In January 2026, the UK government launched a public consultation on children’s smartphone and social media use, but with a notable constraint: instead of an open call for ideas, ministers presented a shortlist of predetermined options. Should social media be banned under a certain age? Should the digital age of consent be raised? Should overnight […]
Who Decided the Options? The Hidden Stage of Policy Consultation Read More »
January 2026 – tCI has reopened its membership programme, offering consultation and engagement professionals across the UK and globally access to exclusive resources, professional development opportunities and a supportive peer network. Two Membership Tiers The relaunched programme offers two options: Individual Membership (£400/year ex VAT) is designed for independent consultants and individual practitioners looking to develop their
tCI Relaunches Membership Programme for Consultation and Engagement Professionals Read More »
tCI believes the next period will bring significant change across mental health services, community services, and maternity provision. These changes are being driven by workforce pressure, financial constraint, and renewed expectations around care closer to home. As a result, consultation and engagement will move from the margins of service redesign to the centre of decision-making,
Recent reporting on a police decision to prevent supporters of Maccabi Tel Aviv football club from attending a match in England has raised important questions for public authorities about public engagement and decision-making. Not about whether the decision itself was right or wrong, but about what should happen once a difficult decision has been taken
The High Court’s March 2024 ruling against the Home Office over West Midlands emergency services governance has exposed the scale of risk when consultation fails. The judgment demonstrates that cutting corners on stakeholder engagement doesn’t just create legal problems: it generates cascading risks that can derail entire reform programmes and damage organisational credibility for years.
Central government planning and housing consultations now provide the clearest test of whether consultation supports decision making or simply manages exposure to challenge. Since 2021, consultation has played a central role in planning reform. The issue is not frequency. It is design. Across multiple national consultations, the same failures recur. Digital First Without Judgement Central
Government Planning Consultations: Managing Challenge, Not Seeking Input Read More »
This is an update to the Institute’s previous article – Tameside: Inquiring Minds – the fundamentals of consultation Understanding Tameside Council’s Strategic Consultation Framework Back in 2020, Tameside Council worked with the Consultation Institute to establish consultation frameworks and quality assurance processes that would shape its approach for years to come. Building on this foundation, the
The challenge The challenge of engaging younger people in public decision-making has become sufficiently well-rehearsed that it no longer warrants extended description. Consultation exercises continue to attract responses that skew older and more institutionally confident. What has shifted, albeit slowly, is the recognition that this is not simply a problem of reach. It is a
Youth Panels and Co-Design: Moving Beyond Symbolic Inclusion in Public Consultation Read More »
Introduction In public decision making, it is common to treat volume as protection. More meetings. More survey returns. More submissions. The assumption is that a larger evidence base makes a decision safer under scrutiny. That assumption is often wrong. Scrutiny rarely turns on how much engagement you ran. It turns on whether your evidence base
Why does more Consultation Evidence Weaken Decision-Making Read More »
The Promise and the Caution AI is arriving in government consultation. Cambridge City Council’s planning department and the Central Government are piloting systems to process responses faster, potentially saving hundreds of thousands of work-days annually. But citizens demand rigorous oversight. The public holds AI to higher standards than humans and expects transparency. Any hint of
AI and Code Framing: A Framework for Responsible Adoption Read More »
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