When Public Consultation Goes Wrong: Lessons from Emergency Services Integration (2023-2024)

The High Court’s March 2024 ruling against the Home Office over West Midlands emergency services governance has exposed the scale of risk when consultation fails. The judgment demonstrates that cutting corners on stakeholder engagement doesn’t just create legal problems: it generates cascading risks that can derail entire reform programmes and damage organisational credibility for years.

The Cost of Getting It Wrong

When the Home Secretary attempted to transfer West Midlands policing powers from the elected Police and Crime Commissioner to the metro mayor, the risks of inadequate consultation materialised spectacularly. Mr Justice Swift ruled that the Home Office had “not provided sufficient information to permit an intelligent and informed response” from stakeholders.

The failure exposed multiple risk layers simultaneously. Claims that merging the PCC role with the mayoralty would create a “more joined-up approach” were left “entirely unexplained”, creating legal vulnerability. The consultation became a “treasure hunt” for information, violating fundamental fairness principles. The planned transfer was halted, creating operational uncertainty. Legal costs mounted. Relationships between government, the PCC, the mayor and local stakeholders fractured, creating implementation risk for future initiatives. Most dangerously, the case revealed predetermination risk: the appearance that authorities had a “closed mind” before consultation began.

Understanding the Risk Landscape

Poor consultation creates a risk matrix extending far beyond judicial review. The Gunning principles establish minimum standards, but failing them triggers much wider consequences.

Legal and regulatory risk sits most visibly. The West Midlands case demonstrated that courts scrutinise substance, not just process. Vague promises without supporting evidence constitute inadequate information, regardless of consultation duration. But legal risk extends beyond judicial review. Emergency services reforms require statutory approval against specific tests. Inadequate consultation undermines the evidence base for meeting these tests, creating approval risk that persists even after initial sign-off.

Stakeholder resistance risk intensifies dramatically when consultation appears perfunctory. The Fire Brigades Union‘s opposition to PCC takeovers becomes active obstruction when they perceive predetermined outcomes. This matters operationally: fire services integration requires workforce cooperation for cultural change and new working practices. When firefighters feel their concerns were dismissed, they resist implementation at every opportunity through industrial action, local campaigns mobilising public opposition, damaged staff morale affecting retention, and linking reforms to service cuts in public debate.

Implementation failure risk grows exponentially when those delivering change haven’t been properly engaged. Emergency services integration demands cultural shifts between organisations with fundamentally different missions. Firefighters operate within a humanitarian framework; police within law enforcement priorities; ambulance services answer to NHS metrics. Forcing integration without addressing these realities creates cultural clashes, incompatible information systems, conflicting performance metrics, and resource allocation disputes.

The Right Care, Right Person protocol rollout in 2023 illustrates these risks clearly. Where police, NHS and local authorities engaged in early substantive consultation building joint frameworks, implementation succeeded. Where consultation was rushed, capacity gaps in health services created friction as police attempted to transfer responsibilities.

Reputational and political risk compounds over time. The West Midlands case generated national headlines framing the Home Office as rushing reforms without proper process. This reputational damage extends beyond the immediate case: future integration proposals now face heightened scepticism, and central government’s credibility on emergency services policy has been undermined. The PCC’s characterisation of the attempt as “undemocratic” created a narrative that outlived the legal case, shaping public debate generally.

Financial risk accompanies consultation failures throughout the lifecycle. Poor consultation increases legal challenge probability, halted reforms waste preparatory expenditure, implementation delays create ongoing inefficiency costs, and projected savings evaporate when stakeholder resistance prevents operational cooperation. The financial benefits that justified reform prove unattainable because consultation didn’t build implementation consensus.

Democratic legitimacy risk emerges when multiple democratic mandates collide. PCCs, fire authorities and metro mayors all hold electoral mandates. Transferring powers between them requires consultation to provide democratic legitimacy beyond individual mandates. Its absence leaves changes vulnerable to characterisation as power grabs.

The Risk Multiplier Effect

Consultation risks rarely materialise in isolation. Instead, they cascade and compound. The West Midlands case illustrates this perfectly: initial legal risk triggered judicial review, which exposed predetermination risk, generating political risk through democratic legitimacy questions. The judgment created reputational risk through national headlines. The halted transfer created operational uncertainty. Each risk reinforced others, creating a failure cascade.

