Developing and appraising options are an important part of the process before consultation. They present people with an appreciation of the challenges you are facing, whether this is financial sustainability, location or staffing issues and if the process is conducted correctly, will provide you with robust options to bring forward into a consultation. But what if there are no clear alternatives?

Let’s go back a few steps. In the NHS, there is a statutory duty to involve patients and the public in the development and consideration of proposals. In local authorities, there is a range of specific requirements for consultation, but most consultation takes place because of legitimate expectation. By involving the right people in this process, your proposals have a better chance of satisfying what is important and essential to people (hurdle criteria) and what is desirable (evaluation criteria). A good options appraisal process will often identify an option that is preferred, but there should also be alternatives. Asking consultees to propose an alternative solution is also an effective way of demonstrating you’re open to influence – so long as you’re prepared to use your options appraisal methodology to test it against the criteria you’ve already set.

The challenge of going into a consultation with no options is that a smart campaigner might try and challenge on the grounds of pre-determination (Gunning One). Proposals rarely just emerge; typically, pre-option development discussion around solutions would take place – document this. It shows you’re transparent. While the first decade of the millennium saw minimal option development and appraisal processes examined by the Courts, there have been a variety of important cases that have since set a precedent, and getting your options development and appraisal process correct is an important step in the consultation timeline, and the cases highlighted below examined this in judicial review.

• Royal Brompton v The Joint Committee of PCTs, 2011
• Safe and Sustainable v The Joint Committee of PCTS, 2013
• Moseley v London Borough of Haringey, 2014
• Bokrosova v London Borough of Lambeth, 2015

For consultation to be meaningful, clear choices are best. Every option that you’ve published in your document must have the capability of being implemented. That isn’t to say you can’t identify what you’re preferred option is (this is often advisable), provided you explain why this is the case. When you’re considering your next consultation, take a moment to consider whether your options process has been robust. If you’re interested in learning more about smart methods to conduct options appraisal, get in touch.