Responding to government consultations is bread and butter for people working in policy roles. If you’re not careful, it could be all too easy to do nothing but, surrounded by piles of paper and post-it notes.
So how do you decide which consultations to respond to, and which you can ignore? And what are the best ways to go about putting a submission together?
In this post, I’ll be looking at how to approach government consultation processes, and some of the tips and tricks to make your voice heard.
What is a consultation?
This might sound like a fairly easy question to answer. But the reality is that there are lots of different types of consultations that government (and their associated arm’s length bodies) might issue from time to time. Being able to spot the difference will help you decide which ones to prioritise, and which you can safely ignore.
In 2018, the UK Government Cabinet Office published an updated set of principles to support the civil service on how to run consultation processes (which are substantially watered down from previous versions). It provides useful insight in to how such processes are planned and organised from the government’s perspective. In reality, I’m not convinced that the principles are always used by officials when planning such processes.
A duty to consult
There are some consultations that the government has a legal duty to issue – these are normally fairly technical consultations where there is a responsibility to regularly consult with stakeholders. One example of such a consultation is the annual consultation that is issued on the detail of the NHS Standard Contract which is used for any providers delivering NHS funded care. If you have technical expertise, or something specific that you want to see changed, it can be relatively easy to have some influence on these, as officials are specifically looking for input on the detail.
A fait-accompli?
There are then some consultations which are simply tick-box exercises which allow the government to say that they canvassed views. A tell-tale sign of one of these is a consultation which is issued to gather views on a subject that the government has already been quite vocal about the approach that it is planning to take (the consultation on proposals to make COVID vaccination a condition of deployment in health and care services in England is a good example of one of these, even though that was eventually reversed). Another tell-tale sign of one of these types of consultation is that they often have very short windows for responses (best practice is to allow respondents 12 weeks to submit responses, but in reality it is often much less. For tick box consultations it can sometimes be as short as a couple of weeks).
Seeking expert input
The third type of consultation is one where the government is genuinely interested in gathering input and expertise to help them take some policy decisions. Consultations about developing or updating guidance (where expert professional input will be essential) is an example of this kind of consultation.
This isn’t to say that this is the only type of consultation that you should bother with. Deciding which consultation process to engage with will depend a lot on how relevant the consultation might be to your priorities or interests. Sometimes, even if there is little prospect that your comments might change the government’s mind, it can be important that you are seen to respond and make your voice heard. It can help build your profile and your reputation as an important stakeholder.
The growth of consultation surveys
In recent years, there has been a noticeable growth is consultation surveys, where government issues a consultation with an associated survey to gather responses. This is, of course, designed to make it easier for the poor officials who have to collate responses and pull together summaries of the key themes. Much easier to do that by counting up the number of yes/no answers to a very specific question than to have to read lots of narrative explanation.
Consultation surveys definitely have a place. They’re particularly helpful where some of the decisions that government has to make are quite binary in nature – for example, should we do X or Y. They are less helpful when trying to deal with some complex issues which don’t lend themselves to distilling down to a narrow binary reply. However, in recent years they appear to be increasingly popular with government as a way, presumably, of reducing the administrative burden of analysing submissions. It also helps the government to guide respondents to the answers that it wants to see. This brings me on nicely to the next question.
Should you just answer the consultation questions?
In my opinion, the short answer to this is no.
Sometimes, the questions that are not asked can be more important than those that are. Structuring your response around the consultation questions will obviously make it easier for officials to collate your responses. However, there are sometimes important issues that the government has not yet considered, and that do not fit within the framework of the consultation questions being asked. On those occasions it is perfectly acceptable (and arguably important) to step outside of the question framework and to offer a narrative response. Consultations often have an email address, or mailing address, where narrative responses can be sent, even if the consultation is being run as a survey.
What makes a good response?
A good consultation response is clear, concise, and evidence-based. Although it can be tempting to write War and Peace on a topic that you are very knowledgeable or passionate about, like any communication, it’s important that you get your message across succinctly and clearly.
When it comes to evidence, quantitative and qualitative evidence are both equally important. As I said in a previous post, evidence is king when it comes to making a persuasive argument. That evidence might be evidence about cost and benefit, but could equally be case studies, examples and the voices of people who might be affected.
Maximising your impact
Responding to the formal consultation process can be an effective way to make your voice heard. To maximise your impact, there are a few other things that you can do.
As I have said in previous posts, influencing policy is all about relationships. One of the best ways you can maximise your impact in a consultation process is to get in touch directly with the officials leading the process. They will be keen to learn as much as they can to inform their advice to ministers. It’s quite common for there to be workshops run in parallel to the written consultation process, which can be a good way to find the right people to talk to.
It can also be useful to get in touch with other organisations who might be responding to the consultation too, to see whether there are any common or shared messages that you can both reinforce or help to amplify. The more responses that make a point, the more likely that point is to be heard.
Sometimes, there might be opportunities to use your response as a hook for some media work. This will work best where the issue at hand is particularly newsworthy or interesting, and where you have a strong and clear line. It can help to reinforce your wider campaign messages. Talk to your communications and media colleagues who will be best placed to advise.
Never ask a question you don’t already know the answer to
Responding to consultations is one of the most commonly used tools in the influencing toolbox. If the government is genuinely in listening mode, it can be a really effective way of getting your voice heard, and positioning yourself as a key stakeholder with something constructive and valuable to add.
Pay particular attention to what questions are being asked. As the old legal adage goes, never ask a question that you don’t already know the answer to. Sometimes this also applies to consultation processes – think carefully about the questions that you’re not being asked as much as those that you are.
What is your experience of responding to consultations? How do you pick which ones to prioritise? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
Coming up next time: I’ll be exploring working with other organisations to achieve policy influence. Do coalitions work, or do they just water down your objectives?
thepolicycoach.co.uk 