The High Court’s March 2024 ruling against the Home Office over West Midlands emergency services governance has exposed the scale of risk when consultation fails. The judgment demonstrates that cutting corners on stakeholder engagement doesn’t just create legal problems: it generates cascading risks that can derail entire reform programmes and damage organisational credibility for years. […]
Central government planning and housing consultations now provide the clearest test of whether consultation supports decision making or simply manages exposure to challenge. Since 2021, consultation has played a central role in planning reform. The issue is not frequency. It is design. Across multiple national consultations, the same failures recur. Digital First Without Judgement Central
Government Planning Consultations: Managing Challenge, Not Seeking Input Read More »
This is an update to the Institute’s previous article – Tameside: Inquiring Minds – the fundamentals of consultation Understanding Tameside Council’s Strategic Consultation Framework Back in 2020, Tameside Council worked with the Consultation Institute to establish consultation frameworks and quality assurance processes that would shape its approach for years to come. Building on this foundation, the
The challenge The challenge of engaging younger people in public decision-making has become sufficiently well-rehearsed that it no longer warrants extended description. Consultation exercises continue to attract responses that skew older and more institutionally confident. What has shifted, albeit slowly, is the recognition that this is not simply a problem of reach. It is a
Youth Panels and Co-Design: Moving Beyond Symbolic Inclusion in Public Consultation Read More »
Introduction In public decision making, it is common to treat volume as protection. More meetings. More survey returns. More submissions. The assumption is that a larger evidence base makes a decision safer under scrutiny. That assumption is often wrong. Scrutiny rarely turns on how much engagement you ran. It turns on whether your evidence base
Why does more Consultation Evidence Weaken Decision-Making Read More »
The Promise and the Caution AI is arriving in government consultation. Cambridge City Council’s planning department and the Central Government are piloting systems to process responses faster, potentially saving hundreds of thousands of work-days annually. But citizens demand rigorous oversight. The public holds AI to higher standards than humans and expects transparency. Any hint of
AI and Code Framing: A Framework for Responsible Adoption Read More »
The risks of premature engagement What happens when an organisation moves to public engagement before fully developing its options? From the NHS to local councils to infrastructure projects, consultations can falter when the option development phase has been insufficient. Moving to public engagement without robust option development can lead to weaker outcomes, increased legal risk,
From Gunning to Moseley: What Case Law Tells Us About Option Development Read More »
Introduction Public consultations must be fair and inclusive, ensuring all participants can understand proposals and provide meaningful feedback. One of the well-known Gunning Principles for lawful consultation requires that sufficient information be provided to allow for “intelligent consideration and response”. In practice, when information isn’t readily accessible, whether due to format, language, or barriers related
Gunning Principles and Accessibility: Why 20% Can’t Access Your Public Consultation Read More »
What is the Challenge? When planning major changes to emergency services, the stakes are significant. Decisions such as closing fire stations or adopting new policing models affect public safety and trust. A poorly managed public consultation can backfire, leading to community backlash, delays, or even legal challenges. For Chief Fire Officers, Police and Crime Commissioners,
When 94% Say No: Getting Emergency Service Consultations Right Read More »
When a council issues a Section 114 notice, it declares that it cannot balance its budget. Recent years have seen Woking, Thurrock, Slough, Croydon and Birmingham reach this crisis point. Yet even in this emergency state, councillors and officers remain legally bound to consult fairly and meaningfully on service cuts or budget changes. The stakes
Consultation under Section 114: Engaging Communities amid Financial Crisis Read More »
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