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Law-makers have switched on to the idea of consultation, with the result that our legislation is becoming very prescriptive, and requires all kinds of public bodies to consult a vast range of stakeholders. At one level, this is undoubtedly good news. It recognises that too many decisions taken by well-meaning quangos or civil servants took […]

Listening effectively to the public, through professionally-organised consultations is a challenge. If decision-makers are to do better than just respond through knee-jerk reactions to opinion-poll data, care is needed to select consultation methods that provide the most useful and meaningful insight into the issues. There is no shortage of methods. At the last count, the

There are few techniques of greater value to consultation professionals than stakeholder mapping. This can be done in a variety of ways, and to a greater or lesser sophistication. Whilst a simple back-of-an-envelope guess as to where stakeholders map onto an interest/influence matrix is better than nothing, a more formalised process has many advantages. High

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