Real Big Conversations March 2023

After a host of small conversations carried out in churches and small groups, people in Plymouth came together for a Big Conversation hosted by Transforming Plymouth Together. Topics that were high on the agenda were City Services, Education, and Health & Wellbeing. There was some representation at the Big Conversation Day from service providers, commissioners, heads of departments, and local councillors and cabinet members, but on the whole, it would have been amazing if there was a lot more, balancing the input from the VCSE in more equal ways.

In Plymouth, the conversations centred around:

- NHS / healthcare (64% of Conversations)
- Cost of living / poverty (45% of Conversations)
- Housing (45% of Conversations)
- The Government / politics (41% of Conversations)
- Benefits (36% of Conversations)
- Education (35% of Conversations)
- Local amenities (29% of Conversations)

Whilst the majority of participants felt that they enjoyed the process and benefitted from the sharing of thought that took place, a number of people felt angry that their views were unlikely to be heard. The project was part of a national initiative funded by the Department of Levelling Up. Their feedback was, "The report successfully evidences that by facilitating conversations among marginalised groups, difficulties such groups faced can be raised and addressed. Examples of issues raised included: seasonal and temporary employment, lack of affordable rental accommodation, absence of larger social housing properties that were available for larger families, digital poverty, and absence of suitable activities for children with learning difficulties. Fantastic to learn that following conversations town and county councillors were made aware of issues raised and action plans were put in place, and some families were directly linked to children's rights officers. By bringing service users together around a table with decision makers (councillors), the project ensured service users felt listened to, belonging and trust was fostered - something that doesn't always happen among marginalised groups. The project's innovation and success is largely thanks to their solid infrastructure and wider partnership of organisations, including statutory sector organisations."

The report also offers some really interesting thoughts on the Faith Compact, highlighting that faith-based organisations have an expert understanding of the needs and solutions of their local community and thus the Faith Compact must recognise and support this. The report also suggests it should account for local differences, and it should be backed up by funding if possible. An interesting suggestion is that there could be a named representative for the Faith Compact at a local government level, who can liaise with faith groups across the county. This person could be the point of call for any questions or concerns and act as an intermediary between national government and grassroots faith organisations.