Not always … but sometimes Twenty years ago, the Blair Government entered office and held discussions with the voluntary and community sector; these ultimately led to the National Compact. It committed the Government to consulting the Third Sector when the latter’s interests were affected and to do so for twelve weeks. It was already the […]
The case for shorter consultations Read More »
How fault-tolerant is the process of listening to stakeholders? For some years, a tactic of choice for anyone objecting to decisions taken to change public policy or public services, has been to apply to the Courts for a Judicial Review. For many, it has seemed that decision-makers were more vulnerable on the process they followed
How many mistakes can we make in a public consultation? Read More »
What exactly is the appetite for public consultations? And what is the civic-duty syndrome? We don’t often ask people if they want to be consulted. There are many reasons for this: There may be perfectly satisfactory, tried-and-tested machinery for taking certain kinds of decisions, with legitimately empowered decision-makers No history of public participation or involvement in
Who wants to be consulted? Read More »
Public consultations and the numbers game For years, there has been an argument as to how much reliance to place on the statistical results of a pubic consultation. With respondent rates hovering at about 1% for most decisions affecting local public services, it has become customary to dismiss the breakdown of those in favour or
Winner takes all … Read More »
Are car drivers too scared to look under the bonnet? Those who found Donald Trump’s Inauguration speech last Friday distasteful have been dismissed as part of the political classes that have ostensibly lost touch with large parts of the electorate they are meant to serve. More accurately, what we may be witnessing is the tension
Public consultations – in defence of nuance! Read More »
Yes, a cliché, but an effective way of describing issues or problems everyone knows to be there – but are unwilling to discuss. A common criticism of public consultations is that they do not always ask the right questions. Of course, that depends upon whom you ask. Consultees frequently wish to see questions about underlying
Unasked Questions? – Is there an ‘elephant’ in the room? Read More »
A timely tale on the perils of Referendums … “So who’d be so daft as to want a Referendum on Christmas?” said the political pundit. Only later did he discover that he was – apparently – living in a metropolitan ‘bubble’ where everyone was in favour and who could, every year, afford the escalating costs
How Christmas could so easily have been cancelled Read More »
Piecemeal consultations sometimes seek the views of citizens at various stages of long-term changes to our public services. Be aware of the pitfalls. Massive changes are often less about a ‘big bang’ and more about a series of incremental changes. This poses special challenges if we are to engage successfully with those affected. Part of
The perils of piecemeal consultations Read More »
A recent Case in the Scottish Court of Sessions examined something of an old chestnut – the extent of the common law duty to give reasons for administrative decisions. The case in Scotland concerned Ministers approval for the controversial Mossend Railfreight terminal east of Glasgow. North Lanarkshire Council refused planning permission but the developers appealed
Being sure that public consultation is genuine When the Institute began providing a Quality Assurance (QA) for public consultations, five years ago, it was, in part because local government officers and others were keen for their efforts to be better recognised. Attending training courses was one thing, but would anyone give them credit for having
How the rationale for Quality Assurance is changing Read More »
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