Agenda item

This report provides an update on the Council’s co-production activity alongside a report on action following the recommendations of the Disabled People’s Commission.

Julian Eccles (Strategic Lead for Communications and Communities) introduced the report that provided an update on the Council’s co-production activity and actions taken following the recommendations of the Disabled People’s Commission.

Also in attendance for the item were Tara Flood (Strategic Lead for Co-production), Kevin Caulfield (Strategic Lead for Co-production), Jane Wilmot (Resident Co-Chair, Civic Campus Disabled Residents Team), Philippa Cartwright (Project Director, Civic Campus), and Councillor Sharon Holder (Cabinet Member for Public Realm and Co-production Lead for the Council).

Julian Eccles explained the importance of embedding co-production in the Council’s services. He noted the report’s recommendations for the Policy and Accountability Committees (PACs) and the Board to review co-production across the Council on a regular basis.

Kevin Caulfield discussed the significant progress made since the Strategic Lead for Co-production posts were created in 2019. He noted that officers had been working to build the capacity of residents to take part in co-production work. He also discussed the recently refreshed H&F co-production implementation group, comprising Councillors, officers, residents, and community organisations.

Tara Flood noted that moving the co-production team under Communications function should help to embed the messaging across the Council. A corporate training programme was due to be rolled out. Tara Flood also noted that the team had been approached by other local authorities and Government departments who were keen to learn from H&Fs best practice about implementing their own co-production programmes.

Phillipa Cartwright discussed the award-winning approach to co-production taken with the Civic Campus project. Jane Wilmot spoke about her experiences of the co-production working groups on the Civic Campus, and highlighted the importance of involving a wide range of Disabled people who could bring their lived experience to the project and ensure it was ‘ruthlessly inclusive’. She felt it was important for the PACs to receive regular updates about the barriers Disabled people faced and the progress made. She suggested inviting the co-chairs of the Civic Campus Disabled Residents Team to attend those meetings to supplement the information provided by officers.

The Chair thanked Julian, Tara, Kevin, and Jane for their presentation and said she welcomed the message of embedding co-production and ensuring it was consistent throughout the Council’s services.

Councillor Natalia Perez asked what the Council could do better in this area and how residents could be brought closer to decision-making. Julian Eccles said there was always scope for improvement. He noted that it was important for officers to understand that co-production led to better policy making, better delivery, and better financial efficiencies.

The Chair asked if there were lessons from the Civic Campus project around changing the culture amongst contractors that provide goods and services to the Council. Philippa Cartwright said it was important to stipulate the Council’s requirements at the contract level. The fact that the Civic Campus Disabled Residents Team had sign-off gave them authority and meant they were listened to. Officers also needed to make contractors understand why it was so important – and win hearts and minds.

Jane Wilmot added that the Council wrote a statement for every contractor that set out its expectations around thinking inclusively. That set the tone for the project. The Chair suggested these elements could be written into a range of contracts and activities undertaken by the Council. She asked officers to investigate areas that this could be done.

ACTION: Julian Eccles

Councillor Jacolyn Daly thanked the contributors for their presentation and said the progress made was inspiring. She asked how the work could be brought to the PACs in a way that’s useful.  Julian Eccles felt the Committees should focus on major service delivery areas. The report recommended quarterly updates to the Committees to assess how well the Council was doing across each area.

Councillor Nikos Souslous asked if there were lessons from working with organisations like the police. The Chair suggested inviting the police and the co-production team to a future meeting.

ACTION: Councillor Souslous / David Abbott

Councillor Nicole Trehy thanked officers for the report and highlighted the importance of ensuring public spaces were developed with a diverse population in mind and brining co-production into every decision. She also noted that the Metropolitan Police said they wouldn’t be responding to mental health calls beyond September 2023 and raised concerns about the impact on neurodiverse people. The Chair suggested this could be considered at a future meeting.

ACTION: David Abbott

Councillor Rory Vaughan asked how projects were identified and chosen for co-production support. Julian Eccles said officers were guided by advisory groups – they looked at the main commitments from the Council’s business plan and discussed where they could have the most impact. They also considered routine service delivery items like waste collection and highways.

The Chair noted the Council was pioneering in this area and asked what was being done to promote its co-production work. Julian Eccles said now the team had moved under Communications they were keen to communicate more these activities to residents. The Civic Campus project had been well promoted through housing and architecture media. He said officers were keen to highlight the practical outputs and show the difference this work makes to people.

The Chair thanked everyone who had contributed to the discussion. She reiterated the need for regular updates on co-production to the PACs and the Board, the role that contractors would play delivering co-produced services to residents, and the importance of brining partners like the police and health on board.

RESOLVED

1.    That the Board requested each Policy and Accountability Committee consider a quarterly update on previous and planned co-production activity.

2.    That the Board considered a summary of such reports biannually.