e-Consultation System
Our e-Consultation system enables you to find out about current consultations, register your interest in future consultations and see what happened as a result of past consultations.
To access the system, please visit: www.consultationfinder.com/somerset.
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About Consultation and why we do it
The extent to which Somerset County Council undertakes consultation has increased in recent years, largely as a result of the new statutory duty in the Local Government Act 1999, as well as specific funding projects and other statutory policy requirements.
The legislation introduced Best Value, and requires local authorities to not only seek continuous improvement in service delivery, but also to consult with local tax payers, service users, business ratepayers and other stakeholders when setting service standards and performance targets. We have a duty to consult, but we also have a responsibility to ensure that consultation is done in the most suitable and appropriate way to make it effective. The CPA report highlighted that although Somerset County Council undertook consultation, it was mainly ad-hoc and not very corporate.
To limit the level of cynicism that the public and other stakeholders may have in our efforts to engage and involve them, it is important that our consultations are of a high standard. To assist this process there is a Somerset County Council Consultation Strategy. This outlines the main principles of the approach that is being promoted in our organisation. For officers undertaking consultation exercises there is also a comprehensive, “Good Practice Guidelines for Consulting”, handbook.
One of the most important aspects of both the Consultation Strategy and these Guidelines is the need to make sure that consultation is co-ordinated, to ensure avoidance of over-consultation, but also to enable sharing of experience.
'Instead of asking the same question 10 times and using it once the goal should be to ask once and use the answer 10 times.'
The government wishes to see consultation and participation embedded into the culture of all councils... and undertaken across a wide range of each council’s responsibilities.
(DETR, 1998b para4.6).
The overall aim is to have a more joined-up approach to how we consult with our existing and future ‘customers’, we already have a joint consultation working agreement with district councils, the police and health authority in Somerset who meet regularly to update members on consultation projects currently being undertaken and planned and to support each other with those projects, we now need to further develop that updating and support process to include all service areas across the authority.
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What we mean by the term 'Consultation'
Consultation may also be referred to as the terms ‘participation’, ‘engagement’, ‘research’ or ‘involvement’. Consultation involves collecting and summarising information, and because it will almost certainly involve contact with people, it is a type of applied research. However, there are types of research that complement or inform consultation that do not involve contact with people in any way. The main approach that is advocated at Somerset County Council is to concentrate on obtaining the right blend or mix of types of research and consultation to inform policy and policy-making. Shaping the balance of research methodology is the fundamental aim of good consultation.
Generally ‘consultation’ can be translated to cover exercises where the Council has some clear idea of new decisions or policies and is seeking to inform people of them and hear their views. There may be room for manoeuvre, or a range of options to consider. The purpose of the consultation is to give people an opportunity to express their opinion, and for the policy and service planners to weigh up and balance these views before final decisions are made. Consultation can therefore be usefully defined as:‘A process of dialogue or the gathering of information that contributes to a decision or change.’
There will undoubtedly be occasions where a one-off consultation event is required to fulfil a purpose. However the notion of a ‘process’ as something that is ongoing is ultimately what the Council is seeking to achieve, in terms of its relationships with local communities and other stakeholders. The ‘dialogue’ is important, as is our aim is to achieve two-way communication where the parties involved listen to and take account of each other’s views. The definition also highlights one of the key aspects of consultation – it’s link to the decision-making process.
This type of work is not a new phenomenon; much of it is good old-fashioned research, using qualitative and quantitative techniques. The difference today is that we are not just expected to research people’s views and opinions; rather that we are seeking to engage them more effectively in the decision making process for local governance.
Our ability to be more responsive and to act on the results of consultation will determine our capacity to change, particularly in the context of Best Value and Community Planning. Consultation activity does not replace the political or professional judgements the Council has to make, but it informs and enhances them, thus helping us to better reflect people’s needs and wishes.
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Contacting Us
If you wish to contact us in relation to consultation and research, please:
Write To:
Customer Access and Equalities Team
Chief Executive's Office
Somerset County Council
A1 County Hall
TAUNTON
Somerset
TA1 4DY
Telephone: 0845 345 9166
Email: generalenquiries@somerset.gov.uk
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