of england. building on the rsa ’ s own project, it is that the bank set up its own set of regional citizen councils, centred around our agency network. the aim is to establish, in a structured, systematic and comprehensive way, a two - way dialogue and collaboration between the bank and a panel of citizen representatives on the economy, financial system and policy, as a means of enhancing the understanding of both parties. this is a bold recommendation. that language would usually preface an official like me lavishing praising on this recommendation, before gently burying it. but not today. i am delighted to announce that the bank intends implementing in full the rsa ’ s recommendation. during the course of this year, we will begin the process of setting - up regional citizen councils using our agency network. this is a natural next step, and will become a central plank, of the bank ’ s engagement strategy in the years ahead. this is, for the bank, the next rung in our ascent of the engagement ladder. i am confident our view of the economy, and our setting of economic policy, will be greatly enhanced by this wider panorama. it will give all speeches are available online at www. bankofengland. co. uk / speeches the bank a new lens on the economy ’ s hidden corners, a new set of often - quieter voices to listen to and learn from. it is an example of what the bank, and i hope others, will be doing much more of over the period ahead : listening to a much wider audience, digesting their narratives, and then using this information to support the economy and the citizen stakeholders that make it up. all speeches are available online at www. bankofengland. co. uk / speeches references arnstein, s ( 1969 ), ‘ a ladder of citizen participation ’, journal of the american planning association, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 216 - 224. botsman, r ( 2017 ), who can you trust? how technology brought us together – and why it could drive us apart, portfolio penguin. england, d, hebden, a, henderson, t and pattie, t ( 2015 ), ‘ the agencies and ‘ one bank ’ ’, bank of england quarterly bulletin, 2015 q1. geertz, c ( 1998 ), ‘ deep hanging out ’, the new york review of books, 22 october 1998 haldane, a ( 2017a ), ‘ everyday economics ’

written to the department of education to say that. ( c ) regional tours a third strand is regional engagement. the bank has had, for the past 90 years, a network of regional agencies dotted across the uk. they are the bank ’ s eyes and ears, playing a key role in collecting intelligence on the economy and financial system, largely from companies. that intelligence feeds directly into the bank ’ s policy deliberations. last year alone, the bank ’ s agents met with over 8, 000 companies. recently, we extended the agents ’ reach to include charities, community groups, trades unions and wider civil society. on the engagement ladder, these are examples of the bank “ involving ” and “ collaborating ” with citizens, on a practical day - to - day basis across all parts of the uk. last year, i extended my own regional programme, with a separate set of visits designed to engage with, and listen to, some of the quieter voices in society, voices otherwise drowned - out in the media cacophony – the voice of charities, community and voluntary groups, local councils, trade unions. and i have sought out those voices in parts of the country that may not otherwise always get a hearing – the under - performing parts of thriving cities as well as communities, towns and cities which are struggling. this regional focus on engaging with the less well - performing parts of the uk is in line with another of the rsa ’ s recommendations. details available at https : / / www. bankofengland. co. uk / news / 2018 / february / boe - and - ft - school - blog - competition see https : / / www. bankofengland. co. uk / news / 2018 / february / department - of - education - consultation - response? sf84498143 = 1 england, hebden, henderson and pattie ( 2015 ). all speeches are available online at www. bankofengland. co. uk / speeches these visits use approaches to collecting intelligence which are, for me, new – listening methods more familiar from anthropology and sociology than economics and statistics. they involve open, unframed discussions of the issues that matter most to people in their everyday lives, their lived experiences in their local communities, with me as a fly ( not bluebottle ) on the wall. some of my findings – in the form of words, photos and cartoons – are available at https : / / www. bankofeng