Certificate of Assurance.
Independent confirmation, before the decision is taken, that your consultation was delivered and reported as it should have been.
in line with the Consultation Charter.
Assured evidence for the decision-maker.
Where the Certificate of Consultation Readiness confirms you were ready to begin, the Certificate of Assurance confirms how it ended, that the consultation was run and reported as it should have been.
It carries the assurance through delivery, closing and final reporting, and is issued before the decision is taken, so you can confirm to the decision-maker that the consultation carries a tCI Certificate of Assurance. Like the Readiness certificate, it is awarded at Good Practice or Best Practice.
In most cases this is a natural extension of the Readiness engagement: rather than concluding just before the consultation opens, we continue alongside you through to the decision. It can also be commissioned on its own where readiness was assured separately.
The second of two certificates.
What the Certificate confirms
Delivery to decisionAcross Part B's three interventions, Mid-Review, Closing Review and Final Report, our assessors confirm the elements a decision-maker, and any later challenge, will most want to see. Scope and governance, the project plan and the consultation documentation assessed in Part A are carried forward, not repeated.
Delivered as planned
The consultation ran as intended and as scoped, with any mid-course issues identified and addressed.
Records in place
Appropriate records of the process and responses are complete and available to support the decision.
Responses fairly interpreted
Analysis and reporting represent what people actually said, without distortion or selective emphasis.
Legal duties met
The statutory and equality duties that apply to the consultation have been discharged.
Ready to inform the decision
The final outputs, reports and decision papers, are sound enough for the decision-maker to rely on.
A formal Certificate of Assurance and confirmation letter, at Good or Best Practice, to place before the decision-maker and alongside your consultation report.
Good Practice, or Best Practice.
Good Practice
Confirms the consultation was delivered and reported in a way that is lawful, fair, and proportionate, with responses fairly interpreted and the legal duties met.
Best Practice
Awarded where delivery showed a high level of care, clarity, and responsiveness, with transparent reporting and evidence that the consultation shaped the decision.
Recognised by the courts.
A completed assurance provides an evidenced audit trail that has been tested at the highest level.
The court noted the consultation “was the subject of an external audit by the Consultation Institute, and was awarded a Certificate of Best Practice.”
In R (Hinsull) v NHS Dorset CCG (2018) a judge was similarly “fortified” in dismissing a challenge because the consultation had been independently quality-assured by the Consultation Institute.
Assure the process before you decide.
We will confirm that your consultation was delivered and reported to standard, in time to inform the decision.