Co-production

Co-Production with Southend-on-Sea City Council

Introduction

Southend-on-Sea City Council is committed to working with the community, and for the community to be at the heart of decision-making.

Co-production gives people an opportunity to influence, co-plan, co-design, develop and help to shape services that are truly fit for purpose.

We work with various community groups to gather lived experience, to understand what’s working well, what may not be working well and to think about the future.

We understand that sharing lived and living experiences can sometimes be difficult, that’s why we are committed to the values detailed in our Co-Production Framework:

Inclusive - We celebrate diversity and will endeavour to ensure that under represented groups are represented

Collaborative - We have a ‘can do’ approach to work, to ensure collectively we continue to persevere, even when conversations are difficult.

Honest - Everyone taking part is honest and has the available information and knowledge to understand the co-production activity

Proud - We are creative and look at different ways of designing and delivering services

What is co-production?

Co-production brings people together, to explore lived and living experience, to share those experiences, knowledge and understanding.

It’s about working together, for residents and professionals to work in equal partnership for equal benefit, to create better outcomes for people.

Listening to you, the experts by lived experience, from different backgrounds allows us all to understand and appreciate any challenges or barriers people face.

Taking part in co-production

Our co-production opportunities are delivered in different formats to enable people to take part, including virtual sessions and face-to-face sessions too.

If you haven’t been part of co-production before, don’t worry, we’re here to help, to ensure you feel comfortable and confident to participate, and we can discuss any reasonable adjustments you may have.

Examples of our current groups are:

• Learning Disability user voice group - once a month, in person
• Over 55's user voice group - starting December 2023
• Carers user voice group - once a month, online

If you would like to take part in co-production activities across the city, to give your honest lived experience, views and opinions please contact us.

Lucie Babbington, Co-Production Lead

LucieBabbington@southend.gov.uk