Consultation support, when it matters most.
Every membership includes access to our specialists. Bring us a consultation you are planning, a duty you are unsure about, or an audience you cannot reach, and talk it through with someone who has done the work themselves.
A specialist on the end of the line.
Consultation support is not a helpdesk and it is not a script. You describe the situation you are in, we read it ourselves, and we put you in front of the person who knows that kind of work: a statutory NHS reconfiguration, a contested local plan, a service change nobody wants to lose.
You get a straight answer, in plain English, while there is still time to act on it. Most questions are settled in one conversation. Where something needs more than that, we say so, and we tell you what it would take.
Members use it a few times a year, often at the moments that decide whether a consultation holds: before the papers go to committee, before the document goes out, and when a response arrives that changes the picture.
What members bring us
A live consultation
“We are about to go out. Is the process sound, and where are we exposed?” A second pair of expert eyes while changes are still cheap.
A legal duty
“What does the duty actually ask of us here?” Plain-English guidance on the Gunning Principles, the public sector equality duty and what good looks like in practice.
An engagement problem
“How do we reach the people this really affects?” Practical ways to hear the voices that are hardest to reach, and to show what you did with what they said.
Four steps, no gatekeeping.
You ask
A form, an email or a phone call. A few lines on the situation is enough to start.
We match you
We read every enquiry ourselves and pick the specialist who knows your sector.
You get a steer
A call or a written answer, within 1 working day, with the reasoning set out so you can use it internally.
You decide
Act on it yourself, or ask us to go further with assurance or hands-on delivery support.
What members get out of it.
Problems caught early
A flawed question or a missing group costs little to fix in draft and a great deal to fix after publication.
A process you can defend
Advice grounded in case law and the Gunning Principles, so the record shows why you did what you did.
Confidence at the table
An independent view carries weight with boards, cabinets and scrutiny committees in a way an internal opinion cannot.
No procurement round
It is already part of your membership, so there is nothing to commission when the question is urgent.
Skills that stay with you
We explain the reasoning, not just the answer, so your team makes the next call without asking.
One place to start
If the answer is training, assurance or a facilitated session, we point you at it rather than selling you the nearest thing.
Advice, not a rubber stamp.
Support gives you an expert opinion. It is not legal representation, and it is not a certificate. When you need a documented, independent judgement on the whole process, that is quality assurance, and it is a separate piece of work with its own report.
Included from the day you join.
Individual and Organisation membership both include consultation support. If you are weighing up which level fits, or you have a question about a consultation right now, start with a conversation.
Already a member? Send your question through the member area, or call the team on 020 3422 9970.
Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm