Out of the Blue! - A new test to ascertain whether public bodies are ready for a serious consultation.

In recent years there have been significant changes to consultation practice.

One of the most visible is how the growth of social media has led to a perpetual debate, no longer confined to the announced period of a consultation. Managing such a continuous dialogue is challenging and is one of the reasons why public bodies are finding it essential to integrate communications and engagement expertise.

But another, equally significant change, has been the expectations of stakeholders that proposals affecting them will be discussed with them before being included in a wider dialogue.

This is not necessarily a legal requirement. Advocates of co-production, for example, will find little in recent judicial reviews to spell out any legal obligation to undertake this kind of discussion. Indeed, in the Royal Brompton Hospital case eighteen months ago, the Court of Appeal supported the Primary Care Trusts in having devised a set of options that excluded the claimant. To find the excoriating criticism of the way those options had been developed, we need to read the devastating report of the Independent Reconfiguration Panel.

In the NHS, lessons are being learnt very quickly, but other public bodies need to follow suit.

The case for greater pre-consultation engagement is simply this. In a complex world with blurred lines of accountability between various agencies, and where there are dozens of dialogues at any one time all marginally affecting one another – it makes sense to ensure that those most affected understand and are hopefully sympathetic to the main thrust of change. Headcount reductions and a desire to slim down bureaucracies have reduced the amount of expertise available in-house – so the biggest experts on any given subject are outside; they are often customers, clients or service users.

Nothing is worse than launching a (perfectly lawful!) consultation only to face howls of criticism from serious practitioners in the subject-field suggesting that the required homework had not been done. Well-managed organisations know the value of engaging early with key stakeholders. The trouble is that we cannot always figure out who should be around the table. With hindsight, there is always someone who, on reflection, it might have been wiser to include.

The only effective strategy is to tell everyone who might have an interest that we propose to go out to consultation. That we invite views and opinions from all relevant stakeholders so that these can inform our preparations and our development of options. Throw the net widely. Ask everyone. Make sure they know that you are open to hear their views, and to take account of their concerns before your proposals go to consultation. All easy to say, but harder to accomplish.

So here is a performance measure for us – a new test by which to hold us all to account when a consultation is planned. Here it is:-

*The pre-consultation invitation to engage needs to be so effective that … come the day when the consultation itself is published, no stakeholder organisation that’s relevant to the issue can possibly say that it’s come ‘out of the blue’!*

We have all encountered people and groups whose first complaint is “We didn’t know such-and-such was on the cards” or “We never had an opportunity to recommend a solution …”. This sours the relationship; it makes discussion of the substantive issues so much more difficult because the dialogue starts with a sense of grievance.

This is all avoidable. It just needs recognition of the importance of pre-consultation engagement. It also needs investment. Good databases; sensitive stakeholder mapping; positive encouragement … and the use of professionally trained engagement staff. The new test is simple to understand, but captures the essence of the pre-consultation phase – an opportunity to engage and educate, listen and debate without some of the constraints and the necessary formalities of the formal consultation phase. The Institute is already using it in its Quality Assurance assignments and will be introducing it into training courses. We will welcome comments from members and supporters. Now we have asked – they won’t of course come out of the blue!

TRIGGER POINTS

• How well is pre-consultation planned in your organisation?
• Are key stakeholders systematically engaged, and might you meet the ‘Out of the Blue” test?
• Pre-consultation processes are discussed in depth in our Masterclass: Consultation Before & After; next offered 14th May in Belfast, 11th June Manchester and 1st October in London.
• The Institute’s Quality Assurance process has recently been enhanced to include a public endorsement of pre-consultation. Contact Jan Warner at the Centre for details by e-mail – hello@consultationinstitute.org or telephone 01767 318350
• If you enjoyed this Topic, you may also enjoy:-
• – Topic 254 Making the Weather
• – Topic 240 Birth of an Option
• – Topic 196 The road to consultation

This is the 255th Tuesday Topic; a full list of subjects covered is available for Institute members and is a valuable resource covering so many aspects of consultation and engagement