Local e-Democracy National Project

A benefits study

Jane Ratford – IDeA [email protected]

Defining e-Democracy

Definition of e-Democracy

any application of e-technology that enables or enhances the interaction between government and its stakeholders with the goal of raising engagement and participation in democratic processes

.

Key messages

e-Democracy has the potential to bring real and important benefits to councillors council officers and citizens Councils must take advantage of these tools for their statutory activities, and should be able to frame cost-neutral additions to business cases that include e-Democracy tools and techniques.

Stakeholders

e-Democracy can help:

Councillors

in their roles of oversight, scrutiny and representation.

Increased visibility within their communities and their capacity to engage with constituents

Council officers

inform citizens, gather their views and feed back into service delivery. Helps meet government targets Offers useful service improvements Delivers cost reduction and efficiency gains

Citizens

and communities to organise and campaign.

Improved channels for engagement with councils and councillors

Local e-Democracy Success Stories (1)

• Bristol conducted 12 consultations in 10 months using

e-Panels

. To do this by conventional means would have cost a total of £96,000. Using

e-Panels

the cost was less than £40,000.

• One young person in Kingston started an

e-Petition

when funding was withdrawn from a local voluntary organisation that offered youth advice and counselling. The petition received over 200 signatures in 2 days, and the organisation was helped to rebuild its services.

Local e-Democracy success stories (2)

Approximately 23,732 citizens read one of the 10

Councillor blogs

over a period of 12 months. If one councillor at each Local Authority blogged, it is estimated that between 350,000 and 2.5 million citizens would read one each month.

In Swindon, where the

Microdemocracy

pilot has been running since 2004, there was a 1.5% increase in turn out at the 2005 general election, a reversal of national trends. This represents many more actual voters as Swindon has a sharply increasing population, due to new housing developments.

Meeting government targets

CPA Framework

• •

Corporate Assessment Ambition Prioritisation Capacity Performance Management Achievement and Investment Sustainable Communities and transport Safer & Stronger Communities Healthier Communities Older People Children and Young People Use of Resources

Priority Service Outcomes

Schools Community Information Democratic Renewal Local Environment E-Procurement Payments Libraries, Sports & Leisure Transport Benefits Support for Vulnerable People Supporting New Ways of Working Accessibility of Services High Take-up of Web-based Transactional Services Making it Easy to do Business with the Council

National Strategy

Transforming Services Renewing Local Democracy Promoting Economic Vitality Bridging the Digital Divide – e-Inclusion Efficiency “Liveability”/ Environmental Quality BVPI 157 Key

High Benefit Lower Benefit Medium Benefit N/A

Addressing newer agendas

Neighbourhoods Bottom-up e-Democracy Democracy should be an open public conversation Representation can be a direct relationship where citizens speak themselves.

Enhancing, highlighting and connecting grass roots networks Politics can be carried out in day-to-day language as a part of everyday life Digital inclusion Hard to reach groups Transformational government “Systematically engage with citizens”

Making it happen

Political vision The key to success is political vision and leadership that recognises democracy as an integral part of the council’s strategy and e-Democracy

Making e-Democracy happen

Step 1 Re-assess Strategy Position democracy at centre of council’s strategy (as inferred by the Transformational Government paper). This means re-evaluating engagement in all activities.

Step 2 Build new skills This requires skills to be in place. e.g. Councillors use of the internet, Council’s ability to manage Online Networks Step 3 Select channels & tools Step 4 Implement & Support

Summary

e-Democracy can generate real, tangible benefits for: Councillors Councils Citizens Requires sustained commitment from councillors and senior officers to succeed Any touch point with citizens can be enhanced when considered through the lens of e-Democracy

More information…

www.e-democracy.gov.uk

Northlincs Net Contact: Fraser Henderson Email: [email protected]

Or: [email protected]

Tel: 01724 275005