Numerous citizens’ assemblies have been held by councils and other local bodies around the UK in recent years. Patricia Preller and Alan Renwick survey these processes to consider what lessons can be learned.
Though citizens’ assemblies remain controversial at the national level in the UK, they have at local level become relatively common. Numerous local councils have established such assemblies – or smaller-scale citizens’ juries – in recent years. Over 40 have been convened since 2019, and several more are in the pipeline.
This post examines what we can learn from these cases. Which councils are creating citizens’ assemblies? On what topics? For what purposes? And with what results? It updates previous surveys published on this blog in 2021 and 2022.
The post is based entirely on publicly available information, which means that some questions cannot be answered. Yet citizens’ assemblies are often advocated because of their capacity to foster thoughtful discussion of complex policy questions not just among assembly members themselves, but also in the wider public. What we can learn about assemblies from the public record therefore matters.
What emerges is a picture of diversity: while most citizens’ assemblies have been convened by councils in cities and on topics related to climate change, a wide range of other councils have also created assemblies, and many other topics have also been explored. At least some assemblies have clearly had positive impacts; for others, it would be possible to gauge their impacts only through more detailed case-by-case research.
Where have local citizens’ assemblies been held?
The table below summarises the local citizens’ assemblies and juries that we have found in the UK since 2019. These are all processes whose participants have been selected by lottery from the local population, and which involve learning about and discussing specific issues before making recommendations. They include only official assemblies or juries, convened by local councils or combined authorities.
Local citizens’ assemblies in the UK since 2019
| Name | Sponsoring Council | Topic | Dates | Council Response |
| Camden Citizens’ Assembly on the Climate Crisis | Camden London Borough Council | Climate Change | Jul 2019 | Yes |
| Greater Cambridge Citizens’ Assembly | Greater Cambridge Partnership | Congestion, Air Quality, Public Transport | Sep–Oct 2019 | Yes |
| Oxford Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change | Oxford City Council | Climate Change | Sep–Oct 2019 | Yes |
| Leeds Climate Change Citizens’ Jury | Leeds Climate Commission (endorsed by City Council) | Climate Change | Sep–Oct 2019 | Yes |
| Dudley People’s Panel | Dudley Borough Council | Dudley Borough’s Town Centres | Nov 2019 | Yes |
| Romsey Citizen’s Assembly | Test Valley Borough Council | Romsey Town Centre | Nov 2019 | Yes |
| Brent Climate Assembly | Brent London Borough Council | Climate Change | Nov–Dec 2019 | Yes |
| Kingston Citizens’ Assembly on Air Quality | Kingston-upon-Thames London Borough Council | Air Quality | Nov–Dec 2019 | Yes |
| Croydon Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change | Croydon London Borough Council | Climate Change | Jan–Feb 2020 | Yes |
| Newham Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change | Newham London Borough Council | Climate Change | Feb 2020 | Yes |
| Wolverhampton mini Citizens’ Assembly | Wolverhampton City Council | Climate Change | Feb 2020 | Yes |
| Waltham Forest Citizens’ Assembly | Waltham Forest London Borough Council | Hate Incidences | Feb–Mar 2020 | Yes |
| Camden Health and Care Citizens’ Assembly | Camden London Borough Council | Health and Social care | Feb–Sep 2020 | Yes |
| Lancaster District People’s Jury | Lancaster City Council | Climate Change | Feb–Sep 2020 | Yes |
| Kendal Climate Change Citizens’ Jury | Kendal Town Council | Climate Change | Jul–Oct 2020 | Yes |
| Brighton & Hove Climate Assembly | Brighton & Hove City Council | Climate Change, Transport | Sep–Nov 2020 | Yes |
| Adur & Worthing Climate Assembly | Adur & Worthing Councils | Climate Change | Sep–Dec 2020 | Yes |
| Warwick District people’s climate change inquiry | Warwick District Council | Climate Change | Dec 2020–Feb 2021 | Yes |
| Blackpool Climate Assembly | Blackpool Council | Climate Change | Jan–Feb 2021 | Yes |
| Bristol Citizens’ Assembly | Bristol City Council | COVID-19, Climate Change, Housing, Transport, Health, and Social Care | Jan–Mar 2021 | Yes |
| North of Tyne Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change | North of Tyne Combined Authority | Climate Change | Feb–Mar 2021 | Yes |
