Harrow Council consults about the Way Ahead with Quantify!

Harrow Council is seeking residents’ views about its new Vision statement which sets out the Council’s 11 new corporate priorities. The consultation will be conducted among the 1,200 members of the Council’s Residents’ Panel, which is managed for the Council by independent research consultants, Quantify.

For nearly ten years, Harrow Council has maintained a representative panel of residents willing to join in consultation surveys and focus groups. This is a cost-effective way for the Council to keep in touch with local opinion on policies and satisfaction with services.

More than 500 new members have recently been recruited to bring the active size of the panel to over 1,200 and Quantify, which has managed the panel for the Council since its inception, has now been instructed to carry out the first survey among the new panel.

"The Panel is a group of people selected so that it represents the local population," explained David Lusty, Quantify’s principal consultant. "The Council and its public sector partners - the local health authority and the police - are committed to listening to local people about the decisions that are made on their behalf.

"Panel members may be sent postal surveys or, perhaps, invited by mail or telephone to attend focus group meetings to give their views on Council services, health or policing matters. Over the years, the Residents’ Panel has proved itself to be a highly cost-effective way for the Council to keep in touch with public opinion on policies and satisfaction with services," he added.

Quantify, which is bound by its professional Code of Conduct and treats all the information collected in the strictest confidence, recruits the panel and holds the data it generates. When they join, panel members provide personal information which allows Quantify to:
• ensure that the panel is representative,
• send some surveys only to people for whom they are relevant,
• summarise responses to see if different groups of people have different views.

"Of course, the panel is used only for research purposes by or on behalf of the Council or its public service partners," Lusty explained. "Nobody receives commercial ‘junk mail’ as a result of joining the panel.

"If a member receives a survey in the mail or is invited to attend a meeting, there is no obligation to reply or to attend. S/he can always choose not to participate and no questions will be asked."

Membership of the Residents’ Panel is open to any resident of the London Borough of Harrow over 18 - and a phone call to 08452 41 41 60 to request a registration form is all it takes to join.

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Notes for Editors

About Harrow Council

The Council of the London Borough of Harrow is committed to:
• deliver high quality, cost effective services through a partnership with all stakeholders and the community in general
• govern within a framework of fairness, openness, integrity and accountability.

Harrow's corporate priorities are
1. Increasing levels of customer satisfaction
2. Working with our partners to reduce crime and the fear of crime
3. Improving the performance of our environmental services and promoting recycling
4. Promoting policies that retain Harrow’s suburban character
5. Improving care for adults and children who most need our help
6. Expanding participation opportunities for Harrow’s young people
7. Continuing improvement in schools to make education in Harrow even better
8. Increasing opportunities for participation in sports and culture
9. Regenerating the town centre, improve district centres and promote new businesses
10. Building on our existing strong and cohesive community
11. Improving the way we work and provide value for money

Harrow Council is the largest employer in the borough of Harrow, employing over 6,000 people. The Council also comprises 63 councillors, who are elected every four years.

A Residents Panel consisting of some 1,200 local people represents the Borough’s diverse community. The Panel helps to provide the Council with a clear picture of the effectiveness of local services. For further information on the Partnership Initiative, please contact 08452 41 41 60 or 020 8420 9637.

About Quantify! Ltd

Operating an organisation successfully requires accurate, current and comprehensive management information on all the things that influence the success of the organisation – including how it feels to do business with it or be employed in it.

Quantify discovers this information through employee and customer satisfaction research, web-based or on paper, either in a standard or custom built format. Its services include:

• Employee satisfaction surveys
• Customer satisfaction surveys
• 360° Feedback
• Internal customer satisfaction surveys
• Course assessments
• Leaver survey
Quantify projects are designed and reported to provide clients with useful, accessible management information which can drive improvement, rather than just being ‘nice to know’.
Quantify’s founder and principal consultant, David Lusty MCIPD MMS(Dip) MIMC CMC, worked in local authorities for 11 years, in management services and latterly in personnel management. He joined Avis Rent a Car Ltd in 1978, and stayed 12 years, 10 as head of the UK personnel department. He was Director of Personnel and Management Services when he left Avis in 1990 and founded Quantify.

Governed by the codes of professional conduct of the Institute of Management Consultancy and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Quantify operates to the highest ethical and professional standards.

Further information from:

David Lusty, Quantify! Ltd: 00 44 (0)20 8704 1296/ 00 44 (0)7956 518070
Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR: 00 44 (0) 1727 860405 / 00 44 (0) 7850 508209