I have felt for some time that there is a need for an effective and authoritative commentary on the subject of consultation.
Scarcely a day passes without politicians or public officials committing to consult the public or stakeholders on one subject or another, and as those of us active in this field know only too well, many of these initiatives are highly suspect.
Some, on the other hand, are excellent, and it is a shame that broadcasters and the media in general aren't very good at distinguishing between the good and the bad.
This blog hopefully will become an useful source for serious-minded researchers and journalists and provide a reference point for what is and isn't best practice in this field.
Rhion can be contacted on +44 (0) 7966 446450 or through The Consultation Institute on +44 (0) 1767 689600.
e-mail addresses are:- rhion@consultationinstitute.org
or rhion@rhion.com
Rhion Jones
The "Guru" of Consultation
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About Me
- Rhion Jones
- Sandy, Bedfordshire, United Kingdom
- Rhion Jones is Programme Director of The Consultation Institute and is an acknowledged authority on customer service, citizen participation and e-government. He is the author of CRM in the Public Sector, and over 30 other thought-leadership White Papers and Briefings. In his role with the Institute, Rhion has pioneered a comprehensive portfolio of training courses for those involved in public and stakeholder consultations, so that the Institute can now offer its Certificate of Professional Development. He has also developed new techniques of evaluating the effectiveness of consultations and works closely with the Royal Institute of Town Planning on the implementation of Statements of Community Involvement. In addition to providing services and support for consultors, the Institute has developed a training event for consultees called Responding to Consultations, and Rhion is particularly keen to see hard-to-reach and other disadvantaged groups given more assistance to participate in public engagement exercises.
3 comments:
Good luck with new blog.
Not very easy to see how you join the blog and make comments. Is this your setup or someone elses? I only got to make this comment by clicking on the '1 comment' i.e. the one from Elizabeth. Martin
Consultation is to be greatly welcomed however when public bodies use consultation as a component of public policy development it is essential that there is an appropriate feedback mechanism to show what account was taken of the views submitted. Were they incorporated or disregarded and why.
We have raised topic with Scottish Executive Ministers. The Executive is good at issuing consultations but it is extremely difficult to determine what effect submissions had on policy development.
Calum Munro
Development Manager
Highland Children's Forum
www.highlandchildrensforum.org
Listening to chidren - speaking to policy makers
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