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CHAPTER 7: OUTPUTS - BI-LATERALS AND GROUP MEETING
The preceding Chapters studied the inputs to the consultation and some of the main processes by which it operated. This Chapter turns to examine the first of the key outputs of the consultation: the informal bi-laterals and group meeting.
As described in earlier Chapters, the Best Value consultation included 10 informal bi-lateral discussions between representatives of the Scottish Executive Best Value and Performance team and a range of public bodies of different sizes, covering the spread of Ministerial portfolios. The stated aim of these bi-laterals was to help to scope the main body of the consultation. The consultation team's decisions which informed the format of these bi-laterals are documented at Section 2.4.2 in Chapter 2.
Following the bi-laterals a group feedback meeting was held at the Scottish Executive, to which all those involved in the informal discussions were invited. Findings from the individual scoping discussions were presented by the Scottish Executive team to the delegates who were asked for comments, including whether these findings appeared to reflect previous discussions and/or whether amendments should be made.
Previous research (Nicholson, 2005b) had reported that Scottish Executive officials identified meetings with stakeholders in small groups or on a one-to-one basis as a particularly successful aspect of their civic participation exercises which helped them, inter alia, to " get behind" issues and " improve understandings on both sides" (p35).
Presented below is an analysis of the data collected on the effectiveness of these bi-laterals from the perspectives of the consultation team and the consultees respectively.
7.1 CONSULTATION TEAM'S VIEWS
The Best Value and Performance Team's views on the effectiveness of the informal consultation stage were collected in a semi-structured group interview with the evaluator.
7.1.1 Tangible Outputs
The aim of the bi-laterals was to help to scope the subsequent stages of the consultation. The consultation team reported coming away with clear tangible outputs from the meetings. In terms of fact finding, they were able to draw concrete findings regarding the state of play relating to Best Value in each organisation and also build a clearer picture of challenging issues (such as that of proportionality) and possible future direction in best practice. Facts and lessons learned by the team were logged onto a spreadsheet to enable further consideration and sharing.
The team reported that this method enabled themes to emerge very quickly and obviously with differences between organisations of varying structures and constitutions becoming clear.
7.1.2 Less Tangible Outputs
Less tangible outputs from the bi-laterals also emerged. The consultation team reported their perceptions that the meetings had commenced a rapport-building process between the Scottish Executive and external bodies. They also felt that the bi-laterals presented the opportunity for misconceptions on Best Value to be addressed directly and that this was a benefit which would not have presented itself had they opted for a written consultation instead.
7.1.3 Unexpected Outputs
Unexpected outputs also emerged during the bi-laterals. In particular, the consultation team reported being taken aback at:
- The general lack of interaction and liaison between public bodies in the shape of representative fora and other communication mechanisms
- What they saw as a lack of clear understanding of some officials to the Best Value duties set out in the Public Finance Manual
- The relatively low level of knowledge displayed by some bodies on what Best Value constituted and how it should be manifested in their organisation
7.1.4 Limits of the Approach
The consultation team acknowledged a number of limits to the bi-lateral approach. One key restriction was that by its very nature, it excluded concurrent discussion with other bodies. The need for public bodies to speak to each other to share concerns and solutions to taking forward Best Value was identified as crucial by the consultation team:
" they are much more likely to want to respond to what their peers have to say than what we have to say"
A further drawback raised by the consultation team in relation to the bi-lateral approach, but indeed, one generalisable to other scenarios although perhaps not at such an explicit level, was that no matter how earnestly they presented their listening stance and outlined the process they would adopt for the consultation, changing political circumstances could alter this approach.
It was considered that the bi-lateral consultees would be aware of this political context and would most likely come away from their meeting with a recognition that it would not always be possible to take into account all views offered.
7.1.5 Other Efficiency and Effectiveness Issues
Scottish Executive officials previously involved in face-to-face consultation had expressed resource implications as one of the drawbacks of this approach (Nicholson, 2005b). The Best Value consultation team explained how they had successfully shared the burden of the bi-laterals between a small group of officials working to the same discussion framework.
Despite the team reporting success in achieving many tangible and intangible outputs from the bi-lateral meetings, they also suggested that the level of effectiveness of the meetings depended in part on the specific personnel fielded by the public sector organisation, with some officials more able to contribute and more prepared for dialogue on Best Value than others.
7.1.6 Group Meeting
The aim of the group meeting was to feedback findings from the 10 bi-laterals and to gauge support for the future direction of the consultation. However, the consultation team admitted that hosting the group meeting was, in essence, a stab in the dark with no prior feeling of whether it would work or not.
One key concern was whether bodies would interact with each other. The consultation team reported a slow start to the event on this front, but that their use of techniques to actively promote communication between delegates worked well and dialogue flowed after that.
The team judged the event to be a success in terms of consultees giving them the backing to continue with the consultation process in the way they proposed, with their stated aims agreed by public bodies.
7.2 INFORMAL CONSULTEES' VIEWS
Of the 10 informal consultee bodies, 4 responded to the invitation to take part in a telephone interview to provide feedback on their experience of their bi-lateral discussion. This section reports on the findings from these interviews.
7.2.1 Understanding of the Aims of the Bi-laterals
Consultees appeared to have a common understanding of the aims of the bi-lateral discussions. They spoke of the need for the Scottish Executive and public bodies to agree on an approach to refreshing Best Value. The emphasis was on forming a partnership between the Scottish Executive and public bodies, which had mutual benefits and would commence a process of "buy in" from the public organisations. They saw the bi-laterals as an embodiment of this approach and the start of what they perceived to be a potentially positive process.
