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Drafting a consultation document

It is important that consultation documents are as self-contained as possible and as clear as possible.

Consultation documents should be:

  • clear in terms of the language used, avoiding jargon, abbreviations and acronyms where possible (where they are unavoidable include a glossary of terms);
  • clear in terms of the scope of the consultation exercise, i.e. what has already been decided upon and therefore cannot be influenced and what you are seeking views on;
  • clear in terms of what the Government expects the impact to be of the options under consideration;
  • clear regarding how to respond;
  • clear regarding how to get involved in any other activities related to the consultation; and
  • clear as to what the Government will do with the responses and how it will follow up the consultation exercise.

In this regard, there are benefits in keeping the layout of consultations within any Department or organisations to a standard format. The typical layout of a consultation document might be as follows:

  • One page of basic information (see example template below)
  • Ministerial foreword
  • Contents page
  • Executive summary and/or Introduction
  • Main body of the consultation with questions inserted as appropriate
  • Summary of questions
  • Additional information
  • Annexes, including the Impact Assessment and other impact tests, a glossary, associated documents referenced in the main body, etc.

Criterion 4 requires that it should be easy for people to work out quickly whether a consultation is of relevance/interest to them. Organisations signing up to the Code should adopt a template to use in all their consultation exercises to set out in the same way all the basic information regarding each consultation they publish.

An example template that organisations signing up to the Code might consider adopting to set out key information is provided below. Use of such a template can help achieve compliance with criterion 4 of the Government’s Code of Practice on Consultation.

Scope of the consultation

  • Topic of this consultation: Give a very brief summary of the topic (one or two sentences on the policy area) – point people towards a relevant paragraph in the consultation document for more, but still succinct, information.
  • Scope of this consultation: In one short paragraph explain the scope, i.e. what is the purpose of this consultation; what is still to be decided/where can influence be brought to bear.
  • Geographical scope: This will depend on the policy in question and the extent to which it is reserved or devolved.
  • Impact Assessment: State whether or not (and if not, why not) there is an Impact Assessment attached and where it can be found. Also highlight any other impact tests that are attached.

Basis Information

  • To: Who you would like to hear from/who is the exercise aimed at
  • Body/bodies responsible for the consultation: Name of the organisation(s), and if helpful, the team(s) leading on the policy and the consultation exercise
  • Duration: Start and end date of the consultation
  • Enquiries: Name(s), phone number(s) and email address(es) for enquiries about the content or scope of the consultation, requests for hard copies, information about consultation events, etc.
  • How to respond: Postal address and email address to which written responses can be submitted. URL if responses can be submitted online.
  • Additional ways to become involved: Details of any meetings that will be held (or who to contact if interested in meetings), blogs, or any other ways people can share their views. Are there any materials to engage with specific groups, e.g. a young person’s version, a large print or Braille version, an easy-read version, slides, a Welsh or other language versions…? How can people get hold of these or make a request for these to be produced? Briefly justify these decisions (e.g. “As this is a largely technical issue with specialist interests following discussions with those affected, this will be a purely written exercise; or “In order to engage a wider audience/to reach people who would be affected by the issues under discussion in this consultation, we will…”).
  • After the consultation: Statement of what will happen to the responses and, as far as is possible, the time and place where the Government response will be published.
  • Compliance with the Code of Practice on Consultation: Statement of whether the consultation complies with the Code and if not, why not, and how.

Background

  • Getting to this stage: What work has been carried out before this consultation and what is the current regime/system/regulation for this policy, if there is one.
  • Previous engagement: State what engagement with stakeholders has already taken place to get to the consultation stage:
  • Has there already been consultation on this either by central Government or another body, e.g. the European Commission?
  • Did you meet with key stakeholders to decide the key issues that need to be addressed?
  • Has there been market research in this area?
  • Has Parliament recently debated this issue?

Foreword:

Many consultation documents carry a foreword from the relevant Government Minister. This would be particularly appropriate for major or high profile policy proposals. A ministerial foreword will outline the aims of the consultation and may add weight to the process.

Contents page:

It is advisable to have a contents page even for short documents so as to enable readers to find their way quickly to what is of relevance to them.

Executive Summary and/or Introduction:

It is often advisable for consultation documents to include an executive summary and /or an introduction to the written consultation document to set the context, to set out the scope of the consultation exercise and to make the main points of the document. This should usually be no longer than two pages. Even if the document is technical, ensure that the executive summary is accessible to all. Having read the executive summary, consultees should be in a position to decide whether the consultation is relevant to them and whether they need to read further.

Main body of the consultation with questions inserted as appropriate:

Each chapter should give information on a discrete issue relevant to the consultation, or one of the proposed policy options. Ensure that you use plain language as far as is possible and explain fully any unavoidable abbreviations, acronyms or technical language.

It is useful to summarise the information contained in the chapter in a very brief introductory paragraph, drawing attention to this by highlighting the text in some way. Similarly, it is advisable for each chapter to have a clear conclusion.

Sections which outline a policy option should:

  • outline the current situation;
  • set out the proposed option clearly and comprehensively; and
  • outline the potecosts and benefits of implementing the policy option and ask questions  on the cost-benefit assumptions (e.g. do consultees agree with the assumptions or have evidence to suggest otherwise?)


In each chapter, provide the questions which are pertinent to that particular topic/policy option. Highlight these in a shaded box or a different colour so that they stand out clearly.

It may be helpful to illustrate your points with relevant case studies or practical examples wherever possible in each chapter. This can break up what might otherwise be dry, sometimes theoretical or technical text and allows the reader to identify with the issues under discussion more easily. However, case studies should be used with care as they can be seen to promote a certain policy or can confuse if not directly relevant. It is often useful to distinguish these from the main body of the text.

Summary of questions:

It can be useful for those preparing to respond to a consultation exercise to have all the questions in one place either towards the end or at the beginning of the consultation document. 

Additional information:

  • All consultation documents should list the seven criteria of the Government’s Code of Practice on Consultation alongside the name and contact details of the Department’s Consultation Co-ordinator.
  • In some cases it can be useful to list organisations that have been invited to respond or to list specific organisations that the Government would particularly like to hear from. You should be clear that the consultation is not limited to these groups and that anyone is free to respond and their views will be taken seriously.
  • It is also useful to provide information about how the responses will be used.
  • It is also sensible to provide text on legal issues - a standard disclaimer on Freedom of Information and confidentiality is given below.
  • The consultation document should also set out, as far as is possible, the expected activity that will follow the consultation exercise.
  • Information provided in response to this consultation, including personal information, may be subject to publication or disclosure in accordance with the access to information regimes (these are primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004).
  • If you want information that you provide to be treated as confidential, please be aware that, under the FOIA, there is a statutory Code of Practice with which public authorities must comply and which deals, amongst other things, with obligations of confidence.
  • In view of this it would be helpful if you could explain to us why you regard the information you have provided as confidential. If we receive a request for disclosure of the information we will take full account of your explanation, but we cannot give an assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances. An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as binding on the Department.
  • The Department will process your personal data in accordance with the DPA and in the majority of circumstances this will mean that your personal data will not be disclosed to third parties.

Annexes:

Annexes should all be relevant and referred to in the body of the consultation document. Annexes that may need to be included are:

  • the Impact Assessment and other tests;
  • a glossary; and
  • documents referenced in the main body of the consultation document, etc.

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