Originally published 8 February 2011. This article is retained from the tCI archive. Law, policy or practice may have changed since publication.
Just as we are all scratching our heads about the ‘Big Society’ two short Reports from the National Audit Office should make us sit up and take notice.
One is the latest in a series of Reports the NAO has undertaken on the Civil Service’s preparation of Impact Assessments. These matter, because they are meant to inform the debate about new legislation or policy developments. Ideally they should provide sufficient information about options in a policy consultation as to facilitate a high-quality dialogue, and in principle, should be part and parcel of every consultation – large or small.
What is worrying is that after several years of being a requirement, the NAO finds significant failures and has ‘red-flagged’ 9 out of their random-sample of 50 Impact Assessments in central Government. A further 27 had problems and only 14 (28%) fully met its quality standard. Hidden away in this Report are other causes for concern. How about this:- Almost half of the assessments we reviewed considered only one option, or one option plus ‘do nothing’, at any point during the policy development process.
As with all such investigations, there is some good news; civil servants are taking them more seriously, Chief economists are becoming involved and Impact Assessments, and consultations using them, have altered the course of some policy development. Hooray!
But now let’s express concern about the second NAO Report. This was published in mid-June – just before the Budget and is called A Short Guide to Structured Cost-reduction. Should be a best-seller! The trouble is – there is no mention of consultation with those who are impacted. Neither does it mention stakeholders or even the word dialogue. There is plenty about cost-drivers, risk assessment and being evidence-based. In fact it would like decisions to be data-driven.
Of course they should. But data is not just numbers and money- it is also about the experience of key stakeholders and partners. It is vital that policy makers talk to those who deliver or otherwise affect the implementation of what they propose. Only in this way can we avoid the law of unintended consequences.
Which brings us to the ‘Big Society’
Although it’s in danger of being all things to all men and women, it clearly resonates with those who believe there are better ways to address major socio-economic issues without relying so much on public funding and public infrastructures. Even sceptics have recently conceded that the ‘Big Society’ idea offers many opportunities to find new delivery options for services that are becoming unaffordable in their current form. It also operates at different levels from large-scale national services to very local initiatives. In our recent experience, every time positive-thinking individuals gather to think around available options and to explore the idea, there emerges a fascinating range of practical possibilities, and not just to cut costs in ways that may please the Chancellor, but also improve outcomes – in ways that may please the public.
But this means rapid and quite profound change – with risks that some initiatives go wrong, and people get hurt. Fortunately, we have a process to avoid this – and it’s called consultation. To work it needs to be informed consultation. And this, therefore, means that we must urgently get better at Impact Assessments.
There is no need for every Council, or every NHS Trust to meet the complex requirements of Impact Assessments for new legislation in Whitehall. But the principle is vital. Changes inspired by the ‘Big Society’ must be properly costed, and their implications rigorously analysed and placed before clued-up stakeholders in ways that enable a fully-informed dialogue to take place.
So, instead of data-driven change, let’s campaign for dialogue-driven change. It’s what George Osborne says he wants. Let’s make sure it happens Trigger points
- Exploring the Big Society roundtable.
- To consider how the issues affect hard-to-reach/seldom-heard groups, come to our Engaging the Hard-to-Reach event
This is the 165th 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