Those of us deeply involved with public consultations on a daily basis can easily overlook the wider context of our work. Whilst there are lots of other reasons for organising a consultation, one of the most important is to help politicians, civil servants, senior Managers and others make policy. It has never been easy, but […]
We live in uncertain times and with conflicting visions of our future. Right now it is as difficult to predict what will happen to the private sector as to the public sector. Amid the diverse predictions, there is but one constant – the overwhelming likelihood of change. But, when it comes to public services, so
From time to time you will all see simplistic definitions of the term ‘consultation’. You know the sort we mean. ‘Listening to people’s views’ is typical, or ‘Asking stakeholders what they think of our proposals’. Those who have attended Institute courses will know that the defining characteristic of a proposed consultation is that it should
This week Local Councillors and those who aspire to become ones will stand for election, and despite genuine concern about the state of our democracy, millions of us will exercise our right to vote. What happens afterwards?
Consultation is an invitation to influence us. We are effectively saying to whoever is interested:- Please give us your views, so that we can take an informed decision. So how well do we frame this invitation?
A convincing narrative – Is there a special skill to writing a good consultation paper? Read More »
Last week’s Key Issue Workshop was about Wind Farms! But it could equally have been about a range of other infrastructure developments which local residents would, in the ideal world, prefer to reject. The issues go to the heart of the contemporary consultation dilemma. How to convince the public that their views will be genuinely
Last week’s high profile consultation was on gay marriage – or, technically, on equal civil marriage. It sparked a furious controversy with predictable cries of ‘sham consultation’ from opponents, and the Institute itself concluded that aspects of this particular exercise will be a recipe for confusion. But there was another feature of the consultation that
The weekend press has just enjoyed itself pointing out that the Prime Minister’s widely-advertised NHS Reform Summit on Monday managed to exclude many critics of the Government’s plans. And it is easy to find such situations a soft target. Are consultations not meant to hear all sides of the argument? How can one take account
Predicting the future is a hazardous occupation. Back in 2005, the Institute ran a series of Seminars on the impact of the recently-implemented Freedom of Information Act on the world of consultation. “Watch out” we said “from now on, you will have to keep a meticulous audit trail of how you analyse consultation data and
Right now there are hundreds of hard-pressed Managers in the public sector who are sweating over expenditure cuts that oblige them to re-structure services, some of which have scarcely changed for decades. How do they view the requirement to consult all the different stakeholders that emerge whenever change is threatened? Do they groan at the
Change Agent – Is consultation a help or a hindrance to service change? Read More »
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