“This is the very first time in all my years, 13 years I've worked in policing and crime, that I've ever actually been in a meeting with ex-offenders. Normally I'm kind of removed. So I really value being involved.”
“Hearing each of the peer commissioners talk about what it meant to them was my favourite part. It was just a powerful journey they’ve gone through where their voice now matters, and they feel valued for it.”
“For me, a big change is that I’m now able to throw myself into things that I wouldn’t have been able to do before. Before I would look at a project and say ‘ahh I’m not interested in this’ or ‘I’m not knowledgeable enough, I won’t be able to contribute to this’ but now I feel like I can throw myself into things knowing that I will be able to learn it and contribute instead of just avoiding a good opportunity. It’s having the confidence and self-esteem to do that now whereas before the project I didn’t think my voice mattered or that anyone would listen.”
“I’ve always been the person to slip under the radar and this has given me the opportunity to stand up and contribute to something that I believe in and speak. I have pushed myself doing it to interact with others.”
Peer Commissioning is a transformative approach that directly involves people who are impacted by the justice system in the commissioning and procurement of services. Our offer includes providing accredited training to Peer Commisoners.
The benefits of Peer Commisioning for service providers and Commisioners incorporate;
- Higher service user engagement and satisfaction in services- resulting in greater adoption and effectiveness.
- Regulatory compliance – Active user involvement ensures adherence to regulatory standards.
- Service Quality: Direct feedback improves service, efficiency and performance.
Our Peer Commissioning work is demonstrating tangible impact, for example influencing the recent £900,000 West Yorkshire Combined Authority restorative justice services procurement.
Please reach out to our COO, Brendan Doyle on bdoyle@uservoice.org.
“The qualification gave us a
certain level of confidence for
us to go ahead and do this. And
confidence when you’ve been in
prison is on quite a short
supply when you come out.”
“Amazing, unreal a brilliant experience getting to know individuals and
combining our skills and experiences to produce a positive outcome.”
“The real value of the work that User Voice said they’d be able to support us with
was the qualification ... It wasn’t just that they were doing this bit of work and see
you later with nothing to take from it other than a memory and an experience.”
