Your Experience, Your Policy

Share your experience to help shape better local policy in Barnsley

Why This Page Exists

Every decision made at the Town Hall affects real people.

Yet too often, residents only get a say after something has already gone wrong or once decisions are already made.

This page exists to change that.

Barnsley First Independent Group believes that lived experience should shape local policy, not be ignored, filtered or lost in a complaints system.

If you have dealt with a council service, a council contractor, or a council controlled organisation and the process has not worked as it should have, we want to hear from you.

Not for headlines.

Not for point scoring.

But so we can understand what is really happening across Barnsley.

Your Voice Matters

You do not need to be an expert.

You do not need to understand council structures or policies.

If something felt confusing, unfair, inefficient, unresolved or simply wrong, that matters.

Residents’ experiences help reveal patterns that reports and statistics often miss.

This could include experiences with:

• Housing or repairs

• Council services

• Waste and street cleaning

• Planning or enforcement

• Parking, highways or transport

• Adult social care or children’s services

• SEND support

• Council contractors

• Council owned or council controlled organisations

Big issues and small frustrations both matter. Together, they tell the real story.

Why This Matters With Independent Councillors

There is an important difference between an Independent councillor and a political party councillor and it affects how residents are represented.

A political party councillor is usually expected to:

• Follow a party line

• Support agreed group positions

• Vote in line with party policy

• Balance residents’ concerns against national or regional priorities

Even with the best intentions, party discipline often comes first.

An Independent councillor is different.

An Independent councillor:

• Is accountable only to residents

• Has no party whip telling them how to vote

• Can challenge decisions openly

• Can raise uncomfortable questions without fear of party sanctions

• Can change position when evidence changes

• Puts people before politics

That independence matters.

It means residents’ experiences are heard directly, not filtered through party priorities.

From Your Experience to Better Local Policy

This page exists because Independent representatives need to understand what residents actually experience, not just what is written in reports.

When you share your experience here:

• You are not feeding a party machine

• You are not being used for political point scoring

• You are contributing to evidence led local understanding

• You are helping shape practical, common sense local policy

This is how bottom up policy should work.

Real people.

Real experiences.

Real accountability.

Your Privacy Comes First

We take confidentiality seriously.

• We will never publish names

• We will never share identifying details

• Experiences may only be referenced using initials and area

Example: Mr W (Penistone)

Your submission will always be treated with respect and discretion.

What To Include When You Contact Us

You do not need to write an essay. Simply tell us:

• What happened

• Which service or organisation was involved

• Rough timescale

• What you expected to happen

• What actually happened

• How it affected you or your family

If you have already tried to resolve the issue and failed, that is important to know.

This Is About Listening

This is not a complaints form.

This is not a box ticking exercise.

It is a listening space.

A place where residents can speak freely, knowing they are being heard by people who live here, care about Barnsley, and are not bound by party lines.

A place where Independent councillors and candidates can see, first hand, what residents feel is lacking, broken or simply not working.

Have Your Say

If you would like to share your experience, please use the contact form below.

Every submission helps build a clearer, more honest picture of what life in Barnsley is really like.

Your experience matters.

Your voice matters.

Your policy starts here.