In June, ten people from local councils, NHS integrated care boards and National Gas started tCI’s Advanced Certificate in Consultation and Engagement (ACCE) course. They learnt skills and information from all areas of consultation from Co-Production to Law of Consultation and all came away feeling more informed and confident for their future consultations.
Who took part?
Anna Maclaren and Michael Slack lead communications and stakeholder engagement on National Gas infrastructure projects. Mary Patricia Flynn and Ethnanda Manley-Browne are based at NHS North West London Integrated Care Board. Jo Austin joined from NHS South West London Integrated Care Board and now works independently.
Jessica Drew and Belle Whiteley work in engagement at West Yorkshire Combined Authority. Viktor Dúbrava works in consultation and engagement at Canterbury City Council. Helen Walton is a policy officer at a Greater Manchester local authority and Rebecca Bird works in consultation and engagement at Wokingham Borough Council.
Why did they choose the ACCE?
We spoke to most of the group after the course and asked why they had signed up. Jess’s reason was one we heard more than once: “I worked in consultation and engagement for a number of years without any formal training. I had felt there was something missing.” Ethnanda wanted a formal qualification after four years of involvement work. Helen’s council has no consultation specialists, so she fits it around her policy job, she wanted to be better informed when colleagues come to her for advice.
Viktor joined Canterbury City Council a year before the course. He had done consultation work for charities but never under a statutory framework. “We all want to consult properly but to do that you need to understand the theory behind the practice and this course helped me to do just that,” he said. Anna and Michael were setting up engagement for new National Gas projects, with a first consultation due early next year, so they could use what they learned straight away. “This course was the perfect opportunity to learn everything in a structured way and dedicate the time to get into the detail,” Michael said.
Rebecca’s council had just written a new engagement strategy, and she wanted to get up to speed on best practice before building the processes underneath it, rather than fixing them later. Belle wanted to be able to challenge and advise project teams without waiting for a colleague to sense-check her. Jo, then at an ICB, wanted to catch up on recent legislation and case law and meet people working outside health. Mary Patricia had spotted “a gap on the consultation and engagement side” of professional qualifications and was interested in what we had to offer.
What did the cohort study?
The ACCE runs over four months and mixes virtual, face-to-face and online courses. This cohort’s ran from June to October 2026. Andy Wright took the first four virtual sessions: Making Community Engagement Meaningful, Preparing for a Public Consultation, Co-production for Public Engagement and Consultation, and Conducting a Public Consultation. Nick Duffin took the last two, Applying Equalities for Engagement and Consultation and then Applying the Law of Consultation, a face-to-face day in Birmingham. Delegates also worked through online courses, including The Consultation Charter, Stakeholder Mapping and Introduction to Co-Production, practical equalities and Consultation Law, plus three electives they chose themselves.
Michael said most courses have a module or two you could do without, but on the ACCE: “I don’t think there was a single day that we spent that was like that.” Viktor said that while consultation offers huge opportunities to build trust, “there are plenty of pitfalls too. This course gave me an insight into both.”
What did delegates value most?
Nick and Andy came up in nearly every conversation. “Nick and Andy have clearly got so much experience, they know it like the back of their hand,” Michael said. “Learning from them was brilliant.” One delegate hadn’t expected to be able to get hold of the trainers between sessions, and found that useful too.
Most people also mentioned each other. “I really enjoyed getting to meet people from across the country and working with different roles and organisations,” said Mary Patricia. Rebecca told us “the network I found has been really important,” and a few of the council delegates have kept meeting since to compare notes on consultation platforms.
How are delegates using what they learned?
Almost everyone mentioned confidence. “I am pushing back on services who don’t want to do the right thing and I’m pushing back harder than I would have before,” Rebecca said. Belle feels “much more strongly in my convictions”, and Jess is now “picking up on things I wouldn’t have picked up on before, and I’m confident to raise them.” Viktor says the course has given him “the confidence to be a powerful advocate of consulting properly so consultees get a genuine voice and the decision makers really do understand what stakeholders think.”
Other changes show up in day-to-day work. Michael has been challenging comms agencies on their consultation documents, and Viktor wants a bigger hand in equality impact assessments. Mary Patricia has drafted internal guidance on when a consultation is needed and is tightening up record keeping: “I will make sure that we’ve got a rigorous approach to record keeping.”
Viktor would recommend the course well beyond his own role: “If you want people to make informed decisions and build services around the people that really matter – our residents – this course would benefit junior members of the team, service leads and those at the top of your organisation.”
CLICK HERE to register for the ACCE january cohort
You can find out more about the ACCE and our other qualifications on the Learning Hub.
How tCI Can Help
Organisation Wide Learning Hub Access
Equip your entire team with professional consultation skills through one platform. Self paced courses, live virtual classrooms, practical toolkits and expert resources that build a shared baseline of competence across your organisation. Trusted by councils, NHS bodies and regulators nationwide.
Bespoke Training Workshops
Training that works with your real projects, not hypothetical scenarios. Sector tailored sessions help teams apply good practice to live challenges: sharpening consultation documents, building defensible codebooks, strengthening equality analyses. Half day or full day workshops for health, local government, planning and public service teams.
Coaching for Complex or High Risk Consultations
Expert guidance when the stakes are highest. One to one and small group coaching for senior officers navigating legally exposed or politically contentious decisions. Strengthen your judgement on proportionality, evidence standards and challenge management. Essential for organisations that may face judicial review risk or major service changes.
Whether you’re preparing for a high stakes service change, building long term consultation capability, or need confidence that your evidence approach will stand up to scrutiny, we can help.
Contact tCI: hello@consultationinstitute.org.