JRF says “Governance pretty geeky”

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has published a new report which says that citizens’ participation in governance and service delivery is made harder by the complexity of the structures they have to navigate. It’s not exactly news – even if you just count the major players, there are probably twenty to thirty bits of government acting in any local area – but it is a serious problem.

In Groucho Marx mode, Government probably doesn’t want to hear only from the people obsessive enough to navigate their way through the different boards and consultations, and the campaigns that really seize the public imagination tend to be quite small-scale and middle class (like the one running in the Society’s home city to prevent a new branch of Starbucks opening).

Perhaps what is needed is a sort of topic-based clearing house for consultations and projects in each local area. Alternatively or additionally, local authorities could make wider use of citizens’ panels, where (admittedly self-selecting) groups of citizens sign up to be consulted on issues over a two-year period.

(Hat tip to Ingrid at the Policy & Performance blog)