The Residents' Panel

The Royal Borough's Residents' Panel is a sample of residents, normally around 1,000 to 2,000, which is recruited and maintained over a period of years. The panel members have agreed to take part in consultation activities about a variety of subjects. Because panel members have agreed to take part, councils have found that they achieve higher response rates than for non-panel activities.

Residents' Panel registration

The Residents’ Panel is currently in the process of recruiting new members. Letters are being sent to 10,000 individuals selected at random from the edited electoral register inviting them to become members of the panel. If you receive a letter, and would like to become a member, please visit our registration page, you will need your unique reference number to join.

Residents' Panel registration

What sort of things will panel members be involved with?

Panel members can take part in online activities including; polls, questionnaires, discussion groups and online focus groups. Panel members can also participate in activities such as questionnaires in paper format.

How was the Panel recruited?

Letters were sent to 10,000 residents of the borough inviting them to join the panel.  The 10,000 names were selected at random from the edited electoral register to ensure that the sample would be representative of the people who live in the Royal Borough. This means that all residents of the Royal Borough who are registered to vote had an equal chance of being asked to join.

How long do local residents stay on the Panel?

If panel members are allowed to remain on the panel for lengthy periods then it is possible that they will become experts on Council services. Consequentially, the panel would become unrepresentative and aspirations of panel members would be out of line with the population as a whole as they become more knowledgeable about Council services. Therefore, we have a rolling programme of recruitment to the panel, which will ensure that no panel member stays on the panel longer than two years. Over time, a certain percentage of panel members will drop-out. We carry out a rolling process of recruitment. We recruit new members to the panel as and when required in order to ensure that the panel remains at full strength.

Members of the Residents' Panel can login here.

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