Half-baked proposals – It is the job of public consultations to help detect when proposals are inadequate

Now that everyone watches the Great British Bake-off, there is probably less need to explain the English idiom ’half-baked’ to anyone. Experienced public engagement professionals will, however recognise two types of proposals that may attract the criticism of being ‘half-baked’.

One covers those ideas that stand little chance of appealing to anyone, where the idea just has not been thought-through. Perhaps someone has seen all the advantages of a particular course of action and totally ignored disadvantages that are instantly visible to everyone else. Maybe the proposal rests on assumptions, which most objective observers would dismiss as unrealistic. Either way these are scenarios where the proposals lack credibility, and ideally should never be included in a high-quality public consultation.