Wanted: Centres of excellence – Inconsistency is one of the worst aspects of consultation in the UK; yet the best are truly excellent

Any analysis of the 99 Topics published by the Institute over the last four years would reveal problems and opportunities in roughly equal measure.

The problems are well known, though solutions are more elusive. Too many consultations are ill-thought-through; under-resourced, use the wrong methods, fail to feed back and struggle to have the intended beneficial influence on the decisions they were meant to inform. In the ideal world, we’d consult formally rather less frequently, but do it better when the need arises.

On the other hand, and despite considerable media scepticism, there are some remarkably effective and meaningful exercises. In part these are responsible for encouraging politicians and academics to champion the cause of wider public involvement and engagement. Consultation today, therefore, sits firmly in a broader portfolio of public participation tools and techniques, and forward-looking civic leaders need little persuasion that this is an important aspect of modern governance.