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There’s an old stock market adage: – ‘Sell in May… and go away…” These days we can replace it with – ‘Challenge a consultation in June/July, and hear the outcome in August…’ How else can we explain the spate of judgments handed down in the last three weeks – and holding enormous significance for anyone […]

Few people deny that there is threat to democracy in the widespread intimidation of politicians, particularly women, and the Committee on Standards in Public Life published a strong Report on the subject last December. It made 33 recommendations and the Government is now seeking to implement some of these by consulting on a new electoral

Last Friday’s judgment in the case of Kohler v MOPAC has rightly prompted considerable discussion. Our Briefing Note has certainly added to the degree of interest. A popular reaction is that Judges cannot possibly be serious in suggesting that decision-makers should read the submission of a particular consultee. Yet that is what they appeared to

Public consultation has one over-riding weakness. It leaves consultees often unsure whether decision-makers take even the slightest notice of what they say. Any contribution they make to a consultation seems to disappear, as if into a black hole, from which little or nothing emerges. No matter what decision is taken, the suspicion can remain that

For for those working in public consultation there are increasingly demanding standards of community and stakeholder involvement, and failure to observe best practice can prejudice the effective management of such changes as well as exposing public bodies to legal challenges. There are many statutory requirements for consultation, but the truth is that ALL significant changes