Developments in local governance and devolution over the past decade have provided new opportunities to tackle policy problems from a place-based angle. Innovations to strengthen participation can ensure more people participate in policymaking to help mitigate issues such as structural inequalities which affect them first hand. In this article, from our Power in Place publication, Professors Francesca Gains and Liz Richardson discuss what these innovations might look like and how to carefully design them.

• Electoral systems have an ‘in-built’ problem of minority voices being overlooked, widening and strengthening participation in policymaking seeks to address that.
• Developing successful and effective policies to tackle deep-rooted policy problems depends on co-production – working with those who have first-hand experience and knowledge of problems.
• Processes of participation should be open and porous, as well as transparent, inclusive, embedded, and valuing the fullest range of expertise.

Representative democracy

Place-based policymaking is based on the longstanding principles and statutes governing representative democracy. Citizens (those registered to vote) elect local councillors, and the largest party in a ‘place’ takes control of the council and sets the policy framework. Voters use parties to help choose between policy stances to reflect their own political preferences. And the way representatives decide how to spend public money, what to spend it on, and then account for their choices is tightly controlled by systems of accountancy and accountability.

But there are many reasons why local government has long sought to strengthen wider participation in policymaking alongside formal representative politics. Some under-represented and marginalised voices may not get heard in electoral processes, for example those who are not registered to vote, or who do not have a settled address. Even if electoral systems work as well as they can, there is an ‘in-built’ problem of minority voices being overlooked. Councillors represent the majority, and this gives a simple, clear, and overall fair way to decide. But a majority system can also have downsides; for example, if sections of the community are in a minority, they may sometimes lose out unfairly in decisions.

The role of local governance in strengthening participation

The development of successful and effective policies to tackle deep-rooted policy problems such as inequalities is vastly improved through the co-production of policies. This includes working with those who have first-hand experience and knowledge of problems, alongside the expertise of local councillors, researchers, council officers and other civic leaders. However, there is unfulfilled potential to use more participatory methods more often in local governance.

We have seen space for these opportunities in newer forms of subnational governance, such as mayoral combined authorities. The devolved powers and budgets of combined authorities are well placed to tackle place-based inequalities around education outcomes, skills development, employment and health outcomes. With the rapidly developing map of English devolution there is huge potential to take a place-based approach to tackling inequalities, if meaningful participation of under-represented groups can go hand in hand with the requirements for public probity around public funds.

Greater ‘people power’

The untapped potential for more participation to help tackle inequalities is a key focus in Greater Manchester following the Independent Inequalities Commission review, which argued for greater ‘people power’. Greater Manchester had already brought forward some democratic innovations in the region, including the establishment of panels covering all strands of inequalities. Earlier research examining the introduction of city mayors and directly elected police and crime commissioners suggests the mandate underpinning directly elected place-based leaders can encourage democratic innovation.

Following a roundtable set up by Policy@Manchester to bring together researchers, campaigners and policymakers to examine people power, we were invited to work with Greater Manchester policymakers in an action research project.

The three aims of the project were to establish design principles to underpin governance processes for developing people power; audit and capture what participatory policymaking is taking place across the ten boroughs; and make recommendations to strengthen the linkage between participatory ‘people power’ and formal statutory governance processes.

Design principles

After reviewing the existing research, we argued that to tackle weaknesses, local participatory decision-making should be underpinned by certain design principles. Membership of decision-making forums should be open, porous, transparent and representative of the communities served. The voices of under-represented groups should be embedded in decision-making, which will avoid tokenism and a lack of representation, and ensure that their input is routinised and responded to. And all types of expertise and evidence should be valued and examined, from the expertise reflected by the gathering of evidence by policymakers and researchers alongside the lived expertise of those with experience of the policy problem.

Examples of best practice

We then shared and discussed these principles at a workshop on strengthening participation across Greater Manchester, which brought together members from the equalities panels and councillors across all the boroughs, including those with equality, diversity, inclusion, and consultation portfolios. We heard from international experts around the best practice for participatory budgeting running citizens’ panels, and co-production.

This built a ‘menu’ of different types of participatory policymaking and when and why they might be used. Participants in the room shared examples of existing ways in which people power was being used across the boroughs, and the workshop finished with the aim of supporting the development of a community of practice for all involved – elected councillors, researchers, members of the equality panels, and officers from the combined authority and the boroughs.

Key recommendations

The possibility for strengthening participation in policymaking to tackle inequalities is considerable, as more and more mayoral combined authorities are created. Strengthening participation in policymaking to tackle education, skills, employment, and health will ensure that Levelling Up funding and policies are well targeted, effective and inclusive. Our key recommendations to achieve this are below.

• Participation should be underpinned by a set of key design principles for decision-making. The processes of participation should be open and porous, as well as transparent, inclusive, embedded, and valuing the fullest range of expertise.
• The extension of people power can complement representative democracy and enhance decision-making if it is routinely connected to policy development, scrutiny functions, and the work of local elected members.
• When considering how to strengthen participation, consider the target audience, objectives, and all the methods available, and choose wisely.

This article was originally published in Power in Place, a collection of thought leadership pieces and expert analysis providing evidence-led solutions for thriving and sustainable communities.

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