Aspirational consultation – Asking people what they want is clearly a legitimate form of consultation; but is this overdone at the expense of more practical choices?

Consultation comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some are tightly targeted; often highly technical, using a specialist vocabulary and part of a continuing dialogue with known stakeholders. Others are meant for a wider audience, couched in more general terms and deliberately simplify complex issues in order to elicit the views of the public – and there are various scenarios in between these extremes………

To the extent that there is a trend, it is towards asking everyone about everything! Over-arching strategies – for community plans, spatial or environmental frameworks, transport or public services ranging from schools to social services – all require a broad consensus. So it is only natural that those who need to write such documents tend to organise a wide-ranging consultation.

If this was limited to a Local Authority’s public involvement programme, then a well co-ordinated Council could presumably avoid the consultation fatigue syndrome which afflicts part of the stakeholder base. However, as more and more public agencies with national or local remits also mount similarly wide-ranging consultations, the potential for overlapping and duplicated exercises increases.