Viewfinder
What is Viewfinder?
Viewfinder is Perth & Kinross Council's citizen's panel.
A commitment to establish a citizen’s panel for Perth and Kinross was made under the Council's Decentralisation Scheme and following the approval of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee on 28th October 1998, Viewfinder was established.
To date Viewfinder members have been asked to complete sixteen panel wide questionnaires.
Why have Viewfinder?
Councils are required to consult and ascertain the views of users and residents in a much more systematic way than before. Adopting a customer / citizen focus is a key element of achieving effective Public Management and Planning.
Viewfinder offers a cost-effective method of consultation, enabling well-targeted research and consultation using a robust sample with expected high response rates. This is one way you can let us know your views about Council services and other important issues affecting life in Perth & Kinross.
How does Viewfinder work?
Viewfinder is a sample of 1,100 Perth and Kinross residents, which is broadly representative of the demographic characteristics of the population of Perth and Kinross.
All panel members have agreed to participate in up to four postal surveys per annum and some Viewfinder members have also agreed to take part in other types of research undertaken by the Council.
To ensure that the panel remains representative, panel members who drop out are replaced on an on-going basis by equivalent volunteers who are held on the Viewfinder reserve list. In addition, panel membership is restricted to three years.
The results of Viewfinder questionnaires are reported to councillors and service managers and are used to help the Council make decisions about services.
