Welcome
Thanks for paying us a visit. This page explains the Bank of England Citizens’ Forum: what it is, why it matters, and how you can get involved through our in-person and online citizens’ panels, surveys and other events.
Who we are
We’re a public body but we’re independent from the Government.
We’re the UK’s central bank. Our job is to promote the good of the people of the United Kingdom by maintaining monetary and financial stability.
That means managing inflation – the rate at which prices rise – and making sure that the financial system, which includes banks and building societies, functions properly. We also issue banknotes and run the system that allows electronic payments to take place.
Find out more about who we are and what we do.
Why get involved
What we do affects everyone, so we’ve set up the citizens’ forum community so we can listen directly to you. We want to hear what you have to say about jobs, pay and the cost of living. And we’d like to know about your experiences of the housing market and how easy you find it to borrow and save money. Taking part means you can put your views directly to people who make decisions that affect you. Our citizens’ forum members help us to understand how major events, such as the cost of living crisis, affect people financially. We produce an anonymised write-up after each event which is shared with senior stakeholders and relevant teams internally as well as all attendees. Messages are fed into our annual outreach report.Hear from our members
We invited members of our Citizens’ Forum to write about their experiences of the economy and taking part in our events.
What to expect
After you have signed up, you can get involved:
- by attending an in-person Citizens’ Panel event in your local area where you can meet staff and share your views on the economy and the Bank’s work
- by participating in a discussion group session that explores a key theme or topic
- by joining one of our large scale Q&A sessions with decision makers at the Bank, Virtual Q&A with Chief Economist Huw Pill − 7 August 2023
- taking part in surveys to help us better understand how the economy is impacting you directly
- receive our regular e-newsletter with updates from the Bank, information on events and to share your views and feedback on what we do.
Signing up and getting involved means you can:
- learn more about what we do and how the economy works
- meet our staff
- tell us what you think – your views are welcome and valued
How to apply
Anyone over 18 and living in the UK can sign up. We want our events to be as representative as possible. If events are oversubscribed, we’ll select a diverse range of people from all applicants.Apply to take part
Upcoming events
If you would be interested in participating in any of these sessions please sign up to our Citizens’ Forum community and details will be shared. If you are already a member of the community please email Outreach@bankofengland.co.uk to sign up.
Everyone is welcome to join and all our sessions are free to attend.
What people say about being involved
Citizens’ Panel feedback from participants
-
Information we collect
By this application form for Citizens’ Forums (“Forums”), the Bank of England (“we” or the “Bank”) collects personal data about you. This information includes contact details, varied demographic information and your opinions about the economy.
Why we need your personal data
We collect your personal data to evaluate public understanding of the UK economy and the Bank’s mission.
We also use your data to track how representative of the UK population our membership is.
This is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority of the Bank.
To the extent to which you provide us with any special categories of personal data, including diversity information, our basis for processing this data is that it is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest.
Your opinions may also influence how we conduct the Bank’s mission as relevant to the Bank’s policy, analytical, operational and supervisory work.
What we do with your personal data
Citizens’ Forum application
We use the information to develop our community, our events and track how representative we are of the UK population.
We use a third party provider, Microsoft, based in the United States, to provide the online registration form (MS Forms). Microsoft uses a data transfer mechanism recognised by UK data protection law (standard contractual clauses). For more information about Microsoft Teams' security practices and privacy policy visit Microsoft's privacy statement.
We use a third party provider, WorldApp (Diversis Capital), based in the United States, to provide the KeySurvey online survey tool. For more information about their security practices and privacy policy visit KeySurvey's privacy policy.
We use a third party provider, MailChimp, based in the United States, to manage subscriptions and deliver our email updates through their standard service. MailChimp participates in, and has certified its compliance with, a recognised EU-U.S. privacy framework. For more information about MailChimp’s security practices and privacy policy visit Mailchimp's privacy policy.
Citizens’ Forum events
If selected to attend one of our events we will use your personal data to co-ordinate your attendance and for event management.
You will be required to bring proof of identity, such as a passport or drivers licence, to ensure access is granted to the correct people. Appropriate security checks may be carried out as deemed necessary by the Bank.
Further engagement
Whether you attend an event or not, we will contact you with alternative engagement opportunities, such as surveys, which may be of interest to you.
Any data you choose to provide may be linked to your personal profile to help us evaluate public understanding of the UK economy and the Bank’s mission.
Your rights
You have a number of rights under data protection laws (for example, you have the right to ask us for a copy of the personal data the Bank holds about you. This is known as a ‘Subject Access Request’). You can ask us to change how we process or deal with your personal data, and you may also have the right in some circumstances to have your personal data amended or deleted.
To find out more about those rights, to make a complaint, or to contact our Data Protection Officer, please visit our privacy page.
You can request that we no longer use your personal data, by writing to us at the address below.
Outreach, Communications, TS-M
Bank of England
Threadneedle Street
London EC2R 8AH
Citizens' Forum news
This page was last updated 20 November 2023