Consultation Tool Kit

This tool kit is designed to be an easy to understand, step-by-step guide. It is not intended to be prescriptive, but to give you helpful hints, tips and advice for planning and carrying out consultation work.

Whether or not there is a legal obligation to consult, if consultation takes place, it must be carried out fairly and comply with the following principles:

Consultation must be at a place when proposals are still at a formative stage

The proposer must give sufficient reasons for its proposals to allow consultees to understand them and respond to them properly

Give sufficient time for responses to be made and considered

Responses must be conscientiously taken into account

In addition to the eight steps outlined below - you also need to consider and use:-

Minimum Standards Community/Equality Impact Assessment Consultation register

If occasions arise where the guidance or timeframe are not appropriate (for example if a shorter consultation period is required) or need to be changed, please indicate the reasons for this.

The tool kit is broken down into eight steps

Step 1 - Defining your project aims and objectivesStep 2 - Resourcing your consultationStep 3 - The level and method of consultation requiredStep 4 - Identifying with whom to consult Step 5 - Making sure your consultation is inclusiveStep 6 - Planning your consultationStep 7 - Using the resultsStep 8 - Evaluation of your consultation

By clicking the above links, you will find a range of tools and advice to help you with each step of the consultation tool kit.

If you need help, more information or to register a consultation, please contact:

Corporate Policy and Consultation Manager on ext 7573 or consultation@northampton.gov.uk

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Minimum Standards

Northampton Borough Council minimum standards are –

For key issues, the traditional approach was to allow a minimum of twelve weeks for people to respond. The Government's latest guidance suggests that timescales should be proportionate and realistic to allow stakeholders sufficient time to provide a considered response. In practice, this might typically vary from 2 to 12 weeks.

Your proposals should be clear on who may be affected, what questions are being asked and the timescale for responses.

Ensure that your consultation is clear, concise and widely accessible.

Give feedback regarding the responses received and give information on how the consultation process influences the policy or delivery of the service.

Monitor your services effectiveness at carrying out the consultation exercise and be able to analyse the degree in which consultations affect the eventual policy development/activity.

The Planning department has its own set of minimum standards which are outlined in the "Statement of Community Involvement".

Data Protection

Please let people know when consulting how information collected will be used and stored, in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.

Survey Monkey Statement

Northampton Borough Council uses SurveyMonkey to host surveys and collect responses. SurveyMonkey was chosen as it provides the security that the Council regards as essential when handling information. It also provides a service which is widely used and trusted as well as offering value for money. The Council has investigated the data assurance and legal framework which SurveyMonkey provides and has satisfied itself that it meets the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998.

SurveyMonkey Europe Sarl (SurveyMonkey's Luxembourg subsidiary which serves their non-U.S. customers), is regulated by European Union data privacy laws. Although respondent information will be held on the servers of the parent company which is based in the US, SurveyMonkey is a member of the US 'Safe Harbor Scheme'. This scheme, which is run by the US government, ensures that data is protected to the same level as it would be in the UK. The Safe Harbor scheme is recognised by the European Commission as providing adequate protection for the rights of data individuals in connection with the transfer of their personal data to signatories of the scheme in the USA.In addition to this the Council highlights in its surveys where personal information is asked for so that the respondent can make a fully informed decision about whether they wish to give their information or not.

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Step 1 - Defining your project aims and objectivesBefore undertaking any consultation you should establish why you are undertaking it and what it is you want to find out. Think about what you are going to do with the outcomes and what decisions will be influenced. Consultation with the public raises expectations so you need to be sure the people you engage with understand how you plan to use your results. You may like to use the consultation brief form to help you do this.

Ask yourself and anyone involved in the consultation:

What information or change is wanted at the end and what do we not have now?

What are the key aims?

What type of report do I need to produce at the end?

What will the information be used for?

Think about your objectives for consulting, engagement and involving - which of these do you want to do?

Compare and challenge the existing service

Look for unmet need

Shape the way your service is delivered

Measure satisfaction with the service

Prioritise future spending

Set targets for the service

Check out reaction to new ideas or initiatives

Look out for quality improvements

Check opinions, views and/or attitudes

Think laterally:

Is there any national/regional/local data or research that could help address what you're trying to find out?

If other similar or recent exercises have already taken place - you do not want to repeat work that has already been carried out

What other consultation is currently being undertaken internally and by our partners - watch out for consultation overload

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Is there any consultation planned in the near future - you should maximise the opportunity for joined up work.

