The Waiting Game - There’s no need to wait until some good ideas become law!

One of the abiding characteristics of our public service is obedience to the law - and a reluctance to take risks by over-reaching ourselves. There’s an old rule of thumb that states that if it isn’t expressly allowed … in writing…. then you better assume it’s forbidden! The private sector has traditionally followed the opposite dictum; anything goes - provided it isn’t expressly outlawed.

So when a Department of State finally produces a long-awaited White Paper - with 171 pages in Volume 1 and 59 pages in Volume 2 (price £32.50, but free if you download from the web), the task of figuring out what will change, and when, is quite a challenge. Read Strong and Prosperous Communities right through, and you may well be overwhelmed by the sheer range of existing, proposed or merely speculative initiatives. Read it a second time whilst trying to disentangle one idea from another, and you may be merely confused. Read it a third time and, hopefully, some consistent and meaningful themes will emerge. Among these will be a growing assumption that Councils and all local providers of public services will engage systematically with their communities. That is why the White Paper is littered with references to consultation, involvement and participation.

Fortunately, these are not seen as an end in themselves. They are there for a purpose. There is now widespread consensus that re-configuring public services and making them better suited to various groups of citizens only works if those who are served (customers if we like) are involved in these tasks. The reason why the White Paper is so full of these references is that its core message is one of significant change – and we know that imposed changes frequently fail. Consultation is one way of improving the odds.

This role, as means rather than ends – has another consequence. There is no need to wait for legislation!

Whilst many of this, and other White Papers, cannot be implemented until the perplexities of the Parliamentary process culminate in a new Act, this is not true of consultation and participation. After all, much of this is already being done, albeit unco-ordinated and on a somewhat ad hoc basis.

The Government wants to see a single comprehensive engagement strategy – doing for a whole Authority or for LSP’s, what Statements of Community Involvement (SCIs) were meant to do for Planning departments. We think this do-able, but it is by no means easy. It means looking at the full range of relevant activities which are undertaken at present and, let’s be frank, only a handful of Councils have done such an audit.

So whilst Chief Officers and Elected members alike can chew over a large number of interesting ideas, and watch MPs get to grips with their enactment in statute, consultation professionals and others can start upgrading their processes to meet the challenge of an increasingly participative future. Moving in this direction early will give forward-thinking Authorities a head-start when it comes to implementing the rest of the White Paper.

Trigger points

• If you are in Local Government, this White Paper is a “must read” document; persevere!
• If you work in other public services such as the NHS or the Police, do not dismiss this White Paper – the idea of Councils as place-shapers is taking hold, and there are many consequences for these functions.
• Consider coming to the Institute’s Seminar on the White Paper’s Implications for consultation & participation

This is the 73nd 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