Tunbridge Wells. I'm sure they'd be helpful. Well this is the thing, they of course have directory of pages that goes on and on. Luckily I can plough through it but what if you're educated up to A Level? Or GCSE?
There's a problem. People are apathetic to what is happening in their local areas and this leads to a disassociation with the democracy process. My research has shown that only educated people know how this works and tend to make things happen is hey are unhappy with what the council is doing in their local area but even they still struggle to get the 'right' person. So what about a simple web based tool that shows-using visualisations-how democracy works in your local area? If you have a problem, click, and you can see step by step or a scenario, graphs etc that shows who you need to speak with-how long they will take or what your local councillor can actually do. For example talking with a few people in local govt, they are saying that because of the lack of transparency issues, a lot of people are putting their irk about local issues to the MP, when it should be their local cllr, parish cllr or County Cllr. I'll design something roughly....its been on my mind for a long while! :-) It would very much be part of openlylocal. Thanks for the tips/info etc Irene On 25 March 2010 18:22, CountCulture <[email protected]> wrote: > What's your area? Basically we scrape the info from the council website and > put it in an accessible and straightforward way). Some councils are easy to > get the info, others really tricky. So, no promises but let me know the > council and I'll have a look. > > Re the other stuff, think there's two questions: what are the procedures > for reporting issues to your council, and what do you have to do in practice > to actually achieve something? > > Re the first, all councils are supposed to have a directory of web pages > for this info, which they submit to localdirectgov - OpenlyLocal extracts > that info and makes it easily searchable, but not all councils submit the > info they're supposed to... > > On the second point, the idea behind the MySociety projects and also with > OpenlyLocal is to make it easier to engage with the democratic & > decision-making process, but there's definitely a roll for a guide to 'how > to actually make something happen in your area'. > > Chris > ----------- > OpenlyLocal :: Making Local Government More Transparent > http://openlylocal.com > Blog: <http://countculture.wordpress.com>http://countculture.wordpress.com > Twitter: <http://twitter.com/CountCulture>http://twitter.com/CountCulture > > On 25 Mar 2010, at 17:48, Irene Rukerebuka <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Thanks OpenlyLocal is ace-just had a look! How can I add my local area? > > But no that wasn't what I meant. I meant a tool that explains to you very > simply the process as a service user, you have to take to get in contact > with your council about ASBO, litter to roads to traffic issues etc. > > For example, after I threw a stink about my issue-luckily I knew the local > cllr-I realised my local cllr hasn't really got that much power. I was told > to contact my MP-just to show how upset I was but that the person I should > contact would be the CEO of the council. > > Basically their was this long winded process-in fairness the Dem service > advisor was nice-that also involved agencies, as well as sections of the > council. > > This is one, or should I say the greatest barrier between people not voting > or voting. Between people being impassioned about politics or not. Between > being apathetic and pro-active. > > A good example was my Mum who's lived in this area for ages and warned me > off complaining because nothing would get done or would happen. Well I was > detirmined and followed that long process and now something has been done. > > Who do you go to? What can they actually do? Who actually has the power? > > On 25 March 2010 17:19, CountCulture < <[email protected]> > [email protected]> wrote: > >> What kind of tool were you thinking of. Are you talking about the >> democratic structure (who's who and what committees they sit on, for >> example) or something else. If it's the former see if OpenlyLocal helps at >> all (we're not yet covering all councils, but gradually getting there). >> Chris >> >> ----------- >> OpenlyLocal :: Making Local Government More Transparent >> <http://openlylocal.com>http://openlylocal.com >> Blog: <http://countculture.wordpress.com> >> http://countculture.wordpress.com >> Twitter: <http://twitter.com/CountCulture>http://twitter.com/CountCulture >> >> >> On 25 Mar 2010, at 17:06, Irene Rukerebuka <<[email protected]> >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >> Hi, >>> >>> Does anybody know of any councils that have a web based tool or app >>> that shows its democracy process? >>> >>> I had some issues with my neighbours-a while back-and for the first >>> time went through the whole process of how this would get resolved. As >>> you can surmise, the Democracy process was poor to say the least and >>> didn't make all that much sense. >>> >>> I've been thinking of designing something that would communicate this >>> process and would inadvertently highlight the holes in the actual >>> democracy process in a council. >>> >>> For me it's simple. We're the 'service users' and they are the >>> 'service providers'. >>> >>> How efficient is the service they are providing? >>> >>> Any links or knowledge of anything would be really appreciated, >>> >>> Thanks, >>> >>> -- >>> Irene Rukerebuka >>> HUBnovation >>> <http://hubnovation.org.uk>hubnovation.org.uk >>> <http://www.twitter.com/rantersparadise>www.twitter.com/rantersparadise >>> >>> 37 Hunters Way >>> Tunbridge Wells >>> Kent >>> TN2 5QF >>> >>> m: 07826255452 >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Mailing list <[email protected]> >>> [email protected] >>> Archive, settings, or unsubscribe: >>> <https://secure.mysociety.org/admin/lists/mailman/listinfo/developers-public> >>> https://secure.mysociety.org/admin/lists/mailman/listinfo/developers-public >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Mailing list <[email protected]> >> [email protected] >> Archive, settings, or unsubscribe: >> <https://secure.mysociety.org/admin/lists/mailman/listinfo/developers-public> >> https://secure.mysociety.org/admin/lists/mailman/listinfo/developers-public >> > > > > -- > Irene Rukerebuka > > 37 Hunters Way > Tunbridge Wells > Kent > TN2 5QF > > m: 07826255452 > > t: <http://www.twitter.com/rantersparadise>www.twitter.com/rantersparadise > w: <http://www.hubnovation.org.uk>www.hubnovation.org.uk > > _______________________________________________ > Mailing list <[email protected]> > [email protected] > Archive, settings, or unsubscribe: > https://secure.mysociety.org/admin/lists/mailman/listinfo/developers-public > > > _______________________________________________ > Mailing list [email protected] > Archive, settings, or unsubscribe: > https://secure.mysociety.org/admin/lists/mailman/listinfo/developers-public > -- Irene Rukerebuka 37 Hunters Way Tunbridge Wells Kent TN2 5QF m: 07826255452 t: www.twitter.com/rantersparadise w: www.hubnovation.org.uk
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