Citizens’ Panel launched to help understand residents’ views

Ashford Borough Council is launching a Citizens’ Panel to encourage residents to give their views and opinions on services and issues that affect the borough.

We are looking for a cross section of local people to engage with the council. Citizens who sign up will be able to share opinions and take part in consultations through online surveys and polls to provide their views on various topics.

Citizens who sign up will be able to share opinions and take part in consultations through online surveys and polls to provide their views on various topics of interest to residents.

The aim is to consult the panel up to six times a year and provide regular updates on what changes to services have been made because of the feedback received. (For example, having a ‘You said, we did’ style campaign).

The panel was one of the recommendations from an Overview & Scrutiny member and officer review last year into consultation and engagement.

Cllr Heather Hayward, portfolio holder for Performance and Direction, said: “As a new administration, we’re keen to reach out to as many residents as possible to understand your views, and especially from those we often do not hear from – your views are really important to us.

“We want to hear from a broad range of residents: young and old, rural and urban, employed, unemployed, retired, those in full time education, residents with disabilities or specific needs, families, those from different cultural backgrounds, the more diverse the better.”

To kick start the launch of the panel and encourage sign up we have created a survey on the Mural Festival and events programme. The survey is open to the public (not just members of the panel), so we have included a link at the end of the survey to encourage everyone who has filled it in to join the panel if they wish. 

More information on the Citizens’ Panel, including a sign up form, can be found on our website.