The Scottish Government

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Linda Nicholson, The Research Shop
ISBN 0 7559 2677 3 (Web only publication)

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Two mapping exercises were undertaken to investigate civic participation activities carried out by the Scottish Executive. The first was a survey of civic participation activity undertaken by the Scottish Executive core Departments in 2004. The second was an identification of Scottish Executive activity undertaken since devolution which aims to build capacity for, facilitate or assist civic participation in policy-making. These mapping exercises form part of a wider study of civic participation. The other element of the overall study is an international literature review of civic participation in public policy-making. A summary of the findings from the 2 mapping exercises is reported below.

Main Findings

• Overall, 191 different Scottish Executive policy initiatives were identified as having been supported by civic participation activities in 2004. Information was provided on 273 different activities.
• The activity most commonly reported was the written consultation which accounted for just over one-third (39%) of all participation activity.
• Around half (51%) of civic participation activities were aimed at seeking views on policy options, documents or rationales.
• Public bodies such as local authorities, health boards and local enterprise companies were the most common targets of civic participation activities.
• Amongst the gaps in achieved targets of civic participation activities, individual members of the public and members of minority ethnic communities/faith groups and their representatives emerged as most prominent.
• The vast majority (90%) of staff involved in commissioning civic participation activities had sought advice from others about developing and/or executing their respective activities. In over half (56%) of cases, the Scottish Executive's Good Practice Guidance was consulted.
• Most of the staff interviewed as part of the study considered civic participation to be a routine activity across most, if not all, of the Scottish Executive.
• Four out of every 5 participation activities were considered to have met their aims fully or to a great extent.
• Overall, 84 activities were identified as having been undertaken by the Scottish Executive since devolution to built capacity for civic participation. Around 4 out of 10 of these were aimed at creating opportunities for civic involvement in participation.
• Amongst the capacity-building activities identified, one-quarter were aimed at professionals and individuals with a specific policy interest such as the environment or planning. One in 5 was targeted at young people and/or children.

Background

The mapping of civic participation in the Scottish Executive and the mapping of civic participation capacity-building were undertaken as 2 separate exercises using different methodologies. Separate reports present the findings from the 2 exercises respectively with a further report documenting the results of the associated literature review of civic participation in public policy-making.

The commissioning of the overall study reflects a growing interest in the use of civic participation in Scottish national policy-making fuelled in particular by the principle enshrined in the report of the Consultative Steering Group on the Scottish Parliament that: " the Scottish Parliament should be accessible, open, responsive, and develop procedures which make possible a participative approach to the development, consideration and scrutiny of policy and legislation" (Section 2, paragraph 2).

Mapping of Scottish Executive Civic Participation Activity
Remit and Methodology

The mapping exercise was aimed at identifying civic participation activity undertaken by core Scottish Executive Departments in 2004. Two hundred and ninety-one survey forms requesting details of such activity were sent to Scottish Executive staff previously identified as having been involved in civic participation activities, and/or policy Division heads.

The survey was supplemented by 6 telephone interviews to collect further information on selected case studies, and 5 telephone interviews to follow up comments provided by respondents on the Scottish Executive Consultation Registration and Evaluation System ( CRES).

Range of Activities Under-taken

Overall, 191 different policy initiatives were identified as having been supported by civic participation activities in 2004. Survey forms were returned in relation to 273 different civic participation activities.

The most commonly reported activity was the written consultation which accounted for just over one-third (39%) of all participation activity. With the exception of research approaches such as focus groups and opinion surveys, the activities reported appeared to be relatively traditional, although there were some examples of innovative use of such conventional activities.

Around half (51%) of activities were aimed at seeking views on policy options, documents or rationales, with public bodies the most common targets of such activities. Common gaps in achieved respondents were individual members of the public and members of minority ethnic groups and their representatives.

Planning of and Support for Civic Participation

Most staff (90%) had sought advice from others in developing and/or executing their respective activities. In over half of cases (56%) staff consulted the Scottish Executive's Consultation: Good Practice Guidance. External sources of advice were turned to in just under one-third (30%) of cases.

Of the 6 staff interviewed by telephone, all but one felt that they had strong support for their participation activities from their Unit/Division. Most considered civic participation to be a routine activity across most, if not all, of the Scottish Executive.

Effectiveness of Activities

Eighty per cent of activities were considered to have met their aims fully or to a great extent. Overall the focus group was the activity rated most highly by survey respondents in terms of meeting its aims (although it had been used in a relatively small number of cases).

The aspect of activities most commonly cited as having worked particularly well was joint working with colleagues and/or external stakeholders. Amongst the aspects of activities which did not work well, were elements of written consultation exercises, concerns over the representativeness of contributions from participants and technical/operational hitches. In the vast majority of cases (95%), respondents stated that they would use the same participation approach again in the future.

Evaluation of Activities

For around half (49%) of activities, evaluation had taken place or was planned. Conferences were more likely to have been evaluated or have evaluation planned than any other participation activity.

Overall, focus groups were the activities judged to have had the most impact on subsequent policy decisions. Overall, face-to-face, deliberative approaches ranked relatively highly in terms of their perceived influence on policy.

Experience of using CRES

Of those respondents who had undertaken written consultations and who provided a response, 84% confirmed that they had registered their written consultation details on the Scottish Executive's electronic Consultation Registration and Evaluation System ( CRES). Seventy nine per cent of respondents found CRES to be relatively straightforward or even easier to use.

Overarching Recommendations

Three key overarching recommendations emerged from the survey and interviews. These were:

• Further investigation of the potential use and reach of ICT as a tool for civic participation.
• More guidance to be given to Scottish Executive staff on consistent and meaningful approaches to evaluation of civic participation activities.
• A Scottish Executive civic participation network of interested staff should be established with its aims including the sharing of experience and the promotion of joint working on solutions to common problems.

Mapping of Civic Participation Capacity-Building Activity

Scottish Executive activities undertaken since devolution, and aimed at building capacity for civic participation, were identified by trawling the Scottish Executive's website "Topic" pages, building upon initial mapping work undertaken by the Scottish Executive's Changing to Deliver Team, and by placing a question requesting information on such activities in the main civic participation survey. Activities were identified which:

• Developed opportunities for involvement in policy-making
• Supported other organisations undertaking civic participation
• Gathered evidence on civic participation

In total, 84 activities were identified which fell within the scope of the exercise. These were grouped into 7 categories depending on their aims. The most common aim to emerge was that of creating opportunities for wider involvement in civic participation (38% of activities). In 18% of cases, the aim was to deliver information in order to enable more informed participation. Seventeen per cent of activities supported other organisations undertaking civic participation. The remaining activities fell into the following categories:

• Building skills required for civic participation
• Providing guidance on civic participation
• Informing the development of a civic participation framework
• Gathering evidence on civic participation

The most common targets for such activities were professionals/individuals with specific policy interests (such as planning, environment) children and/or young people, and excluded and/or rural communities.

The findings present a very broad picture of the type of capacity-building activity being undertaken by the Scottish Executive. It was recommended that this initial mapping exercise is strengthened by a larger, more comprehensive approach to mapping civic participation capacity-building, using a dedicated Scottish Executive survey and face-to-face methodologies within selected policy Divisions.

This document (and other Research Findings and Reports) and information about the work of Social Research may be viewed on the Internet at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/socialresearch/

The site carries up-to-date information about social and policy research commissioned and published by Social Research on behalf of the Scottish Executive. Subjects covered include transport, housing, social inclusion, rural affairs, children and young people, education, social work, community care, local government, civil justice, crime and criminal justice, regeneration, planning and women's issues. The site also allows access to information about the Scottish Household Survey.