Wrexham County Borough Council finds out about the needs and attitudes of its service users through its People’s Voice Citizens’ panel which BMG Research has managed for the past two years. People’s Voice is an innovative partnership project which brings together the council, Local Health Board and North East Wales Health Trust.

As you may expect, the research and consultation carried out through the panel covers a broad remit, from access and attitudes to services, quality of life in Wrexham and surrounding areas, transport, property, engineering, community beat managers, out of hours services and healthcare provision to perceptions of community safety and crime.

It’s a method that means the subjects of consultations are varied and ensures the maximum possible value is achieved from each individual exercise, be that through discussion groups or, as is most often the case, via a questionnaire.

Consultations are carried out at regular intervals with care being taken to avoid consultation fatigue. The most recent exercise looked at residents’ views on community cohesion; the proposed Primary Health Care and Estates Strategy; the level of interest in becoming involved in influencing the agenda of the NE Wales NHS Trust; and usage of Rights of Way, including ease of access and availability of information.

Prior to this, consultations have been carried out regarding Wrexham County Borough Council’s transport strategy, waste strategy, access to services and transport, and museum refurbishment. A consultation over the Borough’s Heritage Strategy is also currently under way.

BMG Research recruits and maintains a panel that is demographically representative of the area and weights data from consultations to ensure that the results are representative. A translation service is offered to all panel members covering any of BMG Research’s communications about the citizens’ panel, including questionnaires, not just into Welsh but also into any language as required.

Rachel Spurr, Performance & Improvement Manager at Wrexham County Borough Council says: ‘Asking our customers about their needs and wants and what they think about our services, gives us valuable information that is used to shape and improve the services we provide for the people of Wrexham. Our Citizens’ Panel, People’s Voice, plays a key role in enabling us to gather this information from the public in a focused, cost effective and reliable way.’