User-led service design in Local Authorities
A project with Esmee Fairbairn in Lewisham, Knowsley and Bristol
We have completed working in three local authorities to work with service users to design new services that are more responsive to their needs.
We focused on problems that had not responded to institutional attempts at solving them. In two policy areas: young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), and parental engagement in their children's learning.
This project had a number of phases. First, we mapped the formal services available to NEET young people and to parents in each local authority. Then, we worked with both groups to see the kinds of informal support they access, from family to friends, church or peer groups. The third phase of the project brought service providers - schools, colleges and social services - together with service users - NEET young people and parents - to collaboratively design a service that worked for both of them. These design workshops each took place intensively in one week in each authority. The services will now be piloted by each local authority and evaluated by Demos.
As well as the services in each local authority Demos will also produce a handbook on how to make change happen in local authorities based on our experiences in Lewisham, Knowsley and Bristol. We anticipate that this guide will be used by other local authorities interested in the process of change and by national policy makers keen to understand the culture and practices of local authorities.