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Citizens Panels have now come of age, and play an important role in Local Government consultation. They have, however, their detractors. Some claim that once people become members of a panel for a while they cease being a typical or representative member of the public, and their views cannot therefore be extrapolated for the population […]

Before everyone shouts “Get me out of here!”, this topic explores those occasions when a Big Name or VIP can help attract publicity for a public consultation. The starting point is acknowledging that we still face an uphill struggle to secure the degree of public engagement that important local or regional issues deserve. Public policy

In the dotcom boom, we all became familiar with some new acronyms. B-C (or B to C) represented the use of the Internet for Business (B) to communicate to Customers (C). Similarly B-B was applied to Business communicating with Business. But B-B can also mean something else – such as Bureaucrat to Bureaucrat. Just read

One of the most frequently asked questions is “What’s the difference between market research (or social research) and consultation?” Sometimes the question comes from experienced researchers who, for years have worked in public bodies and supplied Chief Officers and Committees with important background material, and who have, in recent years been busy with Government-inspired satisfaction

Confidence is a fragile commodity and nowhere has this been better demonstrated than in the recent debate following Mathew Parris’ article in The Times ( ‘Don’t ask my opinion; don’t consult, engage or include; just lead’ – February 26th) Using the journalistic licence to exaggerate, Parris’ case was that the Edinburgh referendum on a proposed

We sometimes forget that consultation is not just the prerogative of the public sector. Indeed, Government departments, local authorities and other public agencies have come somewhat late into the world of responsive customer service. Best-of-Breed Companies were there a long time ago! When Tom Peters wrote In Search of Excellence in the 1980’s, one of

One of the success-stories of the last decade has been the gradual acceptance by consultors, that their attempts to engage stakeholders and the public have to be more socially inclusive. Seeking the views of the usual suspects has always been easier than building relationships with communities and groups who are less accustomed to the culture

When buying goods, it’s always a good idea to have a look at the “small print”! There, buried deep in the legal verbiage you may find something like The Supplier has a policy of continuous improvement and therefore reserves the right to make changes to the product specification at any time …… or words to

The trouble with public engagement is that it is not an exact science. Whilst formal consultation is relatively structured and has a definable beginning and end – with clear milestones at each stage, much of what’s asked for today goes beyond this – into the less precise areas of public engagement. Planning is one area

The first, and most important principle of The Consultation Charter is Integrity. It states that a consultation should be transparently honest, and that no-one will waste your time asking your views if their mind is already made up. This is why it is so important for organisations to be crystal clear about the scope of