| Blaenau Gwent Climate Assembly | Commissioned by several civil society organisations but worked with Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council | Climate Change | Mar 2021 | Yes |
| Lambeth Climate Change Assembly | Lambeth London Borough Council | Climate Change | May–Jul 2021 | Yes |
| Devon Climate Change Assembly | Devon County Council | Climate Change | Jun–Sep 2021 | Yes |
| Newham Citizens’ Assembly | Newham London Borough Council | Greening the Borough | Jul 2021 | Yes |
| Glasgow Citizens’ Assembly | Glasgow City Council | Climate Change | Aug 2021 | Yes |
| Southwark Citizens’ Jury | Southwark London Borough Council | Climate Change | Nov 2021 | Yes |
| Herefordshire Citizens’ Climate Assembly | Herefordshire Council | Climate Change | Jan 2022 | Yes |
| Newham Citizen’s Assembly | Newham London Borough Council | 15-Minute Neighbourhoods | Jan–Feb 2022 | Yes |
| Furness Climate Change Citizens’ Jury | Westmorland & Furness Council | Climate Change | Feb 2022 | Yes |
| Hackney Citizens’ Assembly | Hackney London Borough Council | Climate Change | Mar 2022 | Yes |
| Shipley Citizens’ Jury on Climate Change | Shipley Town Council | Climate Change | Sep–Nov 2022 | No |
| Blackburn with Darwen People’s Jury on the Climate Change Crisis | Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council | Climate Change | Sep–Dec 2022 | Yes |
| Cheshire East People’s Panel | Cheshire East Council | Cost of Living | Oct 2022 | Yes |
| Wandsworth Citizens’ Assembly on Air Quality | Wandsworth London Borough Council | Climate Change | Feb–Apr 2023 | Yes |
| Barnet Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change and Biodiversity | Barnet London Borough Council | Climate Change | Feb–Apr 2023 | Yes |
| South Yorkshire Citizens’ Assembly | South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority | Climate Change | Oct–Dec 2023 | TBD |
| Southampton Citizens’ Climate Assembly | Southampton City Council | Climate Change | Nov–Dec 2023 | Yes |
| Waltham Forest Citizens’ Assembly on the Future of Neighbourhood Policing | Waltham Forest London Borough Council | Criminal Justice | Feb–Mar 2024 | Yes |
| Preston People’s Climate Jury | Preston City Council | Climate Change | Feb–Mar 2024 | TBD |
| Islington Climate Panel | Islington London Borough Council | Climate Change | Apr–Jul 2024 | TBD |
| Aberdeen Citizens’ Assembly on Poverty and Inequality | Aberdeen City Council | Social Justice | TBD | TBD |
As the table demonstrates, most local citizens’ assemblies have been established by councils in cities. Of the 42 assemblies listed, 16 were created by London borough councils, and others have been held, for example, in parts of the West Midlands, Leeds, Glasgow, Southampton, and Aberdeen. But there have been assemblies in rural areas too, including Devon and Herefordshire. Kendal Town Council stands out as a small council that has held an assembly. Two combined authorities – North of Tyne and South Yorkshire – have held assemblies, as has the Greater Cambridge Partnership.
While citizens’ assemblies have supporters and opponents on both right and left, the tendency has been for greater enthusiasm to come from the latter. That is reflected at local level: most assemblies have been established by Labour-controlled local authorities, and others by councils under no overall control. Nevertheless, at least two assemblies – the Devon Climate Change Assembly and Romsey Citizens’ Assembly – were created under Conservative leadership. In Devon, the assembly followed an initiative of the Devon Climate Emergency, a local partnership of public, private, and voluntary organisations. In Romsey, it was part of the UK government’s Innovation in Democracy programme, which ran from 2018 to 2020.
What topics do assemblies address?
Most citizens’ assemblies – 33 of the 42 listed above – have been set up to examine aspects of the climate crisis and biodiversity. This may partly reflect pressure from campaigners, as well as recognition from councils that climate change poses new challenges for which fresh forms of decision-making may be helpful.
But a wide range of other topics have been covered as well, including hate incidents (Waltham Forest), health and social care (Camden), cost of living (East Cheshire), and town centre development (Romsey, Dudley). The Bristol Citizens’ Assembly dealt with transport, health inequalities, and climate change through the question ‘How do we recover from COVID-19 and create a better future for all in Bristol?’
Do councils follow up on citizens’ assembly recommendations?
