In 2023, IDEA introduced its Deliberative Town Hall (DTH) model in the U.K. Parliament, working with two House of Commons select committees. On March 8, 2023, more than 270 constituents in Northern Ireland met online with the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee to discuss the future of the Good Friday Agreement. That spring, more than 1,300 constituents from England and Wales joined a DTH with the Home Affairs Committee on policing priorities.

The project grew out of IDEA's DTH with the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. After that event, IDEA was approached by Chris Shaw, Clerk of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Commons and the lead official on the establishment of Climate Assembly U.K. Several select committees wanted to hear from people beyond the interest groups and non-governmental organizations that usually submit evidence to their inquiries. They wanted to reach a representative sample of the public, including people who rarely get the chance to weigh in on complex policies that affect their lives. For IDEA, the project was a chance to test what policy and other impacts DTHs could have in a parliamentary system.

In January 2023, IDEA began working with staff from the Northern Ireland Affairs and Home Affairs committees. Each committee focused on a different population and faced different decisions, and IDEA adapted the DTH method to fit each one.

Northern Ireland DTH on the Good Friday Agreement

In 2022, ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee opened an inquiry into the progress and effectiveness of the democratic institutions the Agreement created. The Northern Ireland Assembly was at an impasse, which exposed limits in the current governance structure. Demographic and political shifts also raised questions about how the governance model could better represent a changing Northern Irish society.

The Committee partnered with IDEA in January 2023, hoping to include DTH data in its report and in its official communications on the anniversary. IDEA worked with YouGov's U.K. online panel to recruit a representative sample of constituents. Participants first completed a pre-survey with background information on the Good Friday Agreement and a knowledge check. They were then randomly assigned to a treatment or control group to reduce self-selection bias. About 500 constituents in the treatment group received additional background information and were invited to the online DTH on March 8, 2023. Participating MPs included Simon Hoare (Conservative), Claire Hanna (Social Democratic and Labour Party), Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party), and Stephen Farry (Alliance Party).

More than 270 constituents attended, and most stayed engaged for at least an hour. Afterward, both the treatment and control groups completed post-surveys that largely mirrored the pre-survey, which let IDEA researchers track how opinions shifted through deliberation.

What the research found

Over 70 percent of participants felt the Good Friday Agreement had failed to ensure stable governance, and that view strengthened slightly after the discussion. Stability was the top priority for most attendees, while cross-community concerns ranked lowest and fell further after the DTH.

Seventy percent of attendees, across all demographics, said the institutions created by the Agreement need significant change, and the discussion reinforced that view. Seventy-five percent saw the current cross-community support mechanism as a problem because party vetoes leave issues unaddressed. Over 60 percent affirmed the importance of devolved government in Northern Ireland. The share who said the Agreement had enabled cross-community governance rose by 13 percent after the DTH, to 40 percent.

Seventy-five percent of participants said the DTH significantly affected their views on the Good Friday Agreement, a sign of how sensitive and important the issue remains.

How the DTH strengthened the Committee's inquiry

Trust in the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee rose by about 200 percent after the DTH, and approval of the Committee rose by nearly 300 percent. Approval of the U.K. Parliament rose a modest 5 percent, though most participants, especially Nationalists, remained skeptical of Parliament. Seventy percent believed committee members were genuinely interested in their feedback, and over 40 percent said the event helped them reconsider their views on the Agreement, a notable shift on an issue where opinions run deep. Ninety-six percent said events like this are valuable for democracy and should be a regular part of the legislative process.

The DTH became a key part of the Committee's wider inquiry, alongside an in-person engagement event the Committee held in Belfast.

Chris Shaw wrote that the two events produced several insights “that probably would not have surfaced through the normal processes of gathering information.”

“There was overwhelming enthusiasm for a strong voice being given in the design of any new political institutions to those not identifying with one of the two main communities,” Chris wrote.

Committee staff also said the DTH gave the inquiry an important sense of legitimacy, because they could tell the public they had engaged a scientifically representative sample of constituents before taking any action.

Home Affairs Committee DTH on policing priorities

In spring 2023, amid growing public scrutiny of the police and declining trust in them, IDEA worked with the U.K. Parliament's Home Affairs Committee on a DTH for its inquiry into policing reform. The DTH gathered public views on policing priorities and explored ways to restore public trust in policing and its effectiveness. More than 1,300 constituents from England and Wales took part, discussing where police resources should go, which reforms are needed, and how to balance the trade-offs involved.

What the research found

Seventy-five percent of participants supported more investment in neighborhood policing, with consistent support across demographic groups. Men, older people, and Labour constituents were slightly more likely to back it. About 90 percent agreed that police officers need consistent vetting processes, and support stayed high after the discussion, with women and younger attendees slightly more likely to strongly agree. Ninety percent also supported more standardized training and development for police, with especially strong support from women, younger people, and Black and mixed-ethnicity respondents.

Support for prioritizing high-crime areas rose 6 percent after the DTH, though nearly 70 percent of participants who identified their ethnicity as “other” generally disagreed. Participants were unsure about focusing on economic crime and fraud: 35 percent disagreed and 28 percent agreed. Muslim participants were more supportive of that focus, and older participants were less so.

After the DTH, the share of participants who felt police should not expand their role in supporting victims of crime rose by 10 percent. Younger, Muslim, and non-white participants were more supportive of victim support, while older and white participants were less supportive. Support for police involvement in community building fell 7 percent, though community policing as an approach still drew strong support.

Participants were evenly split on whether police misconduct is systemic or the work of a few bad officers, but belief that it is systemic rose 7 percent, particularly among women, younger people, and non-white participants. A large majority agreed that police treat ethnic minorities worse than white citizens, a view held firmly by younger, non-white, and Muslim participants.

Overall, participants called for better vetting and training, a return to neighborhood policing, and caution about expanding police responsibilities. They stressed that the integrity of individual officers is crucial and that better screening could identify possible “bad apples” earlier.

One participant suggested, “Like Jury service, can members of the public be involved in interviewing?”

Another participant said, “We need to go back to local policing and visible foot patrols as it will deter crime and give peace of mind to the public.”

How the DTH informed policing policy

The Home Affairs Committee published its final report on the inquiry in June 2023 and included DTH data in it. The U.K. government then acted on several policies that had strong support in IDEA's data.

The Committee cited the DTH finding that 90 percent of constituents believed police should invest in more consistent vetting processes for officers and staff. In response, the Home Office “asked the College of Policing to strengthen the statutory code of practice for police vetting, making the obligations all forces must legally follow stricter and clearer.” An updated code was published on July 20, 2023, and Approved Professional Practice guidance on vetting was scheduled for an update later that year. Other changes to vetting and training processes were also made because of how prominent the issue was in the DTH.

Reports and further reading

• IDEA Report Northern Ireland 2023 | Download PDF

• IDEA Report Policing Priorities 2023 | Download PDF

• Home Affairs Committee final report on policing priorities, June 2023 | Read report

• Select Committee pilots on participatory democracy at the UK Parliament, Chris Shaw’s article for the International Parliament Engagement Network.

• More on IDEA’s Deliberative Town Hall model.