Home PageAbout Community Voice
Welcome to Community Voice, this page should answer any questions you might have about Community Voice and your involvement. If you can't find the information your looking for email feedback@haveyoursay.org.uk and we'll do our best to get what you need.
What is Community Voice?
Essentially Community Voice is a panel of around 3600 adult Cumbrian residents who have all agreed that they are willing to respond to surveys and other research conducted by the following organisations - they are known as the Community Voice Partners:
Why set up Community Voice?
The setting up of Community Voice represents the Community Voice Partners' commitment to engaging with local people and taking account of their views on the issues that affect their lives. Consulting and involving the public, service users, tenants, local businesses and others, is now a standard part of the work that local authorities do. In addition there a very good practical reasons for setting up a panel like Community Voice.
Why set up Community Voice?
How were people recruited onto Community Voice?
The current members of Community Voice were, in the main, recruited by specially trained interviewers over the 'phone, although some were recruited by interviewers 'on the street.' The majority of recruitment took place during the weekends and evenings. This was to ensure people who are normally out of the house during the day had an opportunity to be part of the panel. No one was contacted after 8.30pm. The recruitment took place in June/July 2003. To ensure that Community Voice is as accurate a cross section of the Cumbrian public as possible a technique known as random digit dialling was used to randomly generate a batch of telephone numbers in each of the districts. All numbers were then called and asked to become a member of Community Voice, 50% of people called decided to join Community Voice. Part of the exercise involved in street recruitment of the 18-24 year olds, as telephone recruitment samples from this age group are not entirely representative. The majority of recruitment took place during the weekends and evenings.
What are Community Voice members asked to do?
Community Voice members will regularly be asked to participate in surveys and research being conducted by the Community Voice Partners. Most commonly this means responding to postal questionnaires or doing a short interview over the telephone with a trained interviewer. You might also be invited to attend focus groups or other types of meeting. You can expect to be asked to do something about once every 6 weeks on average, although there may be longer or shorter gaps. We will not ask you to respond to any surveys over the busy summer and Christmas holiday periods. The majority of surveys will be from the County Council, the Police or your particular District/Borough Council (if you live in Allerdale you won’t get surveys from Eden). However, from time to time other organisations such as the Lake District National Park Authority or the various Primary Care Trusts in Cumbria may also ask to use Community Voice to gather the views of local communities but these will be on a one off basis and will be subject to approval from the main authorities involved. You can view the Community Voice Planner on the website to see when the different authorities are planning to make use of Community Voice and what they will be asking you about.
View the Community Planner
Will Community Voice really be listened to?
The survey and research work that the local authorities carry out through Community Voice will be used to inform the decisions they make. The authorities are committed to listening to your views but they always take responsibility for making the final decisions. You will always get feedback on the results of Community Voice surveys and we will always try to show how your views have made a difference to local services and priorities. You can see some examples of recent survey work with the public where local opinions have resulted in changes to how the local authorities deliver their services by clicking below:
Will Community Voice really be listened to?
How long will I be a member of Community Voice for?
The maximum length of time you can be a member of Community Voice is three years. The minimum is 1 year. In each of the next 3 years (2004, 2005, 2006) a random one third of the membership of Community Voice will be replaced with new members. It is important there is a regular intake of new people to make sure that the views of Community Voice don’t get out of step with the views of the rest of the Cumbrian population. If they were to get out of step this would mean that the findings of surveys and other research would not be reliable enough to base decisions on. Please note that if you fail to reply to 3 surveys in a row you will be automatically removed from Community Voice, as we will assume you no longer want to be a member.
How will I know that surveys or ‘phone calls are genuine?
Anything you receive through the post will be clearly marked with the Community Voice logo and anyone phoning you will always identify themselves as calling on behalf of Community Voice. If you ever have any doubts about the authenticity of a survey get in touch with the Community Voice Co-ordinator. Typically if a survey is being conducted using the ‘phone you would be called on a weekday evening. If the time you are called is not suitable you can rearrange for a time that suits you better.
Contact information for the Community Voice Co-ordinator
What is a Focus Group?
Focus groups are small meetings of 6-10 people who are brought together to discuss questions set by a researcher – in this case one of the Community Voice local authorities. Focus groups are used when researchers want to find out why people feel or think the way they do rather than just what they think. Sometimes it is difficult to know what to make of the results of a survey, in this case a focus group might be used to explore the findings of the survey and allow the researcher to get a deeper understanding of people’s opinions. Focus groups usually run for between 1 and 2 hours and you need to make your own way to the meeting venue. Any travel costs are reimbursed and refreshments are provided.
Who are NOP and why are they involved in Community Voice?
NOP (National Opinion Polls) are a national research company, you may have heard of them in the news when opinion polls and surveys are being reported. The local authorities involved in Community Voice have contracted NOP do three main things. Recruit 3,600 new Cumbrians onto Community Voice via the telephone. Manage and update the large database of names and addresses that is produced Carry out “refreshment” recruitment exercises in 2004, 5, 6. By 2006 the membership of Community Voice should have been completely replaced. NOP have staff who are especially skilled in this area of work and all the necessary equipment already in place. Using them is better value for money than trying to do this work “in-house”. On some occasions, for example if you want to inform us of a change of address, you will contact NOP directly. NOP were awarded the Community Voice contract after a competitive tendering process involving 4 companies. The Community Voice Partners all felt that NOP offered the best solution to recruiting and managing Community Voice.
National Opinion Polls
What happens to the information I provide?
With all our surveys and research the information collected from Community Voice members will be kept entirely confidential. Summary findings will be produced but no individual’s name will be included. We feel it is equally important panel members get sight of survey findings and also get to know about what has happened as a result of a survey, for this reason we have set up www.haveyoursay.org.uk and will also publish a twice yearly newsletter that you will receive through the post (or via email).
How do I update my personal details?
To update you personal details either log on to www.haveyoursay.org.uk and complete the form online or telephone Alan Worley at NOP direct on 0207 890 9010. You can also send an email to NOP to CommunityVoice@nopworld.com
What if I don’t want to be a member of Community Voice anymore?
If at anytime you decide you no longer want to be a member of Community Voice please tell us. It will help keep our records up to date and you will avoid getting unwanted correspondence or ‘phone calls. Simply contact Alan Worley at NOP direct on 0207 890 9010. Alternatively, you can send an email to NOP to CommunityVoice@nopworld.com
I’ve got more questions!
If want more information please feel free to contact us using the link below:
Community Voice Co-ordinator, Kieran Barr
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