Devon Voice

Devon County Council is committed to consulting with local people. To help us do this we have a residents’ panel – Devon Voice –made up over 1000 people from all walks of life across the county that represent the population of Devon.

Why have a panel?     Devon County Council provides a wide range of services for 715,000 people. We need to find out what our customers, the residents of Devon, think about the work we do and the services we provide.

What’s involved?    Members of Devon Voice are asked to complete questionnaires on a regular basis, either online or by post. They can also choose to take part in telephone surveys and face-to-face discussion groups or events.

What are the panel consulted on?    A wide variety of subjects are covered – including in the past:

• How you think we are performing - 50% of the panel thought we were a ‘good and improving council’
• How we manage our budgets - 47% of the panel thought we worked hard at our financial management but did not receive fair funding
• How Devon’s roads are maintained - 35% of the panel were dissatisfied with the speed with which Devon’s roads are repaired
• Climate change - 77% of the panel were concerned about climate change

What do we do with the results?    Results of consultation are used to help form decisions the County Council makes. For example we prosecute utility companies who fail to reinstate the roads properly after they have dug them up; the questions on climate change helped to form our climate change strategy, and we continue to lobby central government on fairer funding for Devon. If you’d like to see more results they can all be found on our Consultation Finder.

Interested in joining Devon Voice?