Wokingham Community Panel

Community Panel

We want to listen to residents and involve them when we make decisions.

As we look to the future, and the challenges we face, we want residents to help us decide which direction to take and ensure that Wokingham Borough continues to thrive. We set up the Wokingham Community Panel to help us do this.

More about our Community Panel

The Wokingham Community Panel is a chance for residents to have their say on matters that affect Wokingham Borough and provide regular feedback on issues relating to the council.

Its purpose is to enable a representative pool of local people to share their views on how Wokingham Borough Council can best provide and improve our services to residents.

The panel will be launched in Autumn 2025 and members will be recruited to be broadly representative of the wider borough in terms of demographics and where they live. 

Throughout the year, they will be invited to participate in surveys, focus groups and online sessions about a range of topics affecting the borough. They will help the council make decisions and enable us to:

• Seek feedback on local services, particularly around how they may need to change in future
• Help identify future needs and priorities

How will the panel be recruited?

Because we want to make sure the panel is representative of the borough’s population, we are recruiting residents using random selection and are not opening the panel up to general recruitment. 

We realise this may be frustrating to some people, but it is important that we keep the panel representative. The panel will not replace our commitment to hold full public consultations on major decisions, so that all residents have an opportunity to have their say on decisions we make.

What do panel members need to do?

Panel members will be invited to take part in at least 3 online surveys a year and will also be invited to take part in further research, such as focus groups and online discussion panels. All participation is voluntary. We will keep panel members updated on the results of the research and tell them about more ways to get involved via a regular email newsletter.

• Visit our Engage Wokingham Borough page, where you can find information about our consultations and surveys currently open to residents.

How often do we contact members?

Members will receive a regular newsletter via email, but we will keep correspondence with them to a minimum. These newsletters will feature findings of surveys, regular updates on further engagement opportunities and a rundown of decisions made by Wokingham Borough Council and how consultation has influenced them.

Your privacy and data

We'll keep the personal information you give us safely and will only use it for legitimate research purposes. All data stored through the surveys will comply with GDPR regulations and with the privacy policies set by Wokingham Borough Council. Read our privacy notice.

If you have any questions about our Community Panel, email cem@wokingham.gov.uk