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The term ‘domain’ originally meant a piece of land – a territory. Today we use it in a very different sense. Not only do many of us have a ‘domain name’ but educationalists and others speak of different ‘knowledge domains’ to categorise various spheres of expertise and know-how.

If the Localism Bill is taken at face-value, then local Councils are going to be busy organising a lot of Referendums. It represents a radically different approach to the last Government; yet both administrations have been pursuing a similar goal – greater citizen involvement. So, what’s different? Labour legislated (but never implemented) a ‘duty to

Re-organisations have a bad name. It is easy to rail against them, and to criticise them for achieving few of their stated objectives. One of the most oft-quoted management sayings is attributed to Petronius (apparently wrongly) and sounds very real to many people:- We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning

It only came into force in April 2009; no-one can say for definite whether it has made any difference. Yet there is quite an argument as to whether Mr Pickles’ announcement to scrap the ‘duty to inform, consult and involve’ will or will not damage the cause of public engagement. The case for abolition

For a process that essentially exists to minimise the risk of mistakes by public bodies or large organisations, the practice of consultation is itself prone to many errors. There are times when it might be better not even to contemplate consultation!

The huge variety of consultations makes it difficult to prescribe hard and fast rules for all aspects of the process, and there is always a debate as to whether or not options are required. See previous topics (including No 119 – Is that OK then?) At this time of financial cutbacks, however, many public bodies

Here’s a conversation we are having increasingly frequently. No doubt it’s partly prompted by the launch of our Registered Facilitator Scheme, but it’s been a consistent theme in recent months. It goes like this:

When Ann Abraham, the Parliamentary & Health Ombudsman introduced her latest Report last week, the media gave it massive exposure. And rightly so; it detailed how ten older patients suffered unnecessary pain, indignity and distress while in the care of the NHS. On the same day, she gave evidence to the Health Select Committee and,

As the media struggles to come to terms with the messy results offered by the British public, consultation professionals will reflect that data is frequently inconclusive and that interpreting what people really meant is quite an art.