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In the dozens of Consultation Strategies received by the Institute there are countless lists of reasons for undertaking consultation exercises. On average there are six to ten objectives, often liberally sprinkled with the latest fashionable buzz-words. Yet one of the most persistent reasons why people undertake consultations is seldom ever mentioned. It is literally taboo! […]

If the term “broken links” means anything to some of us, it is likely to be in the context of the internet. It refers to that infuriating moment when you click on a button, an icon or even a web address and you receive that wonderful piece of Microsoft prose: The page cannot be displayed

A woman I know is a Samaritan. Whether by instinct or by training, she is remarkably good at listening. People want to tell her their feelings; they will readily unburden before her. And although she seldom offers solutions, her ability to respond empathetically often makes her confidante feel a lot better. Like others in many

At one our recent Seminars on Engaging the Hard-to-Reach, one participant was heard to complain that if you added up the numbers identified in each of the separate groups thought to fall into this category, you exceed the population of the UK by about 250%! In other words, by the time you’ve made special provision

We’ve just passed the 2005 deadline for e-enabling the citizens’ interactions with Government and its agencies. Beyond the predictable and competing claims of success by the programme’s supporters and carping criticisms from its opponents, it is worth remembering that the whole e-government initiative has been a journey into the unknown. In historic terms, five years

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