Engagement

Community Engagement and Consultation

The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham is committed to continually improving its approach to listening, consulting, engaging and empowering our community. Since 2006 we have developed the way in which we listen to local people by:

Creating a dedicated Community Engagement Team within the Council
Creating a multi-agency officer steering group to coordinate community engagement across the borough
Creating a facility for residents and stakeholders to respond to consultations online
Introducing community engagement training to ensure our staff have the necessary skills and support to gather the views of local people and take appropriate action
Introducing Tell us 'You Said We Did'
Developing the range of ways in which we regularly engage. These now include:
- Neighbourhood Management Partnerships
- Citizens Panel
- Children and Young People Forums
- An annual borough wide survey
Undertaking consultation and engagement projects which directly impact on service planning and budget setting

What we plan to do

In January 2007, we produced a Community Engagement Strategy ( PDF 135K) to set out how we intended to put engagement at the heart of the way we deliver services. We are now reviewing the strategy to take into account changing priorities for the borough and the greater need for future empowerment. 2009 Community Engagement and Consultation Strategy Review ( PDF 78K)
New web pages giving you details on all the ways in which you can get involved in your local communities to be launched by October 2009
An online diary of all community meetings that you can attend
Monitoring of engagement results so you can see where your views have made a difference