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Focus Groups – among those responsible for organising public participation or consultation, their popularity is beyond question. Along with surveys and questionnaires, they are the most often quoted technique used in the public sector today. But are they always used in the right way or at the right time? Commercial concerns use Focus Groups to […]

Those who work with community involvement or consultation are familiar with Gatekeepers. They are often worthy, salt-of-the earth types whose hearts are always in the right place, and who are invariably committed to their cause. It is their names and addresses that are on your databases. They receive the invitation to attend meetings; the envelope

Consultation comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some are tightly targeted; often highly technical, using a specialist vocabulary and part of a continuing dialogue with known stakeholders. Others are meant for a wider audience, couched in more general terms and deliberately simplify complex issues in order to elicit the views of the public

Dear Sirs, We write in greatest indignation upon hearing that your Authority has decided this year, to cease the practice of referring to us as The Wise Men. For generations, and certainly prior to the 1832 Reform Act, we have enjoyed a particular status in this country, and have regularly been depicted on Xmas cards,

On Monday 4th December, the Disability Equality Duty came into force. It means that public bodies have to ensure the involvement of disabled people in many aspects of their work, and this will be codified in their Disability Equality Schemes. Civil Servants and Local Government Officers have spent much of this year preparing for this

One of the abiding characteristics of our public service is obedience to the law – and a reluctance to take risks by over-reaching ourselves. There’s an old rule of thumb that states that if it isn’t expressly allowed … in writing…. then you better assume it’s forbidden! The private sector has traditionally followed the opposite

Those with long memories may remember something called The Pepsi Challenge. Effectively this was a blind test to see whether consumers preferred the taste of traditional Coca-Cola or the fiercely competitive upstart – Pepsi Cola. So damaging was this to Coca Cola that on the strength of overwhelming evidence that Pepsi was preferred, they abandoned

In the perfect world, a consultation is organised by people who genuinely want to hear your views so that they can take decisions or review their policies. They will be keen to understand what key stakeholders have to say, and may well make themselves available for direct discussions with them. Of course we all realise

Organising an effective consultation exercise can be a complex project management task. Pulling together the different work packages and ensuring that different disciplines work together to a common timetable or to common standards is challenging. No wonder that project management skills are among the most useful attributes for someone entrusted with consultation on any significant

Not all public participation or consultation is a one-off exercise. It is true that much that is most visible reflects the most extensive, wide-ranging dialogues, accompanied by appropriately high wide and handsome press coverage. But away from the glare of publicity much of the day-to-day public consultation takes the form of repetitive activities where public