Think about whether you really need to undertake the exercise:

The council has limited staff and financial resources and we need to ensure that we use them as efficiently as possible. Below are some circumstances in which carrying out consultation may not be justified or needed.

Those decisions subject to strict direction from government

A problem that can be resolved without the proposed exercise

When a similar exercise has been carried out recently

When the decisions have been made and nothing would be gained by further work

If there is not enough time or resources to do it properly

If people don't have enough information to give adequate answers.

Think about communication and feedback:

If participants see nothing happening as a result of their involvement they will be disillusioned, dissatisfied and much less willing to get involved again. Try and avoid this by building feed-back mechanisms into your project, in particular to summarise how the consultation has helped shape any subsequent proposals.

Please contact the Corporate Policy and Consultation Manager on 01604 837573 for help.

Step 2 - Resourcing your consultationBefore you start any consultation, think about the resources you need. Careful planning at this stage will help you avoid running out of time and money.

Costs could include:

Anticipated cost for carrying out the consultation itself, including any analysis of the results.

The anticipated capacity required in terms of people and other competing priorities.

The potential resources required implementing changes required following the outcomes of the exercise.

Step 3 - The level and method of consultation requiredConsultation is just one form of engagement. You therefore need to decide if consultation is the most suitable approach to achieve the outcome required . . .

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Different types of engagement include:

Engagement for information (Communication) - Letting people know what will happen.

Engagement for consideration (Consultation) - Letting people know what could happen and what scope would be for their comment

Engagement for improvement ( Consultation) - Seeking customers and service users views specifically to bring about an improvement in services

Engagement for involvement (Involvement) - Involving people in the development of service standards and delivery.

Consultation Methods

The method that you choose will need to be based on what helps you to achieve the aims and objectives of your exercise.

There is a range of consultation methods that you can use across any part of the spectrum. These can be split broadly into two categories:-

Quantitative methods

Qualitative methods

Step 4 - Identifying who to consult withYou need to ensure that you consult with an appropriate number and range of people, groups or organisations because:

We want to find out the views of a robust cross section of the community

People are individuals and have different needs and aspirations

We want to hear the voices from all sectors of our community

We need to be accountable to people locally in providing the right services in the rights ways to meet their needs

The following are examples of the groups of people or individuals that you may wish to consult:

External Customers

Users of collective services/indirect users e.g. people who have their waste collected by us

Users or customers of your service or proposed service: (include those who pay directly and those who pay indirectly e.g. through council tax, as appropriate)

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People we enforce against or who are regulated (e.g. Landlords)

People affected by policies or developments (e.g. Planning Suppliers/businesses/Services providers)

Internal Customers

Staff

Elected members

Other directorates/sections

Trade Unions

Cabinet members/Portfolio holders

Overview and Scrutiny Committees

Ward members

Audit Committee

Licensing Committee

Current non-users

People who are unaware of the service

Dissatisfied ex-customers

People who might need the service at a later date Partners

Partner organisations (e.g. voluntary and community sector, health, probation, other councils - parish, county, districts, government, businesses, contractors, MPs etc.)

Interest groups and others

Interest or pressure groups

Everyone living in a specific location or neighbourhood

Community forums

People who work in the area

People passing through

Particular demographic groups (including protected characteristic groups we are required to involve and consider under our legal duties)

Children and Young people

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Families and carers

Lone parents

Pregnancy and maternity

Students

Minority/diverse ethnic groups including Gipsy and travellers

Older people

People facing geographical or technological disadvantage

Disabled people (we need to recognise that there are a wide range of disabilities and to reflect this in our consultation)

Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transexual people

Transgender people

Low income families

New arrivals

Women

Men

Employed/unemployed

Religious/faith groups and those of no particular faith/religion e.g. humanist, secularists, atheists

Communities and neighborhoods

Peoples who voices are seldom heard or not traditionally recognised

Carrying out a community or equality impact assessment on the issue you are considering will help you identify who needs to be included both in developing the impact assessment to be published for the main consultation and in terms of the range of people, organisations and media you will want to encourage people to take part in the consultation.

Stakeholder analysis and mapping

For details, see: The six tests for Stakeholder Identification analysis

Step 5 - Making sure that your consultation is inclusiveThe Council is committed to giving equality of opportunity (including having a say on things that matter to them) for everyone who lives, works in or visits Northampton.

When carrying out engagement work, Councils and other public authorities have a duty to assess and address the barriers to engagement with groups or individuals who voices are

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seldom heard. Consider what information you have about your potential customer group to understand who you ideally want to be able to reach.

