Top Tips – Page 2

Using the media as a policy influencing tool

We’ve all seen how the policy agenda can be forced to follow the media agenda. The media can be a powerful policy influencing tool

The media can be a powerful policy influencing tool. We’ve all seen the extent to which the political and policy narrative can be forced to follow an agenda set by the media (and vice versa, of course).

Anyone who has studied, or who is currently studying, public policy will be very aware of the power and role of the media as a policy actor in its own right. But that theory often has little to say on some of the practical ways in which you can use the media as a policy influencing tool.

Using the media in this way is not always going to be the best strategy. There are definitely times when the more quiet, behind-the-scenes tactics will be more fruitful. But on occasion, using the media can, for example, help to unblock particularly difficult issues, force the hand of policy makers, or change the narrative entirely.

In this post, I take a look at how valuable the media can be as a policy influencing tool, and offer some tips and tricks based on my experience. When writing this post, I have in mind what you can describe as the ‘traditional’ media. I’ll return to the power of social media as a policy influencing tool in a future post.

Tip 1: Work with the experts

If you are fortunate enough to work in an organisation that has media or communications capacity, get their advice and support in using the media to support your policy influencing work. Media relations and communications more widely is a highly specialist skill, and they will have a huge amount to offer to make sure that you are successful as possible.

Tip 2: Boil complex issues down to their very essence

As policy and public affairs professionals, we have an innate tendency to want to explore complex issues from all angles. This can sometimes mean that we find it difficult to distil such complexity down. However complicated the issue might be, you’re going to need to be able to describe it in just a few well-chosen words. Think of it in terms of summarising a 20 page piece of policy analysis down to a single sentence, and you will get the idea. Your media or communications colleagues will help (and challenge you!) with this. It can be a bit of an uncomfortable process on occasion. Which leads on to tip three.

Tip 3: Be clear on what needs to change

In all policy influencing work, it’s vital to be clear about what it is that needs to change. For example, what it is that you need government to do (or not to do), or who it is in the system that needs to do something differently (as discussed in a previous post). This is also true when deploying the media as an influencing tool.

Tip 4: Have something new to say and some new evidence

If you’re trying to get your issue in to the news agenda, then you’re going to need to have something new to say. That might be a new report, some new statistics, or a unique angle. Being clear about the policy outcomes that you are hoping to achieve will help you structure something that is fresh and unique which is much more likely to be picked up. You can also use some of your other policy influencing activities as a hook for media work – such as a forthcoming debate in Parliament, or on the back of the publication of a report by an All-Party Parliamentary Group, for instance.

Tip 5: Use case studies

As I have discussed previously, you should never underestimate the power of a good case study. This is also the case when using the media as a policy influencing tool. Case studies, particularly those that bring a human dimension to an issue, are critical for the media.

Tip 6: Integrate it with other influencing tactics

It’s a really good idea to link any media work on a policy issue with other policy influencing tactics. For example, you might want to follow up with a letter to a Minister, or think about how to connect and engage with parliamentarians. I was once trying to persuade policy decision makers to support a particular piece of work that we wanted to do, but were coming up against something of a brick wall. A well-placed piece on the front page of one of the most influential broadsheets (as much by luck as design) unsurprisingly resulted in a face to face meeting with the key decision maker which got us where we needed to be.

Tip 7: Recognise the risk

There is, of course, no way of knowing how the issue that you are raising might ultimately be framed or how any quote might be used. You will rely on the skill and expertise of your media and communications colleagues on this, but ultimately it’s beyond anyone’s direct control. This is important to recognise. I recall one example of this when we were engaged in particularly sensitive negotiations with the government which had reached a critical point. It was that moment that a newspaper that we had been talking to informally about the issue decided to run a story using an old quote from me which had the potential to cut right across those negotiations. It required some late-night contact with the Minister’s private office to calm potentially troubled waters. I can assure you that was quite a restless night!

Tip 8: Think about the outlet you’re talking to

How your issue might be framed in a piece will vary according to the world view of the outlet that you are talking to. The Spectator or The Telegraph will frame things quite differently to The Guardian or The Independent. It much the same way that framing your policy influencing agenda needs to take in to account the different perspectives of political parties, the same is true when using the media as an influencing tool. Think carefully about how to frame your message.

I would add at this point that you should also not disregard tabloids. Journalists working on tabloids are among the sharpest in the business – it takes enormous skill to be able to take difficult and complex issues and present them in a very accessible way for their readership.

Tip 9: Don’t underestimate the power of the informal chat

Informal conversations with journalists are incredibly important. Not only does it allow you to get a feel for their appetite and interest in an issue, it also gives you an insight in to the angle that they are likely to take. Importantly, it also allows you to describe some of the background and inevitable complexity to an issue.

Tip 10: Listen to the experts

For the final tip, I return to where I started this list – largely to emphasise just how important it is. Listen to your media and communications colleagues – they are the experts in how best to work with the media, and will be best placed to help guide you.

What is your experience of using the media as a policy influencing tool? If you work in media or communications, what would your advice be to those seeking to influence policy?

If you or your organisation are looking to do more policy influencing work, and would like some pro bono advice, I’d be happy to have a chat. Just drop me a line via the ‘Contact’ link above, or email me at hello@thepolicycoach.co.uk

How to write a great parliamentary briefing

Writing persuasive briefings for MPs and Peers is a really effective way of getting your message across. How do you write a briefing that’s going to get noticed?

In my previous post, I discussed the value of Westminster Hall debates as a place where more considered and thoughtful debate can take place compared to the floor of the House of Commons. But whether it’s a debate in Westminster Hall, in the main Commons chamber or in the House of Lords, you’re going to need to be able to brief parliamentarians effectively.