This multiplier effect makes risk assessment critical. A compressed timeline creates legal risk, but also stakeholder resistance as parties feel pressured. Vague proposals create legal risk through inadequate information, but also implementation risk as stakeholders can’t identify practical problems. Predetermined outcomes create legal risk, but also reputational risk when exposed.

Risk Mitigation Through Proper Consultation

Cumbria’s successful fire governance transition in 2023 demonstrates how proper consultation mitigates risk systematically. The PCC’s proposal underwent thorough public engagement and independent review, reducing legal risk. An external reviewer validated consultation design and feedback analysis, finding it “thorough and inclusive”.

Consultation identified stakeholder concerns early. The Fire Brigades Union raised fears about staffing cuts and station closures. Rather than dismissing these, the process documented them and required responses, reducing stakeholder resistance risk by demonstrating concerns were heard. The Home Office satisfied itself that statutory tests were met, reducing approval risk. The transition proceeded smoothly on 1 April 2023, reducing implementation risk.

The contrast is instructive. Cumbria invested time and resources in consultation design, reducing multiple risks simultaneously. West Midlands attempted efficiency through a compressed timeline, multiplying risks instead. The ultimate cost difference was dramatic: Cumbria achieved its reform; West Midlands faced judicial humiliation and reform collapse.

Practical Risk Management

Effective risk management requires systematic attention to consultation design and delivery, with each element serving multiple risk mitigation functions.

Early engagement reduces formative stage risk. Consultation must begin when options remain genuinely open. This allows stakeholder input to shape proposals before positions harden, builds ownership among implementers, and identifies implementation risks while solutions remain feasible.

Comprehensive information provision reduces legal and stakeholder risks simultaneously. Consultees need mechanisms, evidence and trade-offs explained. This meets information adequacy standards, enables informed responses, and surfaces practical problems early.

Adequate timescales reduce multiple risks at once. Rushing consultation creates legal vulnerability, prevents thorough stakeholder engagement, prevents internal deliberation within consultee organisations, and signals lack of genuine engagement.

Independent scrutiny reduces credibility and legal risk. External reviewers validate consultation design, creating defensibility if challenged, identifying process weaknesses early, and providing stakeholder assurance that consultation is genuine.

Demonstrable responsiveness reduces legitimacy and implementation risks. Showing how consultation influenced final proposals proves engagement was genuine, builds stakeholder confidence, reduces resistance, creates audit trails, and facilitates implementation through consensus.

The Organisational Imperative

The emergency services experience carries implications beyond blue-light collaboration. Any organisation undertaking significant reform faces similar risk landscapes. For senior decision-makers, this creates a clear imperative: consultation is not regulatory compliance or stakeholder relations. It is fundamental risk management.

Those risks, as West Midlands discovered, can be severe. Legal challenges halt reforms and waste resources. Stakeholder resistance undermines implementation. Reputational damage extends beyond immediate cases. Financial costs compound throughout the lifecycle. Democratic legitimacy questions create political vulnerabilities.

Conversely, proper consultation provides insurance against these risks. Investment in thorough engagement repays through successful implementation and avoided problems. Time spent building consensus proves more efficient than managing resistance. Resources devoted to proper consultation cost less than legal challenges and failed implementations.

The lesson from emergency services integration is unambiguous: consultation quality directly determines reform success. As the courts made clear in 2024, consultation is not a formality to be managed efficiently. It is a fundamental process whose quality determines whether reforms succeed or fail. For organisations planning transformational change, the question is simple: can you afford the risks of inadequate consultation?

Consultation as Strategic Insurance

Emergency services integration is one part of a wider pattern. The lesson applies across public services. Consultation is not a hurdle. It is a governance tool.

Done well, it adds legitimacy, reveals risk early and strengthens delivery. Done poorly, it invites challenge and erodes trust.

The West Midlands ruling is a reminder that consultation must be real. Cumbria’s example shows it does not have to be contentious. With the right approach, consultation supports change. It gives leaders confidence that decisions will withstand scrutiny.

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