Just when Institute members and others left for annual leave in late July, comes a High Court judgment to worry those who have to brief Councillors, Members of public bodies, NHS decision-makers and indeed anyone who has to determine difficult issues following a public consultation. The case is R (ex parte DAT & BNM) v […]
A recent Court case in Scotland has shed new light on the importance of transparency in consultations. The 114-page judgment by the Scottish Court of Session focused on the legality of several consenting decisions for offshore wind farms. The RSPB, worried about the effects of these wind farms on migratory birds, argued that these decisions
The importance of transparency in consultations Read More »
The sudden prominence of Sustainable Transformation Plans (STPs) in 44 areas of England throws into sharp focus the challenges faced by the NHS in a period of rapid change. It has to conduct at least three simultaneous dialogues There is the routine, on-going continuous engagement on operational and day-to-day delivery of our diverse health service
NHS engagement consultation Challenges Read More »
Due process is not a term we use much in the UK. We certainly observe it but we do not use the expression as frequently as our friends in the United States, where it is found in two key Amendments to the US Constitution. There it is mainly about judicial processes and the need to
This paper has been written for policy-makers and officials working in the civil service. It will also be relevant to politicians, academics and public engagement professionals working in the public, private or voluntary/community sectors. It considers how public and/or stakeholder consultation can work in the febrile policy environment that follows the UK’s decision to leave
Britain prepares for BREXIT – The role of Public Consultation Read More »
The hurly-burly of politics is often, in reality, a somewhat remote process. Journalists eager to break tomorrow’s story rather than probe and assess yesterday’s can whip up a synthetic excitement in what they admit is the ‘Westminster Village’. And the rest of us just get on with our lives. Just occasionally, however, democracies throw up astonishingly fast-moving dramas. They are
Counting to Ten – Is consultation at its most valuable when providing a breathing space Read More »
Background The Bus Services Bill was introduced into Parliament last month. Despite generating considerably more public transport journeys than any other mode, governments rarely pay too much attention to buses. This is the first significant piece of new legislation on buses since John Prescott’s Transport Act sixteen years ago and is thus deserving of our
Bus Services Bill – Briefing Read More »
We have always regarded a referendum as a form of a consultation – and last week’s excitement illustrated many of the pitfalls familiar to public engagement practitioners. The in/out question has many critics – unsurprisingly mostly from the losing side. But experts have known for years that asking people a binary question is crude, and that is why they are often described
Commentators had predicted for a while that the Government was intent on further reducing – if not eliminating – the role of local authorities in running schools. So it was no great surprise when the Education Secretary, Nicky Morgan announced their wholesale conversion into academies. What was unexpected, though, was dropping the requirement for Parent
A Referendum is only one form of decision-making and there are other good ideas around! Ever since the Institute began, the first thing taught to members and supporters is the mantra Consultation is not a Vote. Indeed, it was the theme of the first ever Tuesday Topic. But, of course, there are times when major decisions
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