A good written briefing is vital if you want your voice and your messages to come across in any debate. In this post, I offer some top tips on how to prepare a parliamentary briefing.

There are two main reasons why you might choose to brief parliamentarians ahead of a debate. Firstly, you may want them to understand a particularly complex issue which they may not have come across before. Secondly, you may want to try to encourage them to take your messages in to the debate. In reality, these are, of course, not mutually exclusive, and in most instances, there will be an element of both education and promotion to any briefing that you produce.

While this post is written with a Westminster audience in mind, the same principles apply to briefing MS’s in Wales, MSP’s in Scotland or MLA’s in Northern Ireland.

Tip 1: Decide who you want to brief

One of the first decisions that you will need to make is who you want to brief. Are you planning to brief all MPs (or Peers for a debate in the House of Lords), or just a sub-set? You might, for example, only want to brief those MPs or Peers who are particularly close to your cause, such as through their engagement with an All-Party Parliamentary Group. The advantage of this approach is that they are likely to need less education than a wider group of parliamentarians, as they are likely to be closer to the issues than most. If you choose to brief a wider pool of parliamentarians, you’re likely to need to include a bit more by way of background and detail. Deciding who you want to brief will therefore shape the document that you put together.

Tip 2: Use good evidence

As described in a previous post, evidence is king. Whether that is hard data or people’s stories, adding good evidence to your briefing will go a long way. It will help to make your briefing useful to parliamentarians – giving them insight, evidence, and data that they might otherwise struggle to find.

Tip 3: Make it useful

The purpose of putting a briefing together for a debate is to be helpful to parliamentarians. You want them to find the content of your briefing useful. All of us are more likely to feel more positive towards something that is helpful than to something that is lecturing in tone, for example.

Tip 4: Less is more

While there might be a huge temptation to provide a lot of unnecessary detail, it’s really important to keep your briefing as concise as possible. It’s not an easy balance to strike, but a briefing that is too long simply won’t get read or absorbed. As a general rule of thumb, I normally aim for no more than 4 sides of A4, and ideally less if you possibly can.

Tip 5: Think about speaking points

It’s important to remember that a parliamentarian is going to use the information that you share to inform what they will say on the floor of the House. As you put your briefing together, think about the specific speaking points that an MP or Peer might be looking for, and present the information in such a way that it makes it easy for them to extract that. I have always found that putting a clear statement down on paper followed by a two or three sentence explanation works quite well. You might even want to put the statements in bold to make it clear that these are your critical points.

Tip 6: Be specific

It’s important to be as specific and precise as possible, especially if your briefing is to inform debate on legislation (which won’t always be the case). Where possible, refer to specific clauses of the Bill being debated. This is particularly important when a Bill enters its committee stage (even more so if it is being handled by a committee of the whole house), as debate is often scheduled around specific clauses.

Tip 7: Make it personal and local

If you have the resource and capacity, it’s even better if you can personalise briefings for specific MPs. Do you have constituency data or evidence? If so, use it! It’ll make it much more likely that they will use your briefing as it will help them to raise a constituency perspective.

Tip 8: Don’t forget the politics

As I mentioned in a previous post, it’s important to remember that politics is inherently a partisan business. While most organisations will want to maintain a neutral position, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be sensitive to different political viewpoints. If your resource and capacity allows, it can be really effective to think about tailoring your briefings for MPs from different political parties. That doesn’t mean that you should change the essence of what you might want to say, but it does mean that you might want to think about contextualising your messages in a slightly different way. In reality, you won’t always have the luxury of time or resource to be able to do this. If that’s the case, try to avoid falling into the trap of presenting your arguments in such a way that might completely turn off MPs from one or more party.

Tip 9: Present solutions

As I have mentioned in previous posts, it’s really important that your briefing is positive and solution focused. While you need to set out your case for change, you also need to offer up some solutions and recommendations. Any MP or Peer speaking in a debate is going to want to make positive suggestions for change. Your briefing can be a vehicle for making those suggestions.

Tip 10: Don’t forget a point of contact

It seems such an obvious thing to say, but don’t forget to include a point of contact in your briefing. One of the long-term benefits of producing briefings for MPs and Peers is building relationships with them and their parliamentary staff. As you build that relationship, they will be more likely to come to you proactively for advice and guidance on key issues. Without a named contact, building that relationship is so much harder.

What would you add to this list of tips? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Dipping your toe in the water – making a start in the policy influencing space

As an organisation wanting to develop its policy influencing work, where do you start?

Photo by Christopher Sardegna on Unsplash

One of the most common questions for any organisation wanting to influence the policy agenda is how on earth do you make a start?

For smaller organisations in particular, it can be quite daunting. Resources are often tight, and there may not be specialist staff capacity to dedicate to the emergent influencing work.

This post is primarily directed at those organisations wanting to do more to influence the policy agenda, but not knowing quite where to start.

Influencing policy, and more importantly knowing the tactics that will be successful, rather than just visible (a topic for a future post), is a highly skilled function in any organisation. Afterall, commercial organisations pay many hundreds of thousands of pounds to ‘expert advisors’ to guide them.

But not every organisation needs to be spending huge sums of money recruiting policy influencing specialists – far from it. Your organisation may not be at the size or scale to realistically expect to need an in-house resource. But that doesn’t mean that your organisation, however small or local, doesn’t have a great deal to offer in the policy development process.

Here are my top tips for organisations keen to enter the policy influencing space, but not quite knowing where to start.

