Nothing about us, without us

I’m Lorna, and I love policy. I understand that I’m probably in the minority with this statement, but I have no shame in embracing my inner policy geek. I’ve worked in this field for nearly 14 years and I remain utterly committed to and passionate about it. I think a lot of this has to do with the way I’ve always approached policy development – namely, that you cannot make decisions that will impact on people’s lives without consulting with them first. The value of real lived experience absolutely has to sit at the heart of decision-making at all levels, otherwise any proposals, measures or projects will not have the necessary intended impact. In my role, I always have and always will work to influence policy for people, using their views, experiences and ideas. 

Decision-making in Scotland has always been done on a participatory basis – the Scottish Government has a frequently updated consultations section on their website, and the Scottish Parliament encourages civic society to get involved via private members bills and calls for evidence via its many committees. 

A truly participatory consultation process is, however, one which is not only responded to by those whom the policy will ultimately impact on but is also developed and shaped at its very inception with their involvement. It is so important to ensure that lived experiences are not simply tokenistic case studies within a final report but are used to form the basis of a process which will, ultimately, improve the lives of those individuals. 

Because is it really enough to ask people what they want and hope that at least a majority of responses fit somehow into a pre-conceived proposal? Meaningful consultation should involve asking those questions at the very start and then developing ideas and concepts from there – in this post-Covid world, we’ve got a real opportunity to think about participation in this way. Traditional structures were put ‘on hold’ due to the pandemic, however as we emerge from two very difficult years, with a lot of policy decisions to be caught up on and created, perhaps it’s time to take a different approach to how we make sure these have the most positive impact. 

This is very much the approach that EYS has taken, particularly during the pandemic. We have learned that it’s utterly remiss to disregard conversations which take place while rolling play dough with a parent and their child; cutting carrots in a kitchen to make soup; or standing at the bottom of a climbing frame while a wee person works out how to navigate their way to the top. That’s where we’ve picked up and learned what people’s lives are really like, where they face challenges and how these could be tackled in a practical way. We’ve used this approach to shape the way that our services are planned and delivered, talking to parents about what they need and collaboratively working to ensure that our sessions reflect what’s best for our families overall. This has led to a new angle for our organisation, which places even more of a focus on engagement with the family overall, and this approach is already tangibly making a difference to those who access our services. 

Because it doesn’t matter what the favoured buzz word of the moment is - stakeholders, service users, customers – they are all, at the end of the day, real people with real experiences. These experiences and stories and voices which result in well-founded, robust ideas can - and absolutely should - be incorporated at all levels of decision-making. 

And while the people the policies affect are just that - people - so too are the ones who make the decisions and whom we elect into office because we trust them to do the right thing for our families and communities and ultimately to guarantee not only the best start in life for our children, but a life shaped by legislation, policies and procedures which have the aim of giving everyone the best opportunities possible.