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Building the Foundations of A LIFELONG LEARNING SOCIETY
ANNEX D: A PILOT FOR A POSSIBLE NEW APPROACH TO EXECUTIVE CONSULTATIONS
1. This paper pilots a possible new approach to consultations by the Scottish Executive by giving some key stakeholders interested in its subject-matter of a platform within the paper to help shape the consultation process. Paragraph 10 of this Annex invites views are on the success or otherwise of this pilot to help evaluate it.
Recent Developments in the Consultation Process
2. In recent years the Executive has improved its consultation process, principally to progress its civic participation agenda. At present it is standard for consultation papers (like most publications) to be accessible via the Internet. In some cases, summaries of the responses are also placed on the web after the consultation period is over.
3. Most consultation papers detail the Executive's views (and plans) and seek respondents' views either generally or in respect of specific questions. Sometimes the Executive does not have a firm view and options are spelt out in the paper. In other cases, the consultation paper clearly articulates the Executive's position on a particular issue, the purpose of which is to gauge respondents' reactions to it. What is common to both approaches is that the consultation paper is the principal means by which the Executive delivers its views as a means of eliciting the reactions of others to those views. The Executive then awaits receipt of the (sometimes diverging) views of the consultation paper's client groups and other respondents, considers these, comes to a conclusion, then articulates its considered view.
4. Recently a range of external stakeholders have given feedback to Ministers and civil servants who have sought their views to inform developments designed to modernise government ('Changing to Deliver' in Scottish Executive terms). They have indicated that stakeholders do not believe that they are engaged by the Executive at an early enough point in the policy development process. There is also a view that the Executive is not consistent in soliciting feedback and responding to it throughout the policy process tending to 'dip in and out' as it suits the needs of the Executive.
The Pilot
5. The current process does not strike us as a particularly dynamic form of consulting. We believe we could improve upon this by giving the key stakeholders interested in the subject-matter of a consultation paper a platform within it to help shape the consultation process. We consider that if the contributions of the key stakeholders are published alongside the Executive's consultation proposals, there could be a more informed, rounded, understanding of the issues. This would enable respondents to add more to the process. We believe that the new approach would help us better engage in constructive dialogue with outside organisations - a key plank of the Executive's 'Changing to Deliver' agenda.
6. We recognise that our stakeholders have issues of accountability within their own organisations to consider. Their early contribution does not prejudice their considered, formal response to the consultation paper. It was for participants in the pilot to consider how best to fill their allocated space within the consultation paper. The extent to which, and the way in which, they contributed was a matter for them. The Executive exercised no editorial control on content (though we would have done in extremis for legal reasons, etc.). If necessary, we would have liaised with contributors over possible amendments in the case of highly repetitive inputs. However, that did not prove necessary.
The Process
7. All stakeholders are valued and all comments to this consultation paper will be fully considered. However, to include too many stakeholders would have made the process unwieldy. We therefore identified the stakeholders that we considered would best promote discussion, given the subject-matter of this consultation paper. Participants were given a word limit guide - 500 words. They were shown a draft of the consultation paper to help them draft their contribution.
Pilot Participants
8. The following stakeholders took part in the pilot:
- Association of Directors of Education in Scotland;
- Association of Scottish Colleges;
- Convention of Scottish Local Authorities;
- General Teaching Council for Scotland;
- National Union of Students Scotland;
- Scottish Further Education Funding Council;
- Scottish Qualifications Authority; and
- Scottish Trades Union Congress.
9. We wish to take this opportunity to thank them for their participation.
Evaluating the Pilot
10. In evaluating the pilot's effectiveness, it would be useful if respondents could answer the following questions.
a) Did the pilot approach aid or hinder the consultation process?
b) Did it help inform you of the issues?
c) Was the balance of stakeholders invited to comment right?
d) Are there any changes you would like to see before the approach is considered for other consultation papers?
e) Should the pilot be extended?
f) Are there any other comments you wish to make on the pilot?
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