A new report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation highlights positive views about community engagement amongst public sector officials, along with uncertainty about how to put it into practice.

According to the report

• Most public officials had very positive views and feelings about engagement.
• Almost all felt community engagement was valuable in principle but there was more uncertainty about putting it into practice.
  
• Officials sometimes dismissed community input as 'unrepresentative', or preferred 'good engagers' who understood the complexities involved. These attitudes had the potential to exclude some people from governance.
• Officials' ability to undertake engagement and act on its outcomes was shaped by organisational context. Key resources were time, staffing and senior management support.
  
• Performance incentives were important in enabling officials to prioritise engagement.
• Informal processes used by officials were also important in facilitating engagement, such as making structures accessible, communicating effectively and managing conflict.
• There was a lack of co-ordination between community input at the neighbourhood and borough levels, and between input into operational and strategic issues in service planning.
• Officials saw some types of engagement as particularly effective. Ongoing dialogue was valued because it facilitated feedback, built participants' understanding of complex issues, and developed trust.

Download the summary here.
Download the full report here.