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The Prime Minister had a bad press the other day! Nothing new in that you may say: but the occasion for criticism might have raised a few eyebrows among those who organise public or stakeholder consultations. The charge against Tony Blair is that he has effectively pre-empted the proper consideration of the Energy Review – […]

A few days ago, one of the more popular Radio Stations invited a Church of England Vicar to talk about the special prayer he had published. In essence this was an appeal to the Almighty (or, to reflect our multiculturalisms, one of the Almighties) to assist the England team in their quest to win the

  Okay, if the fate of the World Cup had reflected the quality of the merchandising rather than the quality of the football, we might have won……! Yet again, there is good reason to wonder whether we are all too prone to the ephemeral lure of the spin rather than the underlying substance. It’s part of a

One of the most obvious trends in public participation is the movement away from the traditional form of written consultation. Time was when the consultative process meant one of two things – a committee or a big fact document. There were good reasons for this. Joint Standing Committees meant what they said; they were Joint

There is a famous quotation, attributed to Petronius, which talks about the military being organised in teams, and laments that he was to learn from experience that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization.

How do you kick off a large-scale consultation? Do you write letters to key stakeholders? Send copies of the consultation document to those you know are interested? Send e-mails? Issue a Press Release? Alternatively, do you make a determined effort to secure maximum publicity, generate some razzmatazz, and launch the consultation with a fanfare of

Approximately two thirds of the consultation staff who attend the Institute’s training courses profess to a loathing of public meetings. They are not alone. Councillors, Chief Officers and a range of consultancies feel even more strongly about it. Unlike “meetings held in public” – an effective and transparent development with few detractors – “public meetings”

There’s a real debate about the role that consultation plays in achieving significant social or political change. Some say that going to consultation is a sure-fire way to slow down progress. Produce a radical idea that challenges existing vested interests, and howls of protest manifest themselves in all kinds of ways – including responses to

Consultation is used to fulfil many objectives…….probably far too many; it’s one of the problems that leads to unwarranted expectations. One role, however, that is seldom exploited sufficiently, but may be poised for greater significance, is that of acting as a check upon the executive. Here’s how. In the last ten years we’ve seen a

The practice of publishing web logs or blogs is one of the most rapidly expanding phenomena of the new technology age. Stated simply it refers to individuals publishing their reflections on the web, usually as a kind of online diary. Estimates of numbers vary widely, but one source quotes 15,000 new blogs being written every