Community/ Equality Impact Assessments should be considered as a key tool in policy making and form an integral part of most consultation exercises. It is important to involve people with protected characteristics (e.g. young people, older people, people with disabilities, etc.) early on and to recognise that sometimes how people experience what we do may not be what we expected or intended. Involving people early on can help to shape proposals and approaches to consultation to make them work for as many people as possible. Impact assessments are vital for credibility and reliability.

What do we mean by communities or individuals whose voices are seldom heard or recognized?

We used to say 'hard to reach' people or communities. The reality was that sometimes we did not meet the different needs, cultures and ways of working with all of the different communities that we want to work with. It was also sometimes the case the views of these communities, if they were sought, were not then taken seriously. Here are some examples of the barriers that different groups and individuals face.

Age related - children, young people, some people with disabilities and some older people may require innovative ways of consultation. Sometimes young people can be helped to take part by posting the consultation information on Facebook, perhaps on the Northampton Youth Forum with a link to help them complete surveys online - or invites to events. When working with children, young people and vulnerable adults remember to take account of safeguarding duties.

Attitudes/prejudices - toward certain groups. Ensure that people within your own team (and of any external researches used), have the understanding, training empathy and objectivity to consult effectively with all demographic groups. Sometimes people may fear attitudes or prejudices based on experience with other organisations. Using NBC's Northampton Forums networks may help to reach out to people (e.g. to transgender people) and show we're serious about wanting to hear from them, prepared to meet in safe spaces and treat them with dignity and respect.

Lack of understanding - of a different culture or religious custom. See above.

Physical barriers - for disabled people, such as easy access to buildings, requirement for hearing loops in meetings. If the venue you are using is in the Disabled Go access guide (www.northampton.gov.uk/disabledgo) then mentioning this in your invites may help people with disabilities and their carers plan to take part. For some people with less access to cars or with disabilities that fluctuate during the day, remember that it may be easier to meet you in an afternoon rather than an evening.

Information - our equality duties require us to communicate accessibly with people. So be sure to publish in accessible formats. Use simple language and style e.g. RNIB Clear print

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guidance. You can find helpful links to make documents accessible in our equalities web pages at www.northampton.gov.uk/equality .

Jargon - all communications to the public should be in plain English. You can find a jargon buster in our equality web pages at www.northampton.gov.uk/equality and you can run a readability check on your work in Word.

Geographical remoteness - try to hold consultation in the community and make use of social media networking, email networks etc. where appropriate. Check that venues are accessible to your target audience e.g. sometimes dark roads and driveways may deter people travelling on foot.

IT - remember some people have no access to a computer or are not confident using them. The equality duties require you to consider how you can provide information to people without such access - your equality impact assessment and involvement of people at the early stage may help you identify efficient and effective ways to do this.

Inconvenience - such as limitation on the time they are available, as experienced by commuters, parents or voluntary groups.

Low income - they may feel that they won’t be listened to or can’t afford to get there and so choose not to take part.

Homeless or temporary residence - such as Gypsies/travellers, students, migrant workers. Go to where they are and at an appropriate time.

Holidays - consider the potential impact of holiday period and religious festivals when many people are away, fasting etc.

Technical issues that affect the way responses may be treated.

If there are technical reasons for the way we subsequently use the results of any consultation or research with a particular group, we must explain this.

For example:-

Weighting of responses - there will be occasions when expected response rates may vary depending on the issue under consideration and on the level of public feeling that may apply. Please explain how information will be analysed and also the importance/relevance that will be placed on responses.

Minimum response rate - indicate if there is a minimum response level when you may consider repeating the exercise or modifying your approach. You may like to check sample size calculators available on the web.

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Step 6 - Planning and doing your consultationConsultation with our communities should inform service planning and decision-making. You will need to establish when the results of your exercise are required to enable deadlines to be met. Please consider availability of Management Board, Cabinet or other decision-making forums. If the results of your consultation work leads to a key decision then it needs to be included in the forward plan. If in doubt always check with the meeting services team.

If follows therefore that adequate time be allowed for an effective consultation.

The time available can be an issue for some community groups for a number of reasons:

They may need to have consultation materials translated

They may need to convene a special meeting

They may need to avoid specific religious holidays or other events

They may need to make arrangements to be able to attend your consultation meeting (e.g. transport, people with caring responsibilities)

Young people may need to be at school during the day and unable to stay late in the evening particularly on school nights

Some people may prefer to be able to participate online due to the barriers that make it difficult for them to attend meetings.

