Our arrangements for consulting on the likely impact of functions and policies
What Lancashire County Council is doing now
We conduct an extensive programme of research that helps us understand local priorities, helps us develop policies, improve services and measure the performance of the organisation.
We group people in many different ways to give us a complete picture of the diverse communities that make up our county and how their needs and aspirations may differ.
All corporate research reports results by asking standard questions on ethnic groupings. In this way there are consistencies in the way the groups are structured.
All data are weighted to reflect the population from which the response sample has been draw. All teams commissioning research are advised to report by ethnicity. Results are analysed to determine what differences, if any, there are across different groups. Finally, all corporate research is conducted to Market Research Society guidelines.
We have a number of county-wide consultation fora. These include:
- Life in Lancashire - public opinion research conducted for Lancashire County Council by MORI giving results broken by ethnicity
- Black and Minority Ethnic Pact
- Lancashire Wide Network of Ethnic Minority Women
- Forum of Faiths
- Disability Forum
- Compact Working Group
We also have arrangements for consulting with staff through:
- The annual staff survey
- Forum of Asian and Black Employees
- Black Workers' Development Group, Social Services Directorate
What Lancashire County Council will do
We have carried out an audit of how we consult with staff, service users and the wider community. We will use the results of the audit to identify what is working well and to share that good practice, and to how to improve consultation where there are gaps.