Tip 1: Set realistic ambitions

It’s so important to set realistic ambitions, and to walk before you run. If you’re starting from scratch, you’re unlikely to be out there shaping legislation, publishing policy research, or working with parliamentarians if the only capacity you have is 10% of somebody’s time on top of their (probably very busy) day job. Which leads me on to tip two.

Tip 2: Start small

There are lots of things that you can start to do that will be manageable and achievable, and that will help to build your confidence and experience in influencing policy. Writing letters to ministers and officials on topical issues that are important to your organisation, for example, can be a surprisingly effective way to start in the policy influencing space without huge investment of time or capacity.

Tip 3: Work with others

In a previous post, I talked about how important it is to work with others to influence the policy agenda. This holds true for all organisations seeking to shape the policy agenda, but perhaps even more so for those organisations who are just starting out on their influencing journey. You will know the other organisations who operate in a similar space to you, and probably already have good relationships with them. It’s a great idea to work with them to explore some opportunities for joint influencing work. You might, for example, work together to produce a joint briefing or report, or to host a briefing event for MPs. Working together can help share the workload and help you achieve much more than you could on your own.

Tip 4: You don’t necessarily need to recruit an in-house specialist

There can sometimes be a sense that the first thing that an organisation needs to do to move into the policy influencing space is to recruit an in-house specialist, such as a policy or public affairs officer. If you have the capacity and resources to do so, that is obviously a great thing to be able to do, although the point above still applies that you need to be clear about what your ambitions are. (In a future post, I’ll be taking a look at the skills and competencies that you should be looking out for when recruiting a policy specialist).

But there are lots of different ways that you can build and grow your capacity in policy influencing that don’t start with recruiting to a brand new role. For example, if your ambition is to do more parliamentary work, then a conversation with one of the many public affairs agencies could be a good option – whether you’re looking for one-off support for a specific piece of work (such as an engagement event with parliamentarians), or something a little longer term (such as helping to support an All-Party Parliamentary Group), they will have a range of options available to organisations of different shapes and sizes (and budgets).

Alternatively, you could look to partner with other organisations who are active in your space to pool some resources. That might allow you to do some specific activities or work, or even allow you to have a shared policy influencing role (this works particularly well at a local or regional level).

Tip 5: Aim for some early wins

When your organisation is starting out on its policy influencing journey, it’s going to be important to be able to demonstrate some early wins. This will not only boost your confidence but will also make it easier to make a future business case for investment to be able to go even further. This is where starting small, and having some clear objectives, is vital.

If your organisation is looking to do more policy influencing work, and would like some pro bono advice, I’d be happy to have a chat. Get in touch via the comments box below.

When a new Prime Minister arrives

With an new incoming Prime Minister, the most important question facing policy and public affairs professionals is how on earth to get cut through on the issues that matter most to you

As the Conservative leadership contest draws to a close, like almost every policy or public affairs person across the UK, I’ve spent the last few weeks and months thinking about the best strategies for approaching a new incoming Prime Minister.

I’ll resist the temptation to talk about my views on the strengths and weaknesses of the process that we’ve all witnessed for the election of a new Conservative Party leader, and therefore Prime Minister, over the last two months (tempting as that might be!), and focus instead on how on earth you prepare for a new administration.

In normal times (which have been in short supply in the last few years), government leadership changes as a result of a general election. More recently, and definitely since Tony Blair left Number 10, the ‘new normal’ has been for new Prime Ministers to be selected not by popular vote, but by individual party procedures. Policy and public affairs professionals have had a lot of experience of that recently.

So, the most important question to ask is how on earth can you try to get cut through on your priorities when every lobby group is trying to do exactly the same thing?

I’ve been giving a lot of thought recently to this question – not least given the very challenging context that we are all working within at present.

At the time of writing this post, I have no idea which of the two candidates for the top office of state will be successful (although if the polls are to be believed, this was a contest in name only!). However, the fundamental questions remain the same. What will the priorities be of the new PM? How will the machinery of Number 10 change under the new leadership? And how do you get a voice in what is already a very crowded space?

From a policy and public affairs perspective, one of the upsides of a change of PM without a general election is that most of the faces will remain the same. While we may not know the configuration of the Cabinet that the new Prime Minister might choose, they are all familiar faces and personalities. Compared to a different party coming in to power in a general election, this is a more straightforward starting point to work from.

I’ve spent the last couple of days crafting an approach to the new Prime Minister to highlight some of the pressing issues that are important to me and the organisation that I’m involved with. Therefore, I thought that I should share the top five things that stand out to me as the most important lessons from that.

Tip 1: Be relevant

With a change of government leadership, there is a huge temptation to throw everything and the kitchen sink at your first approach. This won’t work. It’s really important that you are responsive to the wider context in which that person will be arriving into the biggest job in the country. What are the key issues that will be their in-tray? And how is your issue relevant or related to that?

Tip 2: Offer solutions

An incoming Prime Minister will be presented with 1001 different problems that require their attention. This incoming Prime Minister is facing the biggest cost of living crisis for a generation, a war in Europe, and the continuing shadow of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. In your initial approach, it’s important not to just add to the list of problems, but to offer solutions too. If you can make your solutions appear simple, obvious and achievable, you’re much more likely to get the outcome that you are seeking.

