Community Conversations

The R&R Programme will be the biggest and most complex heritage restoration project ever undertaken in the UK, and will be delivered in an environment of unprecedented political and public scrutiny. Winning and demonstrating political, stakeholder and public support will therefore be crucial. In addition we must meet our statutory responsibilities to promote public understanding of the purposes of the R&R Programme, and to seek the views of the public as we set strategic objectives and make strategic decisions relating to the programme. We are committed to engaging, informing and listening to the public throughout the duration of the Restoration and Renewal Programme, including in the formation of our Outline Business Case, which will take place over the course of 2021 and 2022. To make sure that we are getting a full and accurate picture of what the public thinks we need to ensure that we find ways to hear the views of people who are less likely to participate in typical channels of engagement. A recent report by the House of Commons Library has identified groups that are less likely to be engaged in politics and the work of Parliament as including people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, unskilled workers and people in long term unemployment, women, and disabled people. We wish to deliver a range of engagement programming to ensure that everybody who wants to has the chance to be involved, while proactively targeting those who may be less likely to participate, to make sure we are understanding the public's views overall. As part of these plans we require a specialist partner who can design and deliver a programme of engagement to explore the views of these target groups in relation to key elements of our plans for Restoration and Renewal. The information gained will be combined with feedback from other activities to develop a detailed understanding of the views of the public, in order to inform decisions we take about the direction of the R&R Programme. We envisage a 1-year contract with deliverables split into two waves of activity (delivery wave 1 April - June 2021 and delivery wave 2 November 2021-February 2022) comprising a set of core activities plus the option of calling off additional services as required.