Letter: Did council really engage public?

SUE Bruce, the chief executive of the City of Edinburgh Council, has opened up a much-needed Scottish angle to the Big Society debate by suggesting that the public are keen to take on the role of providers of some public services, including meals-on-wheels, driving patients to medical appointments and snow-clearing (News, 6 February).

She argues that support for this comes from a number of public meetings held by the City of Edinburgh Council. It may well be the case that many of the residents of Edinburgh are willing to volunteer to support vulnerable neighbours - after the army was called in to clear the snow, who could argue against a more active role for residents in such rare situations?

But this would mean a significant change from the way services are currently provided, and we would question the extent to which the public have actually been engaged fully in their development. Public meetings are a common method of engaging citizens, and appeal to people who are often already active citizens. But they are not necessarily a suitable or accessible way of involving vulnerable people who actually use the public services which could be removed and replaced by voluntary arrangements. Similarly, we would query whether the council was asking those attending the public meetings the right questions. Research consistently shows a drop-off in numbers between those who say "the public" should be more involved in delivering local services, and those who feel that they themselves have the time and other resources to get involved.

Public service providers need to be careful to ensure they are asking the right people the right questions before making dramatic changes to the delivery of our public services.

Jennifer Wallace, Principal Policy Advocate, Consumer Focus Scotland