How we reward and recognise residents for involvement with the Council
Why your voice matters
When you take part, you help us improve what we do as a council.
We want to hear from as many people as possible, so our decisions reflect real experiences and needs.
Your input builds trust and helps us work better together.
We need to do this whilst also managing reduced budgets.
What we aim to do
- make it easier for everyone to take part in consultation and engagement activities
- reduce the barriers to taking part and increase the diversity of those participating
- encourage more people to get involved in local decisions, services and life in your area
- be fair and flexible when recognising contributions
What you can expect from us
- we want your experience of getting involved to be positive and welcoming
- we’ll explain what you can expect from the start
- we’ll tell you how we’ll thank you before you take part
- we don’t want anyone to be out of pocket by getting involved. We’ll help with costs like travel or childcare if needed.
- we’ll recognise your contribution in different ways depending on the activity and your circumstances. This could be money, vouchers, or other ways of saying thank you. We’ll talk with you about what works best.
- we’ll try to include everyone, but sometimes we may invite certain groups to help with specific pieces of work depending on their experience and involvement (e.g. older residents if asking about day care services or parents if asking about nursery provision).
- we’ll show how your ideas made a difference in our reports and thank you events.
Our guidance reflects the need for a flexible approach to rewarding and recognising residents’ time, experience and expertise.
We will consider the following factors to ensure we take the right approach:
- the time commitment for local people
- the skills required to take part
- how easy it will be to attract participants
- the need to attract a diverse audience
- the views of residents participating
- the budget for the project
Reward and recognition options
We will recognise your time and contribution in different ways depending on how you get involved:
- For all activities: we’ll aim to offer refreshments and thank you for participating. We will also feedback how your contribution has made a difference. We may help with travel costs or caring responsibilities.
- Options for engagement exercises (e.g. consultations, focus groups, workshops): gift vouchers, charity donations, celebration events, certificates, links to training or employment support, informal reference, discounts and special offers the Council can access.
- In special circumstances (e.g. codesign and coproduction sessions): residents will be paid the London Living Wage for their time. This would be via gift vouchers, cash or donation to your nominated charity for time-limited pieces of work where attracting a diverse group would otherwise be difficult. In these occasions, participants would not be direct users of the service.
Impact on benefits
If you are in receipt of benefits, you are responsible for checking how council payments may affect your benefits and reporting any payment to the relevant agency (e.g. Jobcentre Plus for Universal Credit).
We can write a letter explaining your role and any payment, to show this is not employment.
For more information please contact the Consultation and Participation Team by emailing [email protected]