Michael Chandler, chief executive of Groundswell tells us how, at Groundswell, they believe that the people closest to the issues are best placed to shape the solutions.
Recently, this belief has been powerfully demonstrated through their participatory policymaking project in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC), using Legislative Theatre.
This initiative, which brought together families in temporary accommodation, local council staff, and policymakers, has already led to tangible improvements in the lives of people experiencing homelessness and in the workings of the council. We have just published the project report alongside a brilliant video.
Temporary accommodation is at crisis levels in London. This means at least one in 50 Londoners – a staggering 183,000 people – and at least one child in every classroom, is without a permanent home.
While we work towards long-term solutions to homelessness, we must address the realities of those experiencing it right now. How do we make sure they are heard and improve their experience of temporary accommodation? And, crucially, how do residents and council leaders take joint action based on lived-experience expertise? These were the questions that our project sought to answer.
Using theatre to drive policy change
Legislative Theatre (LT) is an innovative approach to participatory democracy that uses storytelling, performance, and creative problem-solving to explore social issues and co-create policy solutions.
For this project, Groundswell worked closely with LT practitioners Katy Rubin and LaToyah Gill, with our Learning & Development Manager, Sharon Clint learning about the process throughout.
"I learnt so much, I think we all did. I was personally grateful for a better understanding of the challenges faced by those working to house people, it’s all too easy to think they are the enemy when, in truth, we’re all trying to work towards the same aims. I was stunned at how quickly we were able to bond, share stories and create scenes. The things I have taken away from this experience are to trust the process, trust the people and to trust myself." ~ Sharon Clint
Temporary accommodation residents and Housing Options teams took to the stage at The Tabernacle Theatre, to perform scenes based on real-life experiences. These performances sparked discussions with the audience of senior council staff, councillors, and fellow residents. Following discussion, audience members joined those onstage to test new policy ideas in real time, later drafting these into proposals.
The event used humour and creativity in the spirit of progress, and together, they debated, refined, and ultimately agreed on a slate of policy proposals aimed at improving the borough’s temporary accommodation system.
It was particularly useful in the RBKC context, where residents and council leadership were eager to rebuild trust and develop a framework for positive collaboration, after some difficult challenges. The result? Concrete commitments from the council to make meaningful changes:
- Improved accessibility of the Temporary Accommodation Team for residents in need.
- More staff resources to enhance the triage process and ensure better support at the first point of contact.
- A review of bureaucratic barriers, including simplifying existing systems and forms.
- Exploration of new recruitment practices that recognise and value lived experience.
“This was my first experience of legislative theatre and I was really struck by how it made space for a discussion where the perspectives of residents, staff, senior managers and other practitioners from outside the Council were all given equal time and weight. It was a particular privilege to be part of the ‘Policy Team.’ It was challenging at times, but I got a huge amount out of seeing and thinking about the range of constructive suggestions.” ~ Dan Hawthorn, Executive Director of Housing and Social Investment
Real Change, Real Commitment
The power of this process lies not only in the policies agreed upon, but in the commitment to action. A Policy Team including councillors, senior housing staff, and community members made pledges to progress the proposed changes within six weeks.
Progress has already included increased TA Team accessibility, increased staff resource to improve the triage process for residents requesting help, a review of existing systems and forms to reduce bureaucracy, and explorations of piloting recognising lived experience in recruitment.
Kojo Sarpong, Director of Housing Needs, highlighted progress now made:
“I am pleased the say all the recommendations from the legislative theatre have been implemented by the Council. For example, we have set up our Homelessness Prevention Hub, which has multi-disciplined officers responsible for providing housing advice and preventing homelessness. There has been an improvement in the quality of service delivered to residents at the various access points. And we have recently undergone a systems analysis of the service provided to residents and the volume of forms required to be completed. This all remains under review for development and next steps. And, we have received positive praise about the work and our willingness to open ourselves up to scrutiny with residents in this way.”
“Boroughs support homeless Londoners as best we can, and projects like this are important for listening to and learning from the lived experience of those in temporary accommodation. We are as determined as ever to improve Londoners’ experience of temporary accommodation and to work with partners in tackling homelessness in the capital.” ~ Joanne Drew, Co-Chair of the London Housing Directors’ Group
Watch the video and read the report
To capture this project’s impact and the changes already taking place, we have created a short video. Please do watch it, share it, and be part of the conversation about how we can continue to drive change together. You can also read the project report, including key learnings and progress made in the borough.
We are encouraged to see other local authorities across the UK engaging Legislative Theatre on policy issues including rough sleeping, mental health services and public safety with similarly rapid and tangible results. Also positive is that more regional and national government bodies are embracing the importance of lived experience participation in policy making.
We are pleased to be feeding into the GLA’s Rough Sleeping Action Plan and MHCLG’s homeless strategy – and are encouraged to see a growth in appetite for participation and lived experience at the core of policy development. Building capacity for these processes will be increasingly important. Let’s keep building a future where no one has to endure the uncertainty of temporary accommodation alone.
