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The Local Government Association (LGA) has published a list of 200 terms “that public bodies should not use if they want to communicate with local people.” High time, you might say! Without doubt we all rely too much on jargon, and just as certainly a lot of it obscures rather than illuminates. Of the 200 […]

There have always been debates about opting in or out of things. Forty years ago, it was about trades union membership; two decades later it was about stakeholder pensions; nowadays it is about organ donation. In all cases, it is an argument about whether society presumes a certain course of action, whilst letting individuals do

These are remarkable times, with thoughtful people concluding that the tectonic plates of economic, social and political structures are shifting. A few short months ago, we looked at Banks as among the most commanding heights of our economy; right now, the motor industry is on its knees and virtually every other business battening down the

A nurse offers to pray for a sick patient; two comedians overstep the mark on a radio show; another TV personality utters an unacceptable term in the “green” room. When, in the first case a Health Authority reacts, and the BBC in the other cases take action, it prompts an intense public debate. Clearly, there

With PricewaterhouseCoopers reporting 80% of high-street stores offering unseasonably early Sales, we have turned our eagle-eye on the effects of the credit crunch on public consultations. And, in keeping with the spirit of the age, the Institute offers superior value by offering this analysis a full four days ahead of schedule. An offer you can’t

We’re in danger of getting into something of a tangle about the different kinds of democracy we want. The old tried-and-tested representative version is thought by many to be creaking; the Power Commission a few years ago, and the more recent Councillors Commission have both produced ideas that might resuscitate the beast. Others believe that

Any day now a new Planning Bill will receive the Royal Assent. Commons rebellions have been quelled; Lords opposition has evaporated and economic and financial woes have wiped it off the newspaper headlines. But, in the real world, this imminent piece of legislation may have more impact upon our towns and villages than most recent

The great advantage of one-off consultations is that the period during which something unexpected can intervene is limited! In reality, however, many of the dialogues that take place do so over a longer timescale. There might be a series of sequential consultations – as with many in spatial planning, as development proposals gradually become more

So much has been written about this seemingly-trivial digression from serious news that it seems an indulgence to delve further into it for a Tuesday Topic. However, it presents such a brilliant illustration of three common consultation pitfalls that this is an opportunity not to be missed. Firstly, the confused question.

Public engagement is not recession-proof. There are those who argue that global economic meltdown, failing banks, and stock market freefalls create a situation that cries out for greater citizen involvement. After all, as of last week, we’re all a lot more involved …at least in shoring up the financial system. But sadly, such optimists, whilst