Consultation

The Cabinet Office has published a Code of Practice on Written Consultation (PDF - 329KB) which applies to all UK public consultations by government departments and agencies including consultations regarding the implementation of EU directives.

Early/Informal Consultation

Early consultation can help you obtain an informed view of risks and options, and a broad indication of the likely costs and benefits involved. It is not a substitute for wider consultation later in the policy making process, but it will help you plan to make later consultation more effective.

You will need to carry out stage1 of the Small Firms’ Impact Test as part of the early soundings. Depending upon the nature and potential costs of the policy proposal, you should also consider involving external experts at an early stage.

Your early soundings may alert you to others who could be affected. As a general rule you should meet small groups of independent experts or individuals working in the sector, as well as the large umbrella organisations.

Being creative about who you consult, and engaging early on with a range of stakeholders, can also help you to identify and avoid any unintended consequences of your policy proposals and identify alternatives to legislation. The Better Regulation Task Force is happy to be consulted:

Telephone 020 7276 2139
mailto:taskforce@cabinet-office.gsi.gov.uk
Website: www.brtf.gov.uk

Early informal consultation can lead to better formal consultation as you will have worked up your options using evidence from stakeholders. This can be particularly helpful if you do not have anyone on the policy team who has experience of the particular commercial/business sector(s) likely to be affected by your proposals.
Bear in mind that if the first your stakeholders hear about a proposal is when they receive the formal consultation document, it may appear to them that decisions have already been made.

People within government you need to consider consulting include:

• the Small Business Service, which must be consulted at the initial RIA stage on any proposal that will have an impact on small businesses;
• the Office of Fair Trading (in relation to potential competition and/or consumer issues);
• other policy makers (within and outside your department) having responsibility for the industry or sector involved, enforcement bodies and representative bodies;
• departmental economists and statisticians;
• the Office of Science and Technology who can offer advice about the use of scientific advice in policy making.
• Devolved Administrations; and
• Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA), if you are considering an appeal mechanism.

Organisations to consider involving are listed on Useful Contacts

You may find helpful the Cabinet Office publication Viewfinder: A policy maker ’s guide to public involvement (PDF - 209.2KB)

Announcing proposals and carrying out public consultation

There is more to consultation than issuing a formal consultation document. Consultation gives you the opportunity to develop your assumptions and expose them for consideration, comment and challenge. Persuading businesses and other interested parties to comment on the likely impact of something that is yet to happen can be a challenge.

How to get the best from your consultation exercise

You must include a partial RIA with your consultation document. Allow enough time by building consultation into the planning process. The standard minimum consultation period is 12 weeks. Try to avoid consulting during holiday periods, but if you do so, consider extending your consultation beyond 12 weeks. If you engage a third party to run your consultation exercise you must ensure they adhere to the Cabinet Office Code of Practice and the guidance below.

Don’t forget the voluntary sector. They employ 2% of the workforce and have a wide range of functions. There is a Compact on relations between government and the voluntary and community sector which is underpinned by more detailed codes of practice, including one on consultation. These documents are available from the Home Office Active Community Unit

Telephone 020 7217 8400
Website www.homeoffice.gov.uk

The National Council of Voluntary Organisations publishes a directory of all voluntary agencies
mailto:ncvo@ncvo-vol.org.uk
Website www.ncvo-vol.org.uk

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How to prepare a good consultation document

Be transparent. Consultation documents should be clear, concise and focused.

Examples of best practice

• The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister’s consultation document on the reform of fire safety legislation issued in July 2002.
• The DTI insolvency consultation document.

Include a list of questions for consultees at the beginning:

• ask whether the benefits and costs look reasonable;
• ask whether the assessment of competition effects looks reasonable;
• ask about enforcement issues; and
• ask about unintended consequences.

Ensure that any questions about potential costs of proposals make it clear that you need evidence to support respondents’ claims. This will avoid respondents overstating costs in order to deter your department or agency from pursuing a particular line.

You may want to use survey experts to help you draw up the questions to accompany your consultation document.

Draw attention to:

• key assumptions;
• options (regulatory and alternatives to legislation);
• implementation issues (including guidance and timing); and
• the accompanying RIA by providing clear signposting to it at the start of the consultation document.

Key elements of a good consultation exercise:

• Focused. Be clear about who is being consulted, about what questions, in what timescale and for what purpose. Be clear about how the respondents can influence the policy, and which, if any, decisions have already been taken.
• Seek advice from the SBS and others about who to consult
• Use the most appropriate approach. Written consultation is not always the best way to canvass views on a new policy or service, but must always be included alongside other methods. Other methods include:
  • meetings with interested parties;
  • listening events;
  • web forums;
  • public surveys; and
  • focus groups.

The Better Regulation Task Force report Helping Small Firms Cope with Regulations – exemptions and other approaches includes a menu of approaches for helping small firms.

• Accessibility. Consultation should be easy to respond to, for example by using electronic means or a separate questionnaire.
• Put all consultation documents and their accompanying RIAs on your department or agency consultation website in a clear and accessible form, and ensure that it has been picked up by the open government site UK online Include details of where to send responses when you put a consultation document on the website (remember to put the covering letter on the website).
• Make sure that consultation documents are easy to access from your website – for example, via a link on your home page. Do not rely on search engines as they often inundate users with numerous irrelevant documents.
• Be proactive. Send emails to consultees with a hyperlink to the consultation document. Do not just place a consultation document on your website and leave it up to people to find out about it for themselves.

Make it easier for your consultees

You should consider publishing a shorter version or summary of the consultation document, containing an overview of the proposals, as well as the full length version. This will help consultees decide whether they need to read and digest the fuller version, saving them time. If you do use this approach, make sure your overview contains details of all the proposals, so that the overall effect or impact is not diluted. See the DTI White Paper on the Company Law Review for an example of this.

Avoid consultation fatigue

Liaise with colleagues in both your own and other departments to ensure that you join up consultation exercises on related issues. The consultation co-ordinator for your department will be able to help you with this. One of the most common complaints from businesses, charities, the voluntary sector and their representative organisations is that policy makers do not consider the wider timing of their consultation exercises.

Consider how many other consultation documents organisations have got to respond to, and whether you really need to consult during the summer break. If the timing is governed by factors outside your control, eg the Parliamentary timetable, consider warning organisations of impending consultation exercises, so that they can plan their work around them. You will probably have been speaking to them when preparing your initial RIA and working up options, so take the opportunity to discuss the timetable with them at that stage.

You will get better quality responses from your stakeholders if they have more time to consider the consultation document and respond, and are not trying to respond to lots of different consultation exercises at the same time.

Reporting back

You should analyse the responses carefully and make the results available, giving the reasons for final decisions. When you are looking at the responses, bear in mind that representative organisations and umbrella organisations will have consulted their members, and you should give their responses due weight. For example, the TUC represents the views of 71 affiliated associations and unions and the CBI represents many businesses.

Review your proposals in the light of the consultation exercise and if necessary amend the ongoing RIA.

Further information

• Your DRIU can put you in touch with the consultation co-ordinator in your department.
• Please refer to the Cabinet Office Code of Practice on Consultation guidance website.

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