Emergency change does not switch off public law. Whether the organisation is a council, an NHS body or a fire and rescue authority, pressure and urgency may justify moving quickly, but they do not justify weak equality analysis, vague reasons, or treating a temporary measure as if it never needs proper scrutiny. The legal test […]
Emergency change: does it suspend equality and consultation? Read More »
Oxfordshire County Council is set to consider revised fire and rescue proposals after a consultation that produced significant changes: no station closures, the Thame proposal withdrawn, and the north Oxford plan paused. For consultation practitioners, the question is not whether the politics worked out. It is whether the process remained genuinely capable of changing the
When consultation actually changes the decision: the Oxfordshire fire service case Read More »
England’s planning reforms are not just about speeding up decisions. They are changing who is accountable for how consultation is conducted, how representations are handled, and how that evidence withstands scrutiny. Three specific changes create immediate legal and governance exposure for local planning authorities that have not updated their processes. The reform direction across development
Planning Consultation Requirements: Are Councils Ready? Read More »
We’re relaunching our Thursday morning sessions from February, and we want to know what you’d like to explore Good news: our coffee mornings are coming back. We ran these back in the early 2020s and they were really valuable, so we’re bringing them back from February. We’d love to hear what topics you’d like us
Coffee Mornings Return: What are the Topics (Season 1) Read More »
Public bodies sometimes promise to consult. Sometimes they have always consulted in the past. Does either of those facts create a legal obligation to consult again? The doctrine of legitimate expectation says it can, but the courts set the bar high, and the gap between what practitioners assume will count and what actually does is
Legitimate Expectation: When a Promise to Consult Creates a Legal Duty Read More »
Too many organisations still treat consultation as a late-stage exercise in explanation. They prepare the message, publish a survey, and hope that visible activity will reduce opposition. That approach is weak on both law and governance. A consultation that begins after minds are made up is exposed from the start. The Gunning principles, the legal test
A Welsh Government advisory group published its progress report on democratic renewal in Wales this month. Buried in the detail is a pointed observation about public consultation: that it is “rarely sufficient and hugely overused.” We think that deserves a closer look. What did the Welsh Government’s advisory group actually say? The Innovating Democracy Advisory Group (IDAG),
Is public consultation enough? What Wales found Read More »
We published an earlier version of this article in 2019 under the title “Will purdah affect your consultation?” The underlying legal position has not changed. The terminology has. With local elections in May 2026 approaching, this is a good moment to update both. What has changed, and why does the name matter? The word “purdah”
Pre-Election Period: Can You Still Run a Public Consultation? Read More »
A Section 114 notice is a statutory declaration that a council cannot balance its budget under the Local Government Finance Act 1988. It triggers an immediate prohibition on new expenditure beyond statutory services, requires the full council to meet within 21 days to consider the officer’s report, and typically brings government commissioners into the picture. What it
Section 114 Notices and Consultation: What the Law Requires Read More »
A Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) is a document submitted alongside a planning application that records what engagement took place before submission, who was consulted, what they said, and how their input shaped the final proposals. The term has a dual use in planning. Local planning authorities (LPAs) are required to publish their own SCI
What makes a Statement of Community Involvement defensible Read More »
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