CouncilJoin the residents' panel
Do you have things to say about Tower Hamlets?
Do you have ideas that could make a difference to your area?
We want to hear your voice
The council and its partners (health, police, fire services and community organisations) are recruiting a new residents’ panel. A residents’ panel is a representative group of individuals who are regularly asked about issues that affect them.
We are looking for volunteers to join the panel.
Your personal details will not be given to the organisations above, just your views. We have asked SMSR (an independent research/ consultation company) to organise this on our behalf.
If you would like to join, please call 0800 138 0845 or email yourvoice@smsr.co.uk. Alternatively you can complete the resident's panel online application form.
If you would like further information about consultation in the borough:
- www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/consultation
- email consultation@towerhamlets.gov.uk
- telephone the consultation team on 020 7364 4846
What is a residents’ panel?
The Tower Hamlets panel consists of 3,000 local people, who have volunteered to give their opinions on a range of issues/ services affecting the borough. For example, we asked the panel their views on open spaces, cleaner/ safer neighbourhoods, the budget etc.
Members are recruited to form a representative sample of the borough’s population, in terms of background characteristics such as age, gender, ethnicity and area of residency (LAP).
What do panel members do?
They give their time in the following ways:
- Respond to a telephone/ postal survey (4-6 times per year). This will never take longer than 10-15 minutes;
- Attend focus groups/ reflector groups: these groups last for approx 1.5 hours and an incentive to attend is usually paid of about £15;
- Attend scenario planning sessions/ workshops: the session would last about 3-4 hours and go into more detail than the focus groups. An incentive to attend these sessions is usually more than you would be paid at a focus group.
Do they need to be users of a service or know about the Council?
No. We want people who live in the borough; no knowledge or understanding of the way services are run is required.
Can information be provided in the mother tongue of the panel member?
At the moment we are collecting information on the preferred language of communication. Within the next year panel members will receive information in the language that they find easiest to read.
Do I always have to attend in person?
No. Sometimes we telephone you or post you a questionnaire. On other occasions we might email you or ask you to participate in an online survey, or consultation activity.
We are looking at how you use technology so that we can hear your views without taking up too much of your time.
We look forward to hearing your voice
