Professional Services
In public engagement and consultation, every client’s needs are unique. Over the years the Institute has developed a wide range of support services. Mostly they exist to help clients undertake better engagement. But they are also there to help practitioners obtain recognition for best practice, thereby enhancing the credibility of consultations and the reputation of those who organise them.
Consultancy goes hand-in-hand with training, and is a natural way to supplement the skills and capacity of in-house staff. The Institute deploys its Associates to deliver most of its services, ensuring a compatible approach, and one that observes the principles of the Consultation Charter and is up-to-date with latest best-practice.
Clients can buy ‘packaged’ solutions or services such as Quality Assurance for consultations or a Risk Assessment, where they receive the benefit of the experience obtained by delivering the service to previous clients. Alternatively, clients can commission a ‘tailored’ service, designed to address a specific requirement. In both cases, public sector organisations can take advantage of the NHS procurement hub’s Lead Provider status enabling faster and simpler procurement of the Institute’s services.
The Institute publishes a Brochure to the range and definitions of its various Professional Services in a convenient format. To see more services, download our Professional Services brochure
Some of our Clients and Members
HS2
High Speeds Two is building one of the largest infrastructure projects in Europe. We provided specialist quality assurance on the data analysis/interpretation following a key public consultation attracting 60,000+ respondents. Delivered specialist consultation and engagement training courses in-house.
Transport for London
A major strategic relationship with the Institute. Holders of the Partners in Consultation Excellence Certificate. The Institute has trained approximately 60 TfL consultation staff and assisted with the Quality Assurance of transport related projects.
NHS South East CSU
Holders of a preferred CSU agreement with the Institute. Under this deal we support major service reconfigurations in South London, including projects affecting NHS services in Southwark, Dulwich Hospital, and mental health service provision. Previously the Institute supported engagement activities for the ‘South West London’ project for hospitals reconfiguration. Extensive Executive Briefing for Senior NHS Managers. This client also pioneered ‘Ambassador Training’, whereby Senior Clinicians were trained by us in best practice handling of public meetings.
Kent County Council
The biggest local authority in the United Kingdom. Long standing members of the Institute, having trained 20-25 public engagement staff. Executive briefings on legal and other aspects of public consultations have been delivered to Senior Officers and 40+ Elected Members.
Essex Fire and Rescue
Full Quality Assurance of consultations regarding future deployment of Fire & Rescue resources.
Lincolnshire County Council
The Institute has conducted 2 separate Quality Assurance assignments for controversial consultations involving the restructuring of libraries and changes to Adult Social Care fees. The Institute has delivered in-house training for both Officers and Elected Members.
NHS North East Commissioning Support Unit
The Institute concluded a preferred CSU agreement with NECS whereby service change projects are supported through Advice and Guidance and also formal Quality Assurance. In-house training has been provided and NECS was the first client to use the tCI Risk Assessment Workshop methodology.
Guys & St Thomas Hospital
An extensive in-house training programme was undertaken, with particular emphasis on Social Media and Engagement Methodologies.
Gloucestershire County Council
This Council was the first to adopt a call-off contract for consultation Advice & Guidance. Having successfully used the Institute’s Quality Assurance process for the re-run of their libraries reconfiguration public consultation.
London Borough of Hounslow
This Council faces a major challenge as it is affected by the continuing controversy surrounding the future of London Heathrow Airport. The consultation and engagement team have been trained through two programmes of in-house training from the Institute.
Public Health Wales
Over three years this organisation has commissioned the Institute to design and deliver high-profile Executive Seminars for NHS and Local Government staff in Wales. Specialist events have included Seminars on consultation with young people, service change in health and social care, consultation with the ‘older’ generation, and using social media for public health engagement.
North Ayrshire Council
This authority has trained more of its staff in public engagement and consultation than any other in the UK. In-house training has been provided by David Jones and the Scottish-Irish team, and the Council has been recognised with a special award for skills development at the Institute’s 2015 Conference.
NHS Wakefield Clinical Commissioning Group
In 2013 we provided Quality Assurance for the ‘Meeting the Challenge’ transformation programme – including support at the joint overview and scrutiny committee. NHS proposals were very controversial as they affected local hospital services, but the exercise was subsequently recognised by the Association of Healthcare Communications and Marketing (AHCM) for the best engagement project for 2013.
CCEA
In Northern-Ireland, the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment is responsible for extensive engagement and consultation on the education service. It has used the Institute since 2004 and continues to commission specialist in-house training and Advice & Guidance.
Horizon Nuclear Power
We helped the client to develop a robust set of documentation - sufficient to satisfy unusually tight regulatory requirements - and be meaningful to the public. It also advised on the best approach to forthcoming statutory consultations.
Derbyshire Fire & Rescue
This organisation consulted the public on a long-term plan, ‘Fit to Respond: An Opportunity to Shape the Future’, and required and received a full Quality Assurance for the exercise. Derbyshire Fire and Rescue have also run an in-house training course on the Law of Consultation to which it invited neighbouring Fire & Rescue services.
Explore our Services
The Quality Assurance Scheme uses a compliance assessment methodology and is now designed for high-profile consultations where an external assurance of its quality can make a difference to its response-profile and to its credibility.
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Institute Associates provide a wide range of assistance to organisations, large and small and cover the specialist services shown in our brochure. Call-off contracts offer flexibility so that advice can be forthcoming when and where you want it. Particularly valuable during the Pre-Consultation Phase.
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Institute Associates provide a wide range of assistance to organisations, large and small and cover the specialist services shown in our brochure. Call-off contracts offer flexibility so that advice can be forthcoming when and where you want it. Particularly valuable during the Pre-Consultation Phase.
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The Aarhus Convention establishes a number of rights of the public with regard to the built environment. One of those rights is the right to participate in environmental decision-making, for example on proposals for projects affecting the environment.
This Tool is designed for those who plan or have recently undertaken public engagement on (major) infrastructure projects. Self-assess your infrastructure engagement exercise based on international requirements & best practices.
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The Consultation Institute offers the most comprehensive range of one-day public engagement and consultation training courses available anywhere. Training courses are designed to be relevant to a wide range of roles in the public, private and third-party sectors. All can also be offered on an In-House basis, which is usually more cost-effective.
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Our Professional Services Brochure