Tip 3: Think politically

An incoming Prime Minister wants to come with solutions. They want to be able to answer what have been the most difficult questions that their predecessor failed to address. When you’re thinking about that initial approach, you also need to think politically. You might have in your mind the very best policy solution, but if it won’t work politically, it’s not going to fly. Listen to what they are saying, understand their priorities and their world view, and you’ll be able to frame your pitch in the most positive and influential way. With a previous change of Prime Minister, I recall pitching a solution as an easy political win that would generate some easy kudos. It worked, and led to a short-term cash injection on an issue that mattered a great deal to my key stakeholders.

Tip 4: Time it well

When a new Prime Minister arrives as a result of a change of government though a General Election, we’ve become very familiar with the transition of power that takes place, and the way in which that happens. With a change of Prime Minister outside of an election cycle, the technicalities of timings matter more than ever. In the current transition, while the new Prime Minister will be announced on Monday lunchtime, they won’t officially become new the Prime Minister until they are invited by the Queen to form a government on Tuesday.

Tip 5: Address any objections up front

If you’ve already got reasonably good relationships with civil servants and officials, you’ll have a pretty good idea what their advice is likely to be to the new Prime Minister in response to your suggestions. If you can head those off at the pass, you’ll be in a much better and stronger position. Think about the counter arguments that you can use to address such objections, and include them up front in your initial approach to the new Prime Minister

None of us quite know how the incoming occupant of Number 10 will change the way that policy influencing needs to happen. But the one thing that we can be certain of is that it will be different. Whether that is down to different priorities, a different Cabinet composition, or even a different culture at the heart of Government, we will all need to learn and adapt to a new reality.

What are your thoughts on how easy it is for policy and public affairs professionals to adapt to a new style of political leadership? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Subsidiarity and the art of influencing locally

Subsidiarity is an established principle in public policy. What are some of the tips and tricks you can use to influence policy decisions at different levels?

In a previous post, I talked about how important it is to know who the target of your influencing work might be. There is little point coming up with a really well-developed strategy to target Westminster MPs if it’s the Scottish Government or an English local council that actually has the decision-making power.

Subsidiarity is a well-established principle in policy making. Essentially it means that decisions should be taken at the lowest possible level. In other words, central government should only do the things that only central government can do. Those who have studied public policy may be familiar with the principle as a bedrock of the architecture of the European Union. But it also applies in the UK (although not always successfully, but that’s a discussion for another day!).

In almost every area of public policy, there is at least an element of devolved responsibility (except perhaps in defence and foreign affairs). There are policy decisions taken at every level that affect all our lives. Whether that is the obviously local responsibilities of councils around the UK, the formally devolved responsibilities of the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments, or the operational (and to some extent strategic) decisions that, for example, schools, hospitals and other NHS bodies are responsible for.

To influence decision making at different levels, you will need to deploy different tactics and strategies. So, it’s really important as a first step to work out where the decision-making power actually sits.

So, here are my top tips for influencing policy decisions at different levels.

Tip 1: The more local you get, the more personal it needs to be

There’s a noticeable difference in the accessibility of decision makers at different levels of the system. As a general rule of thumb, the more local it becomes, the more accessible decision makers are likely to be. There’s a big difference between trying to reach a UK Government minister, compared to minister in one of the devolved administrations. Your tactics will need to be adapted accordingly.

Tip 2: Think about the optics

This is especially important when trying to influence policy decisions that are the responsibility of the devolved administrations, but also applies to other levels too. Think carefully about how policy influencing work would look coming from a London or England base. The reality is that your message is less likely to get cut through. Which brings me to point 3.

Tip 3: Find local allies and advocates

For anyone working at a national (UK) level trying to influence decisions that might be taken at a different level, the first challenge is how practically you can do that. A really useful tip is to try to find allies and advocates that you can align with and work with at the right level. For example, if you’re trying to influence the decisions that local councils might make, think about who the influencers and allies at that level could be, and how you can connect with them. There’s strength (and reach) in numbers.

Tip 4: Do your research

When you have worked out where the decision-making responsibility might be, it’s really important to do your research to understand how and when decisions might be taken. For example, are their groups or committees that will take the decision, and what is the best way to approach them? Or is it down to an individual? Different organisations will have different processes, and therefore different tactics will be needed to try to influence them.

Tip 5: Understand the context

While responsibility for decision making might be delegated, it’s likely that those decisions will be taken within some broader policy framework. For example, if you’re trying to influence the way in which decisions about planning are taken in a particular area, what is the overall local planning strategy, and what national policy might provide some constraints to that decision making? This broader context might give you some strategies and tactics to explore.

Tip 6: Localise your evidence

In a previous post, I discussed the importance of evidence to support policy influencing activities. When it comes to influencing decisions at different levels, it’s really important that you can, wherever possible, localise your evidence. For example, there’s little point using national level data to evidence the need for action on a particular health issue if responsibility for that issue sits at a regional level. Much better if you can demonstrate what that means for the relevant decision-making body and the population that it serves.

Tip 7: Politics matters

It sounds like an obvious thing to say, but don’t forget that different democratic organisations will have different political priorities. It’s important to tailor your messages accordingly. This is true for both local councils, for example, but also definitely true for the devolved administrations. The politics of the Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish governments will be very different to the politics of Westminster!

Tip 8: Councillors can be your best asset

When it comes to influencing local councils, local elected councillors can be incredibly helpful. They are often more accessible and receptive to the issues and concerns of the communities that they serve. They can table members’ questions in Council meetings which can be a good way to raise the profile of an issue (don’t forget that citizens can also ask questions in many Council meetings), as well as often being members of relevant council committees. Connecting with councillors is something best done locally, and ideally in partnership with other local voices.

