Originally published 8 February 2011. This article is retained from the tCI archive. Law, policy or practice may have changed since publication.
Most Governments enter office with a pretty clear idea of what they intend to do.
The devil may always be in the detail but, on fundamentals, the policy is decided and wise Ministers have learnt the value of engaging with affected stakeholders to make sure their plans work as well as possible. In many ways, this administration is no different – and where changes in policy have been signalled for some time, clued-up organisations are already gearing up for detailed discussions.
Where this Government differs is that, of necessity, both Coalition partners have had to compromise. The Programme for Government proposes to ‘review’ something on 31 occasions. It will ‘consider’ proposals 11 times, it will ‘investigate’ 10 times, and it will ‘explore’ 6 times. Add 4 more issues they will ‘examine', and 3 things they want to ‘look at’ and you get the picture.
These have probably arisen in three different ways:-
- Commitments made in the luxury of opposition but which everyone knows might be jolly difficult to implement; Let’s hedge our bets!
- Cherished proposals from one Party which the other Party finds difficult, but won’t reject out of hand; Let’s humour partners!
- Fundamental disagreement between the two sides where the only possible avenue of agreement may be a wide range ‘independent’ or ‘public’ review or debate; See if others can help us!
Read the document and we see dozens of examples of all three, ranging from flagship headline issues to the minutiae of previously unheard-of initiatives.
Some may see this as weak Government – a betrayal of voters who wanted all-or-nothing implementation of one Manifesto or another. But others still see it as a sensible move towards more consensual politics and more evidence-based policy-making. Regardless of this divide, what is inevitable is that all these issues will require professionally conducted dialogue and consultation. Anyone cutting corners will just provoke cries of ‘foul’ from one side of the argument or another.
All this is also consistent with another striking feature of this Programme. We have counted 17 (yes, seventeen!) proposals for new public engagement. Some, we know are one-off opportunities for the public to influence what happens. Examples include the Referendum on the Alternative Vote and also a Referendum on more power for Welsh Devolution. But others are brand new permanent mechanisms for public involvement. Here are a few of them:-
- Directly-elected individuals on the Boards of NHS Primary Care Trusts
- Patients to have the right to ‘rate’ hospitals and doctors
- Power to recall MPs and force a by-election
- A formal debate in Parliament if a Petition secures 100,000 signatures
- A Public Reading stage for new legislation going through Parliament
- Oversight of the Police through a ‘directly-elected individual’
- Residents’ power to instigate local referendums on any issue!
- An opportunity for the public to challenge regulations they don’t like
- A ‘direct say’ in how some of the Overseas Aid budget is spent
We foresee vigorous debate about many of these – but what’s undeniable is a clear trend towards offering people more opportunities to have their say – and become involved. There’s no mention of the ‘Big Society’ but maybe there’s no need - for greater ‘participation’ is implicit in much of what has been said and written about it.
The impact of all this on Public bodies – and everyone who works in the public domain - will be huge, and doubly so against a backcloth of deep expenditure cuts. It will require talent, tenacity and resilience. Watch this space.
Trigger points
- Which of the Government’s 407 proposals will affect your organisation? Are you gathering background information?
- Much of the above will be discussed in Implications of a New Government – what next for Public Engagement?
- Advance notice: .... A Consultation Institute Roundtable: Exploring the Big Society.
This is the 162nd Tuesday Topic; a full list of subjects covered is available for Institute members and is a valuable resource covering so many aspects of consultation and engagement