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Home Page > Council and democracy > Consultation
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Our Commitment: the 8 key rules of CONSULTATION 

 

Consultation People

 

It is our aim to work within the following rules when carrying out any consultation:


1.    Consultation and the Democratic Process

  • Councillors and officers will always need to weigh the views expressed through consultation against a wide rage of other factors: such as legislation and government guidance; demographic data; financial costs; environmental impact
  • Councillors and officers will often have to make their own judgment about the weight to be given to one or other of the views expressed.  They may also have to consider carefully whether the aspirations and needs of future generations – who will perhaps be more affected by any change – might differ significantly from those of today’s population
  • The results of consultation cannot be a substitute for the democratic process – and do not replace the legitimate role of Councillors in decision-making


2.  Time consultations well and allow sufficient time to respond

  • Consultations should be timed to allow the results to influence policy/proposal development
  • The timing of consultations should consider the availability of target groups
  •  Wide scale public consultations, eg borough-wide or large parts of it, should run for a period of 12 weeks and for no less than 6 weeks
  • Reasonable time will be allowed for people to respond to a consultation


3.   Clearly present relevant information and encourage informedopinion

  • The consultation should clearly state the proposal, why we are consulting, and how we will use the findings
  • The consultation should provide enough information to enable consultees to give an informed opinion and not simply an instant reaction
  • This information should be written in plain English


4.   Be well targeted and reach out to seldom heard groups

  • The views of those people/areas most affected by the proposal should be sought
  • Attempts should be made to listen to the views of non-users, especially when service changes are being consulted on
  • Attempts should be made to include the views of groups frequently excluded or overlooked
  • Consultations should consider the needs of people with impaired sight or hearing or people whose first language is not English


5.  Offer genuine options and ask objective questions

  • Where options are offered, they should be realistic and deliverable
  • Surveys and questions should be written in an objective way allowing people to express their views

6.   Be well planned, managed and coordinated

  • The Council’s Consultation Toolkit contains step-by-step instructions to enable us to effectively manage consultations

7.  Be well communicated

  • We will publicise consultations and make attempts to let people know they are happening
  • Major consultations – eg. borough-wide or affecting a large number of people – will be publicised by the Council’s website, press release and in Council publications such as ‘Melton Mail’ and the Tenants’ Newsletter

8.   Provide fair, accessible feedback

  • We will publish the findings of consultations and later how they have been used
    The findings will be reported in a balanced way

Find out more about Melton’s commitment to Consultation by clicking the link to the Council’s Strategy and Toolkit.

 

 

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