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Bringing policies to life – a day with the UK LLC Citizen Panel
Katharine Evans
21st Mar 2025
In this blog, Katharine Evans, UK LLC Senior Data Manager, talks about taking part in the Citizen Panel workshop. Please also view our other blogs in this mini-series from Salma, Jonathan, Sarah, Farheen, Alan and Citizen Panel Lead, Dr Lidis Garbovan.
I’ve worked at UK LLC for more than three years and the importance of public involvement in the development of UK LLC has always been emphasised. As a Senior Data Manager, I help to write the policies and process documents that keep people’s data de-identified and safe. I also prepare UK LLC for annual audit by external experts in information security, including the UK Statistics Authority. I really enjoy my role in UK LLC, because it’s varied and challenging, but at the end of the day it is a document-heavy job and when opportunities arise for me to step away from my laptop and meet public contributors, I jump at the chance. This is especially true if the meetings are in my home town of Birmingham!
Getting to know our public contributors
The work Lidis has led on the Citizen Panel fascinates me. Since she first explained the concept a year ago, I’ve been really keen to be involved and to learn how it functions. I took part in one of the online meetings where I explained what data looks like in the database (the Trusted Research Environment) and how we make sure researchers are using the data safely when carrying out their analyses and publishing their results. I was a bit nervous beforehand, but the panel members quickly put me at ease and I really enjoyed the wide range of questions I received. It was a good feeling because I could tell they were genuinely interested and the questions were different to those we normally get as data managers. It’s good to be exposed to a broad range of opinions and I think UK LLC is particularly good at inviting public input and incorporating feedback into how we work.
Vaults, lunch and caricatures!
It was lovely seeing Lidis in person at the venue because we normally only see each other online. Setting up the room was fun and before long, panel members started to arrive. Everyone was so friendly and collaborative and we covered a lot of topics in the day. The lunch and vaults were a highlight, as was Ben, the artist who sketched throughout the day and produced an amazing piece of art. My daughters enjoyed seeing my caricature – I wasn’t so enamoured by it but it made me laugh!
A rewarding day
As I travelled home on the train I reflected on what a pleasant and productive day I’d had. I felt privileged to have spent the day with such a committed and inclusive group of people. Lidis promotes a really friendly environment and her varied and interesting agenda made the day pass so quickly. I’d love to stay involved in the Citizen Panel work because hearing the panel members’ thoughts about UK LLC’s data access processes brings to life the reason I spend my time writing policies and process documents!