When planning your consultation timetable remember to build in time for the tasks shown

Step 7 - Using the resultsAnalysing the results

The first step is to analyse the raw data. The approach used to analyse quantitative and qualitative data is different. Here is some general advice.

Quantitative Data

Quantitative data is the easiest type of data to analyse in terms of producing statistics and graphs and then interpreting the results.

In order to effectively and efficiently analyse questionnaires the responses can be turned into an electronic format. This involves inputting the responses into a suitable format for analysis. There are many ways of doing this, for example, MS Excel, Access or specialist analysis packages. Some packages such as surveymonkey are available in the market with reporting facilities. Please discuss your requirements with the Performance and Change Team. For othersurveys you may need to employ a company who will input the data for you. IT help desk may be able to advice on the use of IT.

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Analysing and interpreting the statistical data requires varying levels of expertise depending upon the complexity of the research. You must be confident that you have, or have access to, the skills required to do this. If in doubt, recognise your limitations and seek help.

Remember that to meet your public sector equality duties you need to understand responses in relation to equality groups or "protected characteristics" of people - both those who replied and noting under-participation too.

Qualitative Data

For relatively simple consultations, qualitative data can be gathered together under broad headings which will aid subsequent analysis.

Analysing and interpreting quantitative information requires a good level of knowledge upon the complexity of the research. You must be confident that you have, or have access to, the skills required to do this. If in doubt, recognise your limitations and seek help from the consultation and communication team.

The next steps are to acknowledge and draw attention to areas of agreement and disagreement, using the results of the consultation. You should consider them carefully, together with other evidence and considerations, before decisions are made.

To do this you should identify key messages. One way of doing this is to think about the following questions:

The overall picture1. What are the main findings?2. Are people satisfied/ dissatisfied?3. What are the areas on which there is a majority consensus?4. Where do views and opinions differ?5. Are there patterns of response in relation to people's protected characteristics e.g. do young people tend to have a particular experience as compared to older people?

Are views consistent What does the analysis show?

Strengths and weaknesses Do we have any clear messages?

What are the priorities for the public? How are we doing on each of these?What can we do to meet these?What can we do little about?

User expectationsHow are we doing against these? How can we improve?

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What can we do little about?Data protection - consider storage and use, as stated to people at start.

Our expectations Which results did we expect? Which results are a surprise?

Bench Marking Can we benchmark these results against other Council services?Can we benchmark these results against other authorities?Can we show improvement against our own past performance e.g. in relation to participation and experience of people in equality groups e.g. young people, disabled people, older people?

Can we identify any trendsAny upwards trends?Any downward trends?Any results that have stayed the same?

Can we identify trends from elsewhereCan we compare results with others who have asked the same question/used the same methods? Are we moving in the same direction as national trends?

What is the current climate Are the ratings rising/falling in general?

Producing the results When producing the results think about:

Which findings do not require action? E.g. low priority or results that are very good.

Which things can we not change in the short term? How do we tell people? Popular recommendations that cannot be taken forward require an explanation as part of your feedback.

Which things can we change in the short term? Identify "quick wins", especially those that can be done within existing budgets or timescales

This demonstrates that you can and will act on the outcomes of consultation.

Which results highlight the need for action?

What are the next steps, who needs to know? Does funding need to be identified, is further consultation needed, when can decisions be taken?

Which results highlight the need for more communications? What is the issue, how we will communicate it, to whom and where?

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Which results highlight the need for further consultation? In some circumstances new alternatives will come to light which may call for further consultation.

This always takes longer that you think so allow plenty of time.

Giving feedback to stakeholders

It is important that you feed back the results of your exercise to everyone who has given up their time to take part. This will encourage them to take part in future consultation exercises. You will also be helping to influence general perceptions of how good the Council is at keeping local people informed of developments.

If you don't feedback, people will assume that the Council doesn't take any notice of what they have said.

In addition to respondents, you should also consider providing feedback for:

The Cabinet portfolio holder /Cabinet members

Local Councillors

Appropriate Council Committees

Directors

Service Managers

Frontline Staff

Partner organisations

Service users

Residents

Different audiences will have needs so feedback could take different forms and in many cases a mix of techniques is best. Also remember that different audiences will want different levels of information. For example, residents may simply be interested in the headline findings of a satisfaction survey, while a Councillor may want the detailed results for the consultation of a development in their ward.

