not endorse the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly.

Risk Management

An evaluation of the risks indicate that the existing controls in place mean that no significant risks have been identified at this time.

Legal Implications

There are no direct legal implications arising from this report.

Equality Issues

An EQIA has been undertaken in line with council policy. The EQIA has not identified any potential for discrimination or adverse impact and all opportunities to promote equality have been taken.

The sotitition methodology on which the Citizens’ Assembly was recruited ensured that it reflected a representative sample of the people that live in the area. In addition, by engaging harder to reach groups such as those with disabilities, older people and younger people ahead of the assembly meant that their “lived experience” was fed in as part of the evidence that the assembly considered throughout its deliberations.

Issues - Wards/Communities Affected

The focus and resulting outcomes of the Citizens’ Assembly relates primarily to the wards of Romsey and the surrounding area. As a result this work has been aligned with and integrated into the work of Romsey Future.

Conclusion and reasons for recommendation

The Council’s participation in the Innovation in Democracy Programme has created the opportunities to further strengthen the ways in which local people can play an active part in shaping their communities within Test Valley.

The nature of a Citizens’ Assembly in particular has shown that for complex issues such as the future of town centres, more deliberative and in-depth processes such as a citizens’ assembly enables local people to develop an informed and holistic view of the issues when developing proposals which in turn supports councillors in their decision making.

The outcomes of the Romsey Citizens’ Assembly provide a clear and well developed set of recommendations which the council can use as part of its wider considerations with Romsey Future partners in progressing the strategic ambitions aligned to supporting the future of the town.

Background Papers (Local Government Act 1972 Section 100D) None
Confidentiality It is considered that this report does not contain exempt information within the meaning of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, and can be made public.
No of Annexes:	1	File Ref:	N/A
(Portfolio: Planning & Romsey Future ) Councillor N Adams-King
Officer:	James Moody / Sabrina Mortimer	Ext:	8130
Report to:	Council	Date:	9 September 2020