The term ‘domain’ originally meant a piece of land – a territory. Today we use it in a very different sense. Not only do many of us have a ‘domain…

If the Localism Bill is taken at face-value, then local Councils are going to be busy organising a lot of Referendums. It represents a radically different approach to the last…

Re-organisations have a bad name. It is easy to rail against them, and to criticise them for achieving few of their stated objectives. One of the most oft-quoted management sayings…

It only came into force in April 2009; no-one can say for definite whether it has made any difference. Yet there is quite an argument as to whether Mr Pickles’…

For a process that essentially exists to minimise the risk of mistakes by public bodies or large organisations, the practice of consultation is itself prone to many errors. There are…

The huge variety of consultations makes it difficult to prescribe hard and fast rules for all aspects of the process, and there is always a debate as to whether or…

Here’s a conversation we are having increasingly frequently. No doubt it’s partly prompted by the launch of our Registered Facilitator Scheme, but it’s been a consistent theme in recent months.…

When Ann Abraham, the Parliamentary & Health Ombudsman introduced her latest Report last week, the media gave it massive exposure. And rightly so; it detailed how ten older patients suffered…

As the media struggles to come to terms with the messy results offered by the British public, consultation professionals will reflect that data is frequently inconclusive and that interpreting what…