London is home to a vast array of dynamic and ever changing communities. Its diversity is one of its greatest assets. If properly harnessed this diversity of insight and experience has the potential to improve the quality of policy making in London, and help to set priorities that reflect the lived experience of Londoners across the capital. Addressing inequalities in voice and power in the capital remains one of the Mayor’s priorities, as is reaching out to London’s huge variety of communities, including those newly arrived in the city.

a pilot peer research project designed to enhance engagement with communities whose voice and influence over public policy had previously been under-represented

In response to this, between September 2017 and May 2018 the Greater London Authority’s (GLA) Community Engagement Team (CE Team) launched and managed a pilot peer research project designed to enhance engagement with communities whose voice and influence over public policy had previously been under-represented called The CitizenLed Engagement Programme (Citizen Led or programme). The evaluation of the pilot programme highlighted the potential of this work, and Citizen Led was extended for a further year.

For Year 2 of Citizen Led, six additional communities and six research themes were identified. The six communities included: Gypsy, Roma and Traveller groups; European communities; East Asian communities; Refugee, migrant and asylum seeker communities; Deaf Londoners; and BAME LGBT+ Londoners. The six themes included: Health and young people, under 25 in the criminal justice system (including young women); The impact of Brexit on Londoners; Serious youth violence; Victims of hate crime; Trust and confidence in policing; and Barriers to accessing green spaces

The evaluation is qualitative in nature and builds on the Year 1 pilot programme evaluation, From ‘what will the Mayor do about it?’ to ‘what can we do about it together?.

Insights and recommendations were co-produced with Project Leads from each of the Partner Community Organisations, Peer Researchers, Policy Leads and the CE Team. The purpose of this collaborative approach is to continue to strengthen the connections with the communities on which Citizen Led is focussed and to co-produce recommendations, leading to suggestions for development that are considered and realistic.