Tip 9: Don’t forget regions

There can be a temptation to think in terms of national (Westminster or nation) versus local, and to overlook the regional tier. In some aspects of public policy, regions can be really important, and they take a variety of different forms depending on the issue at hand. For example, elected mayors (who often cover a footprint larger than a single traditional local authority), or NHS regions and sub-regions.

Tip 10: Think multi-layer

It’s quite possible that for the issue that you are seeking to influence, there may need to be different action at a number of different layers. For example, you might be pushing the Westminster government to update or amend guidance on a particular issue, while simultaneously wanting the local council which is the intended target of that national guidance to act. Thinking in an integrated and multi-layered way can be a really effective strategy for a lot of issues.

What is your experience of trying to influence decisions at different levels and layers? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.

Using evidence to support your case for change

Building a persuasive case for change depends on having the right evidence and presenting it in the right way.

The public policy theory of rational decision making would suggest that politicians and decision makers weigh up the available evidence, and take decisions to achieve the maximum benefit at the lowest possible (not just financial) cost. This implies that they have access to the full range of information needed to make the best possible decision, and that they take a long-term view of change.

In reality, there are a lot of drivers behind policy decision making, including ideology, power, and political expediency, among many others. And in the UK system, most governments struggle to take anything longer than a five-year view.

So, for those of us trying to influence policy, the question becomes one of how we can deploy the best and most persuasive evidence available.

Here are my top tips for using evidence to support your policy influencing work.

Tip 1: Demonstrate the need for change

Before you can hope to demonstrate why your proposals are the best way forward, you first need to show what problem it is that you’re trying to solve. Depending on the nature of the issue, you will need to use different types of evidence to make your case. If it’s about public expenditure, for example, you’re going to need to focus on financial and economic evidence. If it’s about the impact of a problem to people’s lives, then you’ll probably want to focus more on case studies and stories. In reality, you’re going to need a mix of evidence to be able to demonstrate that this is a problem that needs to be solved.

Tip 2: Be realistic about costs and benefits

Over the years, I have seen so many attempts to influence policy fall at the first hurdle by brandishing around outlandish and unrealistic estimates of cost or benefit. There is a huge temptation to put your biggest and scariest numbers front and centre, but there are risks involved in that. It might lead people to question the robustness of your analysis. It might also make the issue or problem that you’re trying to solve appear just too big and too complicated for any government to feel able to tackle. Break things down in to manageable and realistic chunks, and don’t make unrealistic claims about the benefits (financial or otherwise) of any particular course of action. Which brings me to tip three.

Tip 3: Economic evidence

It’s tempting to assume that economic or financial evidence is the most powerful and persuasive. Don’t get me wrong, it does play a really important role, but it’s not always the most important thing. We can all think of many examples of policy decisions that have been taken by governments that seem to have taken scant regard to the financial implications. It’s really important to think about who it is that you are trying to persuade. If your target of influence is HM Treasury, then focusing on the economic or financial evidence is obviously going to be key. If, however, you’re trying to raise awareness of a particular issue or problem, stories are likely to be just as powerful.

Tip 4: Don’t underestimate the power of people’s voices

As I mentioned in a previous post, real life stories and case studies can be among the most powerful forms of evidence. In the search for the best evidence to support your case for change, it’s all too easy to forget the importance of people’s voices. If a picture paints a thousand words, a story paints a novel. If you’re trying to build a case for change, being able to articulate both the problem that you’re trying to solve and the impact that your recommended solution will have on people is key.

Tip 5: Demonstrate how popular your proposals are

There are a number of different ways that you can do this. You might want to show cross party support (such as the endorsement or support of an All-Party Parliamentary Group). You could also think about public (voter) polling to test out the popularity of your suggestions. Two notes of caution on public polling however. Firstly, a lot depends on how you phrase the question. Working with a reputable polling company means you will be able to make sure that your results are genuinely representative of the sample you want to test. Secondly, being able to demonstrate public support for a suggestion is not, on its own, sufficient. Just because an issue may be popular with the public, it doesn’t mean that it’ll be politically achievable in policy terms. Think of the popularity of issues like the reintroduction of the death penalty for the most serious of crimes, the nationalisation of rail, or the decriminalisation of assisted dying, and you’ll see what I mean.

Tip 6: ‘Unpublished’ and ‘grey’ literature is perfectly OK

There can be a certain snobbishness among some parts of the academic community to so-called ‘unpublished’, or ‘grey’ literature (both terms that I really dislike). The subtext of this is often that such data or evidence is somehow ‘not as good’ as the published and peer-reviewed studies that appear in journals. In policy influencing terms, this is quite a naïve position to take, and demonstrates a lack of understanding in how decisions are made. This is not to denigrate academic research – it plays an absolutely vital role (a topic I may return to in a future post). What I have learnt over the years is that politicians and decision makers frequently don’t make decisions based only on the best available published literature (and are even not averse on occasion to making decisions that appear to go against the weight of published evidence!). They are just as likely to use academic evidence retrospectively to justify the decisions that they make. With this in mind, so-called unpublished data and evidence definitely has a role to play in the policy influencing toolbox.

Tip 7: Use evidence from other countries

It’s a good idea to draw on what works from other countries around the world. Are there countries or systems that have already implemented some of the ideas that you are proposing? What has their experience been, and what evidence now exists? Don’t forget that we have four countries within the UK, so there is likely to be learning close to home too.

Tip 8: Cite your sources

Citing your sources helps to build confidence in what you’re saying. How you cite your sources will depend on what it is that you are producing. For example, written evidence to a select committee will need a more rigorous approach to citation than, for example, a simple policy briefing.

Tip 9: What have you got that’s new?