Citizens’ assemblies may be established for a variety of reasons: to provide better information on public concerns; to encourage thoughtful consideration of complex trade-offs; to engage local communities; to respond to vocal lobbies. Whatever their origins, however, one of the crucial metrics by which assemblies are judged is whether their recommendations feed meaningfully into subsequent decision-making. Even if such impact is not councillors’ primary goal in setting up an assembly, such exercises are likely to be judged harshly if there is no evidence of follow-up.
As the table above shows, we can find evidence of at least some kind of council response in virtually all the cases where there has been time for it. In some cases, the written responses are very detailed. The Bristol assembly, for example, produced a detailed plan of 82 proposed ‘actions’ grouped under 17 overall recommendations. The council has subsequently responded to each of these actions in detail. As of January 2024 – approaching three years after the assembly met – it marked 13 of the actions as ‘agreed as set out’, 29 as ‘agreed in principle’ but delivered by other means, 21 as ‘taken forward in part’, seven as still ‘under assessment’, and 12 as ‘not feasible’. In other cases, the response that we have been able to find was more general. For example, the Romsey Citizens’ Assembly was one step in the planning process for a new masterplan. The Masterplan Report set out the assembly’s recommendations, but did not respond to them directly. Rather, it said that the recommendations ‘influenced how the final Masterplan has emerged’.
Of course, what is written in such reports is not necessarily a good guide to the true extent of an assembly’s impact: a recommendation that is ‘taken forward in part’, for example, might be largely followed or largely rejected; a proposal that is followed might have been part of the council’s plans anyway; and the absence of an explicit response does not necessarily mean that a recommendation has been ignored. Further research would be needed to assess influence more fully.
How far do assemblies strengthen wider public discussion of the issues they address?
Citizens’ assemblies are often adopted in part in the hope that they will foster more thoughtful discussion of complex topics, not just among their members, but also in the wider public. Such knock-on effects will emerge, however, only through deliberate effort. Some councils have shown awareness of the need for further work if such objectives are to be achieved. In Leeds, for example, the question put to the citizens’ jury was itself developed through a citizen-led process, and the jury was followed by the #LeedsActsTogether campaign for sustained collaboration with citizens.
Citizens’ assemblies can also provide an impetus for collaboration involving local stakeholders in the implementation process. The Jury Recommendations Panel in Kendal engaged several councils and other bodies from the local area in a shared approach to climate action, with the jury recommendations providing the agenda. While the councils might have been intending to pursue a similar path prior to the citizens’ jury, its recommendations provided institutional structure for engaging with local community and business leaders by demanding a transparent and consistent response. The process also ensured that the panel reports were readily available online.
We can thus see at least some examples of positive wider discussion stimulated by assembly processes. It is likely that there are other cases that are less visible to the external eye.
Once councils use these processes, do they later use them again?
One indicator of the value of citizens’ assemblies might be whether councils that have used them once turn to them again. For some councils, that is true. Camden, Waltham Forest, and Newham have each now established several assemblies and are among a range of councils that have been seeking to regularise the use of deliberative citizen engagement of different kinds in their policy-making processes. Similarly, Test Valley Borough Council also continues to seek citizen participation and has recently completed a second citizens’ assembly in Romsey on delivering the masterplan developed after the assembly in 2019.
The wider picture across the country is less clear, however. It may be that, in some cases, a desire to engage in further deliberative engagement has been thwarted by funding constraints. In other cases, councillors may be less persuaded that assemblies have brought benefits. Further research into what councils think they got from their assemblies and whether they want to repeat them would be desirable.
Conclusion
We can see from evidence in the public domain that use of citizens’ assemblies and citizens’ juries by councils is now widespread: such processes have been established by a range of councils in numerous ways to address diverse topics. Councils have overwhelmingly taken such assemblies seriously, at least to the extent of formally responding to the assembly recommendations. At least in some cases, we can see that those responses have been extensive and detailed. Furthermore, some councils have evidently been persuaded of the value of these processes, deploying them repeatedly or using them as springboards for fostering more participatory approaches to decision-making in general.
At the same time, there is also much that this survey on its own does not show. Further research, extending beyond evidence in the public domain, would be desirable to assess exactly how much policy change assemblies have really prompted, what value councils see them as having added, and in what ways councils might continue to use assemblies in the future. What is in no doubt is that the great experience of citizens’ assemblies that has now built up around the country provides a rich set of material from which lessons can be drawn.
About the authors
Patricia Preller is a former research volunteer at the Constitution Unit.
Alan Renwick is Professor of Democratic Politics at UCL and Deputy Director of the Constitution Unit.
Featured image: (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) by nhscitizen.