FixMyStreet			HearFromYourCouncillor
PledgeBank		WriteToThem

HearFromYourCouncillor

Incredibly simple tool for councillors to write to local people

Benefits

Councillors can talk to groups of constituents they probably don’t know just by hitting reply to an email.
All people in the lists are voluntarily opted in.
Extremely simple for councillors to publicise and add people to their lists.
Zero required front or back end integration with council IT systems.
Provides trustworthy public space for discussion online.
Currently just under 12,000 people signed up to HearFromYourMP across the UK.
So easy and attractive that over 20% of MPs offered the opportunity have used the Westminster version of the service in the first 3 months of service.

How does it work?

When a council expresses an interest in using the system, we write to the current subscribers in each ward of a council and ask if would be interested in hearing from their councillors, as well as their MP. There are already more than 25 council containing over 100 people signed up to HearFromYourMP, all of whom we can ask about hearing from their councillors.

Once we enable the system, our site calculates how many people are signed up in each ward. If the total is 5 or more, we send an email to the relevant councillor(s) saying “There are 5 people in your ward who would like to hear from you about local issues — hit reply to talk to them”. All the councillor has to be able to do is hit reply and type an email — there is no new learning involved.

Given our highly positive experience with MPs, we expect that a no-fuss, low skill email list and discussion system will prove popular amongst councillors across the UK.