Tuesday Topic

One of the most frequently asked questions is “What’s the difference between market research (or social research) and consultation?” Sometimes the question comes from experienced researchers who, for years have […]

Confidence is a fragile commodity and nowhere has this been better demonstrated than in the recent debate following Mathew Parris’ article in The Times ( ‘Don’t ask my opinion; don’t

We sometimes forget that consultation is not just the prerogative of the public sector. Indeed, Government departments, local authorities and other public agencies have come somewhat late into the world

One of the success-stories of the last decade has been the gradual acceptance by consultors, that their attempts to engage stakeholders and the public have to be more socially inclusive.

When buying goods, it’s always a good idea to have a look at the “small print”! There, buried deep in the legal verbiage you may find something like The Supplier

The trouble with public engagement is that it is not an exact science. Whilst formal consultation is relatively structured and has a definable beginning and end – with clear milestones

The first, and most important principle of The Consultation Charter is Integrity. It states that a consultation should be transparently honest, and that no-one will waste your time asking your

Twenty years ago, when the Quality Management movement was at its height, its big rallying cry was the need to get it right first time. The argument was that poor

We live surrounded by a culture of targets. It is not just the Government; Private Companies have been target-driven for decades, and it is well established that setting clear, measurable

Few terms cause more confusion than the simple words – public engagement. Used very generally, it refers to all aspects of the relationship between Public bodies, the citizens they serve