Possible communication methods include:

Presentations

Seminars and workshops

Summary reports

Feedback documents to respondents

Detailed reports

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Through the Council's website

Through the Council intranet

Via the local media

Through the Council's email system - remember to obtain the necessary permission

Through SMS.text messaging

Make a video or use drama or other interactive method

Residents newspaper or magazine

Staff newsletters

Remember to add your results to the consultation register

Remember that to meet our public sector equality duties, you need to publish documents in accessible formats and language

Remember too, that your findings should inform the development of your equality impact assessment and analysis. Any actions arising should feed through and be integrated into appropriate service plans to help ensure improvements are made.

Remember to add your results to the consultation register and the consultation scheduler (See www.northampton.gov.uk/consultation for details)

The Corporate Policy and Consultation Manager will be able to provide you with further advice on how to publicise your consultation findings.

Step 7 - Using the resultsAnalysing the results

The first step is to analyse the raw data. The approach used to analyse quantitative and qualitative data is different. Here is some general advice.

Quantitative Data

Quantitative data is the easiest type of data to analyse in terms of producing statistics and graphs and then interpreting the results.

In order to effectively and efficiently analyse questionnaires the responses can be turned into an electronic format. This involves inputting the responses into a suitable format for analysis. There are many ways of doing this, for example, MS Excel, Access or specialist analysis packages. Some packages such as surveymonkey are available in the market with reporting facilities.

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Analysing and interpreting the statistical data requires varying levels of expertise depending upon the complexity of the research. You must be confident that you have, or have access to, the skills required to do this. If in doubt, recognise your limitations and seek help.

Remember that to meet your public sector equality duties you need to understand responses in relation to equality groups or "protected characteristics" of people - both those who replied and noting under-participation too.

Qualitative Data

For relatively simple consultations, qualitative data can be gathered together under broad headings which will aid subsequent analysis.

Analysing and interpreting quantitative information requires a good level of knowledge upon the complexity of the research. You must be confident that you have, or have access to, the skills required to do this. If in doubt, recognise your limitations and seek help from the consultation and communication team.

The next step is to acknowledge and draw attention to areas of agreement and disagreement, using the results of the consultation. You should consider them carefully, together with other evidence and considerations, before decisions are made.

To do this you should identify key messages. One way of doing this is to think about the following questions:

The overall pictureWhat are the main findings?Are people satisfied/dissatisfied?What are the areas on which there is a majority consensus?Where do views and opinions differ?Are there patterns of response in relation to people's protected characteristics e.g. do young people tend to have a particular experience as compared to older people?

Are views consistent What does the analysis show?

Strengths and weaknesses Do we have any clear messages?

What are the priorities for the public? How are we doing on each of these?What can we do to meet these?What can we do little about?

User expectationsHow are we doing against these? How can we improve?

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What can we do little about?Data protection - consider storage and use, as stated to people at start.

Our expectations Which results did we expect? Which results are a surprise?

Bench Marking Can we benchmark these results against other Council services? 2. Can we benchmark these results against other authorities?Can we show improvement against our own past performance e.g. in relation to participation and experience of people in equality groups e.g. young people, disabled people, older people?

Can we identify any trends?Any upwards trends?Any downward trends?Any results that have stayed the same?

Can we identify trends from elsewhere?Can we compare results with others who have asked the same question/used the same methods? Are we moving in the same direction as national trends?

What is the current climate?Are the ratings rising/falling in general?

Producing the results

When producing the results, think about:

Which findings do not require action? E.g. low priority or results that are very good.

Which things can we not change in the short term? How do we tell people? Popular recommendations that cannot be taken forward require an explanation as part of your feedback.

Which things can we change in the short term? Identify "quick wins", especially those that can be done within existing budgets or timescales

This demonstrates that you can and will act on the outcomes of consultation.

Which results highlight the need for action?

What are the next steps, who needs to know? Does funding need to be identified, is further consultation needed, when can decisions be taken?

Which results highlight the need for more communications? What is the issue, how we will communicate it, to whom and where?

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Which results highlight the need for further consultation? In some circumstances new alternatives will come to light which may call for further consultation.

This always takes longer that you think so allow plenty of time.

Giving feedback to stakeholders

It is important that you feed back the results of your exercise to everyone who has given up their time to take part. This will encourage them to take part in future consultation exercises. You will also be helping to influence general perceptions of how good the Council is at keeping local people informed of developments.

If you don't feedback, people will assume that the Council doesn't take any notice of what they have said.