If part of your strategy to influence is to utilise media coverage, the first question that your communications colleagues are likely to ask is ‘what have you got that’s new?’. If you’re trying to get a hook for a media story, it’s hard to beat the power of new evidence or data, especially if it’s combined with people’s stories and case studies.

Tip 10: Use the emotive language sparingly

When you are presenting a case for change, there is definitely a role for emotion. Afterall, you’re trying to fix a problem that matters to you and your stakeholders. However, in contextualising your evidence and data, use the emotive language quite sparingly. Not everything is an ‘outrage’ or a ‘crisis’. How you frame your evidence and data is just as important as the evidence and data itself. Afterall, you’re trying to win people over to your way of thinking.

What is your experience of using evidence to support your influencing work? What evidence do you think it the most persuasive? Let me know in the comments below.

The ABCs of APPGs

APPGs are a curious part of the Westminster Parliament’s business, but can be a great channel to support your policy influencing work.

All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) are a curious part of the Westminster Parliament’s business. They are informal groups of MPs and Peers who come together, on a cross-party basis, on particular topics and issues. What makes them unusual is that while they are comprised of MPs and Peers, they have no official status in Parliament. However, for anyone seeking to influence the policy agenda, they can be a very useful way of getting your issues and concerns on the agenda.

In this post, I’ll be looking at how APPGs can help you in influencing the policy agenda and getting your issues and concerns on the agenda. Even though APPGs do not have an official status, they can have considerable influence.

Although I focus on Westminster, the same principles apply to equivalent groups (known as Cross Party Groups) in both the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Senedd, and All-Party Groups in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Types of APPG

There are broadly two types of APPGs in Westminster – country specific groups, and subject groups. The subject groups cover an enormous range of interests, ranging from the Eurovision Song Contest to War Crimes, and everything in between. You can access an up to date list of APPGs on the Parliament website.

There is also a wide variety in what the groups do and how they operate. Some are focused on serious policy discussion and influence, while others are much less formal and are arguably more like social groups for parliamentarians.

For anyone trying to influence the policy agenda, there are broadly two main ways that you can work with APPGs. The first is to provide the secretariat for a group close to your interests, and the second is to engage with APPGs as a stakeholder.

Providing the secretariat to an APPG

APPGs often outsource the support and coordination of their work to other organisations. If you have the capacity, offering to provide the secretariat for a group can be a really effective way of supporting the work of the group.

If you are fortunate enough to be appointed as a group’s secretariat, it means that you’ll be working closely with the chair and officers (the MPs and Peers) of the group to set meeting agendas and plan the group’s activities. Here are my top five tips for making an APPG a success in influencing policy.

Tip 1: Make sure you’ve got a good Chair and Officers

You need a committed and effective Chair and Officers. The officers of the group will quickly become your most engaged group of parliamentarians. In an ideal world, you’ll want them to be open to writing letters to Ministers, tabling Parliamentary Questions and hosting Westminster Hall debates, among other things. Invest the time and energy in building your relationship with them – it really will be the making of an effective group.

Tip 2: Make it active

I’ve seen so many APPGs over the years that have just ‘plodded along’ with occasional meetings which people go to out of little more than a sense of duty. In contrast, active groups, who meet regularly and who provide lots of opportunities for wider stakeholders to get involved, are much more likely to build interest and support.

Tip 3: Hold interesting meetings

It seems obvious to say, but it’s really important that the meeting topics are interesting and engaging, and that they attract and engage a wider audience. There’s little point in meetings which are only attended by the APPG officers and a handful of stakeholders. I’ve seen so many APPG meetings over the years which effectively preach to the converted and therefore have little wider influence. You want people to feel challenged, energised and involved from the discussions at APPG meetings, not just hearing the things that they already know or think. Getting interesting external speakers, particularly people with lived experience, can really help with this. And don’t forget that you can invite Ministers and officials too.

Tip 4: Run inquiries

One of the really effective ways that APPGs can have an impact on the policy agenda is to run inquiries. Running an inquiry in which stakeholders are invited to submit written evidence, and where the APPG can hold oral evidence sessions (a bit like a Select Committee would) can be a really effective influencing tool. Publishing a report from the inquiry with recommendations carries some weight, and can be a really impactful way of influencing. Sometimes, such APPG reports can even generate media interest – something worth talking to your media and comms colleagues about. It’s important to note, of course, that supporting such inquiries and producing reports can be quite time and labour intensive, so you’ll need to think carefully about your capacity to do so, and be quite targeted in how you use this approach.

Tip 5: Don’t forget the admin!

Even though they have no official status in Parliament, there are very strict Parliamentary rules about how APPGs must be set up, registered and run. As the secretariat for the group, it’s your job to work with the Chair to make sure that the APPG stays within the rules with regard to meetings and activities, and the necessary reporting. It’s all too easy to slip up and find yourself on the receiving end of a telling off! Serious breaches of the rules can even result in the APPG being de-registered.

Engaging as a stakeholder

If you’re not able to offer to provide the secretariat, or there is an existing group with an existing secretariat, all is not lost. Engaging with APPGs as a stakeholder can also be a really effective influencing tool. Here are some tips and tricks for how to do that effectively.

Tip 1: Attend meetings and ask questions

All APPGs must hold regular meetings, and those are normally open to the public. It’s well worth going along to hear more about what the group is working on. Where appropriate, you can also ask questions – which can be a good way of highlight an issue that is important to you.

