Everything
you need to know about the Citizens' Panel
Who can
apply to join the Panel?
Anyone who lives in the Borough of Dacorum can
apply to join the Panel.
Dacorum covers the towns of Hemel Hempstead,
Berkhamsted and Tring, and stretches from Long Marston and Markyate
in the north to Kings Langley and Flaunden in the south.
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What does
being on the Panel involve?
If you become a member of the Citizens Panel we
will contact you up to four times a year to ask you to take part in
surveys. In most cases these surveys will take the form of a postal
questionnaire. However, we may also undertake short telephone
surveys, or invite a small number of people to take part in a focus
group or local forum.
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Who could go on the Panel from my household?
Anyone in your household who is over the age of
16 may apply to join the Panel. However, it is important
that the person who completes the initial profile survey
is the person who completes future surveys
- otherwise we will not have the correct profile on which to
analyse the results.
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What's
in it for me?
The Citizens Panel is an opportunity for you to
air your views on a range of Council and community issues, and to
make a difference to the decisions taken on your behalf. Because of
the number of people on the Panel, the responses we receive are
considered to be a good reflection of the views of the community as
a whole. Feedback from the Panel is therefore taken very seriously
by staff and Councillors.
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Who will
get to see my comments?
Your questionnaire will go directly to the
independent market research agency that manages the Citizens Panel
on behalf of the Council. Both Dacorum Borough Council and the
agency adhere to the Market Research Code of Conduct. This means
that your responses will be kept completely confidential and will
not be traceable back to you.
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Will
my details be passed on to other market research or direct mail
companies?
No. Your details will only be used for Dacorum
Borough Council to consult with you over the provision of local
services. This is enforced through the rules of the Data Protection
Act.
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What if I
move house?
If you move to another property within Dacorum
you are welcome to stay on the panel – just let us have your new
address. If you are moving out of the area please let us know so
that we can take you off the panel and make sure that no further
surveys are sent to your old address.
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What if I
don't have time to fill in a survey?
You will usually be given around 3 weeks in
which to return each survey, and they usually take around 15
minutes to complete. You will also have the opportunity to complete
surveys on-line.
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Do I have to
fill in every survey?
There is no obligation for you to fill in every
survey. However, the more responses we get for each survey, the
better the results. If you feel you are unlikely to fill in future
surveys we would rather that you chose not to join the Panel, so
that another resident can be given the opportunity to take
part.
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What if I don't have any knowledge or experience of
the services or issues that you are asking about?
When we consult the public, we always try to
speak to people who use the service to find out what they think
about it and to those who do not use it to find out why not. So
whether you have used a particular service or not, we are equally
keen to hear your views. It doesn’t matter whether you have lived
in the Borough for years, or you have just moved in. We are keen to
obtain the views of as wide a range of residents as possible.
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Will my views make a difference?
The Citizens Panel is your opportunity to air
your views on Council and community issues, and to make a
difference to the decisions taken on your behalf. Because of the
number of people on the Panel, the responses we receive are
considered to be a good reflection of the views of the community as
a whole. Feedback from the Panel is therefore taken very seriously
by staff and Councillors.
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If I
decide to apply to join, what happens next?
If you complete the on-line application form,
your details will be forwarded to a market research agencywho
will check whether your profile matches current Panel requirements
and will then confirm back to you whether you have been accepted
onto the Panel.
You then just wait for your first
survey.
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