All consultees interviewed considered that their involvement in the bi-laterals had contributed to these aims. Comments included:
" I gave lots of views. I asked if I had been helpful and was told that I had been."
" We gave the Scottish Executive a better understanding - gave them a feel of how Best Value fits within our organisation."
Indeed, some respondents felt that they had gone beyond providing their own organisation's perspective and had been able to present a wider picture of relevant issues on Best Value for public bodies in general.
Consultees were asked what the Scottish Executive officials would have taken away from their meeting. Their responses included:
- Better understanding of how we feel about Best Value
- Picture of our concerns - that we feel it is not straightforward
- Picture of how we are currently trying to implement Best Value and the work we have done to date
- Picture of where we want to go with this
- Feel for our enthusiasm to take this forward
Consultees also reported taking messages away from their respective meeting. These included:
- Better understanding about how the Scottish Executive was approaching Best Value
- Reassurance that this is not "just another initiative"
- Feeling that the end result would be empowering
- Impression that the Scottish Executive had an open attitude - " listening before doing"
- Feeling that it would be useful to become involved in what was seen as a 2-way process
- Reassurance that the Scottish Executive would continue to involve public bodies in the deliberations
These comments suggest that overall the bi-laterals were successful in sowing the seeds of mutual co-operation and partnership working to take forward the Best Value agenda. The meetings appeared to give the Scottish Executive a crucial opportunity to lay out the stage for the consultation to progress, and to influence the impression received by external bodies and their inclination to engage further with the exercise.
7.2.2 Particular Benefits of the Bi-Laterals
Consultees were asked if they considered there to be any particular benefits of adopting a bi-lateral approach to consultation. An interesting viewpoint emerged in relation to what were viewed as the shortcomings of the written consultation method, with one respondent arguing that responses to the latter tend to be delegated within organisations and exploited as vehicles to showcase good practice only. The bi-laterals, it was felt, had enabled weaknesses and poor practice to be discussed in an open way, and produced:
" a more honest and dynamic kind of dialogue"
Another respondent considered the bi-laterals were of far greater benefit than simply hosting one bigger seminar with all present, as they enabled individuals who might otherwise have kept quiet in the larger forum to speak up and discuss in more detail the working of Best Value in their particular organisational context.
Another view was that bi-laterals prevented the Scottish Executive presenting simply a fait accompli, but encouraged both parties into a more discursive arrangement in which the external bodies were able to probe and expose any gaps they identified in Scottish Executive thinking and communication (the example was given on what was seen as the lack of clarity over the Scottish Executive's wishes regarding the statutory/voluntary status of Best Value).
One respondent argued that the bi-laterals were valuable in the situation where policy had taken an unexpected turn - in this case the Scottish Executive had not made Best Value statutory as had been expected. The meetings had provided the opportunity for more detailed explanation by the Government officials.
Finally, it was highlighted that the meetings had served to pull all involved to the same starting point - " the same page" - the same level of understanding.
7.2.3 Particular Drawbacks of the Bi-Laterals
Respondents were asked if they considered the bi-laterals to have any disadvantages and/or if the Scottish Executive could have achieved their aims in a better way.
Only one problem was raised by consultees: that the approach could be very time-consuming for the Scottish Executive team. However, it was argued that the time input appeared to be time well spent, which increased the effectiveness of the later stages of the consultation process. No better way of achieving the aims of the bi-lateral stage of consultation was identified.
7.2.4 Personal Benefits of Taking Part in the Bi-laterals
Consultees spoke of the added and sometimes unexpected benefits to emerge from taking part in the bi-lateral meetings. These included:
- Enabled me to meet officials I may not otherwise have had the chance to
- Helped me to understand the remit of different Scottish Executive officials
- Gained more confidence on Best Value issues - not afraid to ask questions in future
- Helped to bridge the sense of isolation from the Scottish Executive which we tend to have
An examination of these personal benefits identified by respondents provides generalisable and very useful messages about gaps in understanding, lack of opportunity for interface, lack of organisational confidence associated with particular Government initiatives, which could form the basis for developing communication of new policy in the future.
7.3 SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS
- The consultation team considered that the bi-lateral meetings had been effective in producing clear tangible outputs. The team came away with a clear picture of challenging issues and options for future direction.
- Less tangible outputs from the bi-laterals were identified by the team and included building rapport between the Scottish Executive and public bodies.
- The team considered that a disadvantage of the bi-lateral approach was that it offered no scope for wider discussion amongst other bodies on shared concerns and solutions.
- One factor which was seen as affecting the effectiveness of the bi-lateral meetings was the ability of the public service officials to contribute to the debate and how prepared they were for the dialogue.
- The team reported the group feedback meeting as successful in giving them support to continue with the consultation process and generating agreement over the aims of the consultation.
- Consultees involved in the bi-laterals appeared to be clear on their purpose.
- These consultees were enthusiastic about their respective meeting and considered that both they and the Scottish Executive officials involved had gained from it.
- From the comments expressed, it appeared that the bi-laterals were successful in sowing the seeds of mutual co-operation and partnership working to take forward the Best Value agenda.
- Consultees perceived the bi-laterals to present various advantages: they promoted a more honest dialogue; enabled individuals to speak out; prevented the Scottish Executive from presenting a fait accompli, provided the opportunity for officials to explain unexpected policy decisions; and helped all parties to reach the same level of understanding.
- Consultees considered the downside to bi-laterals to be the time input required by officials.
- Consultees identified ways in which they had gained personally from being involved in the informal consultation, including gaining in confidence and achieving a better understanding of the parts played by different Scottish Executive officials.
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