Tip 2: Submit evidence

Where APPGs run inquiries or reviews, they will often ask for evidence from stakeholders. As they are not official parliamentary groups, it’s not uncommon for stakeholders to give such requests a lower priority than they might for a call for evidence from a Select Committee, for example. However, submitting evidence can be a really good way to get your messages across, and with lower overall engagement, there’s a greater chance that your voice will be heard.

Tip 3: Offer speakers

APPG meetings often have external speakers on particular topics and themes at their meetings. It can be a good idea to get in touch with the organisation providing the secretariat for the group and offering up speakers and presenters for future meetings.

What has your experience been of APPGs (or their equivalents in the other nations)? What do you think makes for a good and effective APPG? Let me know in the comments below.

Coming up next time: I’ll take a look at how to use evidence to support your influencing work.

Influencing together: Top tips on working collaboratively to influence policy

Working collaboratively can be a powerful way to influence policy. In this post, I’ll take a look at some tips to make collaborative working a success.

I’m a great believer that working together can be a powerful and effective way to influence policy. A consensus view is much more likely to get cut through with ministers and officials than a variety of different voices speaking independently.

But good collaborative working is hard to do in practice. In this post, I’ll be exploring how to use collaborative working to achieve policy influence and change.

Why work together?

In a previous post, I talked about the importance of relationships in influencing policy. Relationships are also important when you want to work with others to achieve a common policy objective.

Speaking with one voice on an issue will undoubtedly increase the impact of your message with decision makers. It demonstrates consensus and agreement

There are lots of different types of what I will call ‘policy collaboratives’. It might be several organisations working together on a joint campaign, mobilising supporters in a very vocal and visible way. It might be a more formal coalition coming together to raise the profile of an issue, for example, during an election campaign. It could be a group of organisations coming together to undertake or publish research or policy advice. Or it might be a less formal partnership between organisations operating in a similar space but who want to make sure that they don’t inadvertently cut across one another’s work. All of these policy collaboratives have one thing in common – they depend heavily on trust and confidence.

Policy collaboratives can be a highly effective way of influencing policy. They can be especially helpful for smaller organisations who might not have as much capacity for policy work to increase their influence, or for giving a voice to harder to hear voices.

So, what are my top tips for making collaborative working a go-to tool in the policy influencing toolbox?

Tip 1: Have a clear aim

It’s really important to have a clear and measurable aim that you can all agree on. It might be a specific legislative change that you’re seeking, or a specific policy commitment that you want government to make. I’ve seen so many policy collaboratives over the years who fail for the simple reason that they can’t clearly articulate what they’re trying to do, or who have an aim that is so high level that it’s impossible to break it down in to anything concrete or specific. Not only does that undermine the positive impact of working together, it also increases the risk that your partners may walk away if they can’t see value in working together.

Tip 2: Identify your partners

Who is it that you want or need to work with? And how broad or focused do you want your collaborative to be? A lot will depend on what you want your collaborative to achieve. As a general rule of thumb, the more partners you have, the harder it will be to agree specific and measurable aims and objectives. Conversely, if you want to demonstrate strength in numbers, a broader base collaborative will send a powerful message.

Tip 3: Establish some ground rules

With some clear aims agreed, you need to be clear how you will work together. For example, will you meet regularly? How will information be shared? What is expected of each of the partners? It’s important to recognise that different partners will probably have different roles to play depending on what they can bring to the collaboration. Some may be very active, while others might be quite passive. It’s important to be clear about that upfront to avoid problems further down the line.

I’ve also seen policy collaboratives put under a lot of strain by individual organisations going off and doing things outside of the collaborative and without any advance warning to the other partners. One particular example sticks in my mind. One of the partners published research via a press release on a topic that was central to the aims of the collaborative, and only let the other partners know on the day of the launch! It took us all by surprise, and eroded the trust and confidence within the collaborative. Don’t get me wrong – there is nothing wrong with different organisations having their own priorities and projects in the fringes of a shared endeavour. But being able to share intelligence is really important to making such a collaborative work.

Tip 4: Decide who leads

One of the hardest things to agree is who will lead the collaborative work. If you’re trying to present a united front on a particular issue, there seems little point in then having multiple points of contact for parliamentarians or officials who might want to talk to you. But it can be hard to ‘let go’. Afterall, whoever is the coordinator or lead for a policy collaborative will inevitably be perceived as such by the people that you are trying to influence. Which leads me nicely to tip five.

Tip 5: Park the egos

One of the most important but hardest things to do in any policy collaborative work is to park organisational (or sometimes even individual!) egos. It’s not unusual for collaborative partners to have an element of healthy competition between them – after all, all organisations are trying to demonstrate to decision makers that they are the most authoritative and best placed to help them. Entering in to a policy collaborative, however, requires everyone to leave the ego at the door, and to agree to work together on the shared objective. Doing so helps to build trust, and makes it more likely that you will achieve your goals.

Tip 6: Have a clear plan

It’s really important that you are clear about what you are going to do. Are you, for example, going to produce joint briefings, press releases or statements, or hold joint meetings? Having a clear plan will also help you make sure that you’re involving the right people. If you’re planning joint media statements, for example, getting your media and communications colleagues involved at an early stage is a really good idea.

Tip 7: Agree a timeline

Just as important as having a clear aim is clarity about how long you will work together. Is it an open-ended collaboration (in which case the aims will need to be regularly refreshed and updated), or is it a specific, short-term collaboration (such as working together to promote an amendment to a bill before Parliament).

Tip 8: Review regularly

Review the progress that you’re making regularly. Your aims might need to be tweaked or adapted if there has been any policy movement. It’s also important to review whether the collaborative is still needed – I’ve seen many examples over the years of this kind of policy collaborative continuing long beyond its useful life, leaving the participants with the thankless task of trying to find a purpose.