In addition to respondents, you should also consider providing feedback for:

The Cabinet portfolio holder

Local Councillors

Appropriate Council Committees

Directors

Service Managers

Frontline Staff

Partner organisations

Service users

Residents Different audiences will have needs so feedback could take different forms and in many cases a mix of techniques is best. Also remember that different audiences will want different levels of information. For example, residents may simply be interested in the headline findings of a satisfaction survey, while a Councillor may want the detailed results for the consultation of a development in their ward.

Possible communication methods include:

Presentations

Seminars and workshops

Summary reports

Feedback documents to respondents

Detailed reports

Through the Council's website

Through the Council intranet

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Via the local media

Through the Council's email system - remember to obtain the necessary permission

Through SMS.text messaging

Make a video or use drama or other interactive method

Residents newspaper or magazine

Staff newsletters Remember to add your results to the consultation register

Remember that to meet our public sector equality duties, you need to publish documents in accessible formats, language etc online. For example using both accessibly-styled pdfs and .docx or rich text format. If using spreadsheets .csv file types are helpful to support accessibility.

Remember too, that your findings should inform the development of your equality impact assessment and analysis. Any actions arising should feed through and be integrated into appropriate service plans to help ensure improvements are made.

Remember to add your results to the consultation register and the consultation scheduler (See www.northampton.gov.uk/consultation for details)

The Corporate Policy and Consultation Manager will be able to provide you with further advice on how to publicise your consultation findings.

Step 8 - Evaluation of your consultationEffective evaluation can help you find out what did and didn't work and the reasons why. Always ask participants for their views about the consultation process and how it could be improved.

Your evaluation should not only consider the number of responses received, but also the quality, cost, and timeliness of the consultation and the overall usefulness of the results in helping; to inform decisions.

A basic evaluation checklist is shown below.

Evaluation checklist:

Did everyone involve (staff, consultees, and partners) understand the objectives of the exercise?

Were the right stakeholders involved?

Did you successfully reach all your stakeholders?

Were the numbers who took part as expected?

If you had set a minimum response level did you reach your targets?

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Were you successful in reaching groups or individuals whose views have not traditionally been recognised?

Did the publicity material you used work (e.g posters to advertise an event, putting material on the internet, press releases)?

Did you get the level of information you provided right? (e.g. it was easy to access, relevant to the consultation, produce in plain language, easy to understand and available in other languages and in other formats, e.g. Braille and audio cassette, where necessary)

Was the consultation accessible (e.g interpreters were provided if necessary, venues were accessible, seating and set up encourage participation)?

Did the methods used achieve the objectives?

Was there the right balance of qualitative and quantitative methods?

If you used more than one method, which worked better than others and why?

Did some methods work better with particular stakeholders than others? Note this for future.

Was the timescale and process kept to? If not, why not?

Did you get the information you wanted in sufficient time, depth and quality?

Were the level of resources and support right?

Did you budget adequately? Note areas of overspend/savings for next time

What were the costs (include staff time)?

Were there any unforeseen costs? What were they?

How did the participants evaluate it? - What did they think of the information provided?

Was it easy to give views? Did they perceive the exercise as fair and useful?

Did it lead to a change of policy, service etc how? Be specific.

How many people will be affected by the changes?

Has the consultation changed the relationship between you and your users and others?

What would you do differently next time?

Why evaluate and what to do with the results

Evaluating consultation can help you to:

Find out what worked and what did not

Identify the reasons for unexpected outcomes

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Apply learning to improve future consultation

Assess whether the exercise was cost effective in terms of time and resources.

Performance Management Issues

We need to know whether our consultation activities are supporting our vision for community engagement, as outlined in the strategy. We are in the process of developing a number of methods to measure this, including:

Using the Community Engagement Standard as the basis for judging success

Identifying the criteria communities would use to judge successful engagement

By asking communities what they would count as a success in their terms

Determining a standard for community cohesion which could be used to judge whether the Council's activities are contributing to community well - being

More importantly, you will need to identify which performance indicators the changes to your service or policies will impact upon. You will need to record and measure the impact upon. You will need to record and measure the impact. Please contact the performance unit for further advice on this. You should also check if there are any consultation related performance indicators

Consultation Charter and Consultation PrinciplesThe Consultation Charter from the Consultation Institute 2010

Integrity

Visibility

Accessibility

Transparency

Disclosure

Fair Interpretation

Publication

By observing these principles, organisations demonstrate their commitment to Best Practice and to assisting stakeholders to participate fully in the process

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