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University of Southampton & Hampshire County Council Design Experiment

Project Description

The overall aim of this Design Experiment is to review the executive decision-making process in Hampshire County Council to see if there are ways to improve the constructive participation of non-executive members, partners and the public.
The objectives are:

• To understand better how access to decision making for non-executive members and external actors can be improved in the decision process in cabinet-style government
• To understand better the risks involved in such participation and the extent to which such a process affects the quality and understanding of decisions   

Progress to Date (2008/9)

Following a long introductory and trust building process between the research team and officers and executive members, a steering group has been established comprising four elected members, two officers and the team from Southampton University.  The research team intends to monitor the progress of two decisions, making recommendations for change and improvements at appropriate stages of the decision making process. One decision will be strategic in nature – a review of grants streams in youth services. The second decision will have clear geographical impacts such that local Hampshire Action Teams (HATs) will be engaged – a review of the operation and management of County Farm Estates. Both of these decisions are at a sufficiently early stage of development for non-executive members and relevant external partners to have meaningful input prior to any substantive work or option development. 

Next Steps (2008/9)

The first meeting of the Steering Group and relevant officers for the first decision will take place in November 2008. The approach to engagement and the monitoring framework will be agreed at this meeting and implemented over the coming months. The second decision process will begin in early 2009 to allow lessons to be drawn from the first decision. Evaluation will be ongoing to allow feedback into the actual process. Reporting will take place between June and September 2009.

Outputs (2008/9)

A report on barriers and opportunities for engagement will be the primary output, although it is hoped that the research will lead to at least one academic article.

Graham Smith, Gerry Stoker and Corinne Wales
The University of Southampton
October 2008