Tuesday Topic

Will face-to-face consultation make a comeback? The inexorable rise of digital engagement is undisputed. It has been a significant feature of the last fifteen years; and the pandemic has certainly…

Hearken ye, and, on the Christmas when mixing and mingling is largely frowned on, listen to the tale that shocked the nation and became a morality play. It is said…

This content is typically a member benefit. If you’re interested in receiving content like this directly in your inbox, please get in touch.   …but the public may be more…

Will Big Oil face the same legal challenges as Big Tobacco? A recent Special Report in The Economist had a section heading called ‘Courtrooms are the new battleground for climate…

The fudging of accountability. 2020 continues to throw up novel situations and dilemmas that have previously not troubled us. Who might have guessed that on the day that this Topic…

If consultation was not undertaken – how to retrieve the situation. When coronavirus sent Whitehall – and everywhere else – into a flat spin, Government responded with a flurry of…

Public servants need to understand the Downing Street approach to their future At the beginning of July there were two important speeches. One came from the Prime Minister – a typical bish-bash-bosh tour…

A month ago, we published a Briefing Paper entitled Exit from Lockdown: the case for consultation. In it, we made the case for decision-makers at both central and local levels to…

Right in the middle of the current health emergency, many commentators have observed that at a time of national crisis, people tend to cling to the words of people they…

Citizens’ Assemblies have become extraordinarily popular. And rightly so. Trust in elected bodies – Parliamentary or Municipal is at a low ebb. Campaigners for causes like social care, public transport…