Collaboration works

In my experience, policy collaboratives with clear aims, a healthy way of working and a high degree of trust and confidence between the partners can be a really effective way of influencing the policy agenda.

What would you add to this list? What is your experience of collaborative policy influencing work? Let me know in the comments below.

Coming up next time: How can All-Party Parliamentary Groups help you to achieve your policy objectives?

Top ten tips on how to influence government policy

Top tips for influencing government policy.

Trying to influence government policy decisions sometimes gets a bad rap. In the US, lobbying, as it is often described, is almost considered a dirty word, conjuring up images of corruption and backhand deals.

But in reality, governments need input and ideas from outside of the institutions of state. There are a lot of people and organisations with a lot of expertise and experience that can help governments make better decisions.

But where do you start?

Influencing policy is often seen as something of a dark art. In reality, it’s about building a strong case, and communicating it effectively.

Everyone loves a good ‘top ten’ list, so I thought that would be a good place to start. Here are my top ten tips on how to influence government policy decisions.

Tip 1: Work out who you’re trying to influence

It sounds obvious, but the first thing you need to know is who you are trying to influence. Not all decisions are made in Westminster. Responsibility for many aspects of life are devolved, so if you’re trying to influence health policy, for example, you’ll need to focus on the Scottish, Welsh or Northern Ireland governments. Some policy areas are reserved by the UK government, so you’ll need to work out who is responsible. It’s also true that not all decisions are made by ministers and government departments. Many arms-length bodies (in all four nations) have delegated responsibility for large parts of public life. You might also find that the responsibility is delegated to a local rather than national level.

Tip 2: Describe the problem you’re trying to solve

It’s really important to be able to sum up the problem that you’re trying to solve clearly and concisely. If you can’t explain it in a few words, it’s unlikely that it’ll get the attention that it deserves. Us policy people can sometimes fall in to the trap of wanting to include too much detail. I find that some help from a communications or media colleague can really help concisely get to the heart of the issue!

Tip 3: Have good evidence.

It’s important to have good evidence to back up your argument. That might be evidence about the impact that the issue has on people, or evidence about the financial cost or benefit. The more evidence that you have, the more persuasive your case will be.

Tip 4: Tell stories

While hard facts and data is important, it’s also important to tell people’s stories. Showing how a particular issue affects people, ideally in their own voices, can bring an issue to life. Human beings are inherently social creatures, and stories help us to understand and relate to others. Politicians and officials are no different, and stories can be a really powerful tool, especially when we give a voice to people who are not often heard.

Tip 5: Offer a solution

I see so many organisations trying to influence government policy who just focus on the problem without offering a solution. Most of the time, governments want to fix problems and improve the lives of their citizens. Focusing on the negative will only get you so far. Don’t get me wrong, though. There is definitely a place for campaigns that highlight a problem. You’ll get more cut through with officials and politicians if you can offer some tangible potential solutions. You’ll get even further if you can show that implementing those solutions would be easy and in line with the government’s overall objectives. Which brings me to point six.

Tip 6: Read the room

Think about what the government is trying to achieve overall, and how your solution fits within that agenda and helps them to achieve their own goals. You also need to consider the wider context too. If the government is dealing with an economic crisis, for example, it’s going to be a tougher sell to persuade them to spend a lot of money on something (not impossible, but it’ll need careful thought). You also need to take politics in to account too, which brings me to number seven.

Tip 7: Tailor your arguments

When you’re working on a cross-party basis (which charities in the UK must do), you need to tailor your messages accordingly. A case for change that will persuade someone on the right is likely to look and feel quite different to a case for change to persuade someone on the left. This doesn’t mean that your overall objectives will be different, just the way in which you make your case. If you can find a sweet spot that unites different political parties, you’re more likely to be successful in achieving the change you’re looking for.

Tip 8: When dealing with politicians, personalise things as much as you can

Encouraging supporters to get in touch with their local politicians can be a really effective tool, particularly where you’re trying to raise awareness of a particular issue. One of the mistakes that I see many organisations make is in using what I describe as ‘identikit’ campaign tools – such as postcards, template letters or even online resources. Studies have shown that politicians really dislike this kind of approach, and are less likely to pay attention. An alternative is to try to personalise those contacts as much as possible. Encourage your supporters to tell their stories – it’ll be much more persuasive than a pre-printed postcard arriving in a politician’s office.

Tip 9: Take opportunities when they arise

It was Harold Macmillan who said that it was ‘Events, dear boy, events” which was the most difficult thing about being Prime Minister. So much of the political and policy world is at the whim of external forces, whether those forces are political, economic, social or technological. In influencing terms, this means that you have to be ready to take opportunities as they arise. I recall one issue that I had been trying to resolve for many years which was suddenly and unexpectedly resolved because the government at the time was looking for a quick win ahead of a general election. At a local level, the end of the financial year can also be a good time to find additional project funding, as public bodies will be eager to have spent their allocated budget before the year end. Be opportunistic – it can sometimes pay off.

Tip 10: Relationships matter

Influence is all about building relationships. It’s much easier to be heard if you’re seen as a trusted and respected voice. Of course, building relationships takes time, but it’s always worth the investment. Whether it’s being a helpful source of information for researchers working in an MP’s office, working collaboratively with officials on a complex issue, or building a relationship with a minister, at the end of the day, influencing policy is about influencing people.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. What have I missed out? What would your top tips be?

Coming up next time: I’ll be exploring whether attending party conferences can be a useful tactic, or whether they are a waste of time and energy.