The UK's most authoritative champion of public
& stakeholder consultation

 

Rhion Jones was a Founder Director of The Consultation Institute and has written extensively on all aspects of public consultation. His entertaining presentations and stimulating training courses have assisted thousands of public engagement professionals and enhanced their career prospects.

Recent Blogs

25 July

Why UNIVERSAL in Bedford will face fewer Blockers?  And why others will ...?

 

13 July

What might frustrate the Ten-year Infrastructure Strategy?

 

27 June

After the event – the subsequent role of consultation and engagement

 

23 June

High Court allowed Ministers to exclude discarded options in the consultation on net-zero aviation

 

29 May

NHS Patient & Public involvement in England – the confusion continues

 

23 May

West Dulwich Action v LB Lambeth: disregarding submissions from LTN opponents

 

16 May

So much more to say …. the 100th Blog!

 

28 April

Infrastructure consultations curbed: can less mean more?

 

23 April

Will statutory fan consultation in football affect local authorities?

 

13 April

What if Americans were consulted on tariffs?

 

2 April

Dear Wes Streeting, I’m worried about patient and public involvement.

 

28 March

Rachel Reeves and the push for Regulators to back economic growth

 

16 March

Starmer’s ‘streamlining’: An attack on consultation? Or an overdue correction to excessive bureaucracy?

 

21 February

Care homes Judicial Review highlights consultation risks for
Councils struggling with under-funded services

 

10 February

The next Archbishop; is the Church of England consulting meaningfully?

 

27 January

Will consultees respond well to community benefits?

 

17 January

Another bad day in Court for Government lawyers defending an unlawful consultation

 

31 December

When consultee misgivings are well-founded. The burning issue of waste incineration

 

20 December

Happy Christmas, Councillor! Your role may be abolished!

 

6 December

Warehouse neighbours too late to challenge planning permission despite Council’s failure to consult them!

 

27 November 

Assisted dying: should there be a public cconsultation?

 

23 November

Will the ‘Gunning Principles’ apply to Football clubs’ consultations?

 

17 November

The Rule of Law and the right to be consulted

 

30 October

Not yet a listening Government:

Consultations arising from the Reeves Budget

 

22 October

The NHS Big Conversation - is it any good?

 

17 October

When a ‘statutory consultee’ makes a mistake, and it leads to a judicial review

 

27 September

What exactly do your stakeholders think?

 

16 September

What’s Missing from the Darzi Report? The failure of patient and public involvement?

 

25 August

Home Office failure to consult lawfully on rejected Windrush recommendations; wider learning about ‘legitimate expectations’

 

19 August

The Surrey Oil Well case – the Supreme Court considers the Impact Assessment.

 

2 August

A degree of deja-vu: Angela Rayner’s planning reforms may worry many consultees

 

19 July

Is there now a case for faster public consultations?

 

11 July

When new Ministers know exactly what they want. Is there still a case for consultation?

 

2 July

Why a new Government should reform public consultations?
And how it might do so.

 

30 June

Consultation GuRU’s Election Quiz: Whose manifesto commitment is this?

 

18 June

If Manifestos were Consultation Papers? Would they meet the standard for ‘intelligent consideration’?

 

12 June

Anti-protest regulations were unlawful because the consultation was one-sided: Closing a Gunning loophole?

 

25 May

General Election 2024:
Doorstep Dialogues as a form of consultation?

 

21 May

If a Minister promises a ‘consultation’, is it okay just to launch a ‘call for evidence’?

 

27 April

The retreat from Gunning? The riddle of the ‘Question Seven’ case

 

19 April

Football’s new era of consultation kicks off with an Own Goal!

 

8 April

Will football fans really be consulted?

 

27 March

Satisfaction with NHS & Social Care: Focus on service users

 

21 March 

‘Hostile Takeover’ of Police & Crime Commissioner’s role was unlawful due to a flawed consultation

 

12 March

You WILL increase your productivity … or else!
The case for consulting the staff.

 

29 February

Martyn’s law, consultation and the perception of risk

 

18 February

Politics, consultation and the ‘propensity to participate’.

How much does it matter who
participates in our democratic processes?

 

2 February

Councils in financial distress demand different dialogues; here comes co-prevention!

 

19 January

Changing the NHS:  Will new Regulations make it harder?

 

16 January

Gove’s Street Votes: brilliant innovation or irrelevant gimmick?

 

11 January

Anger-based policy-making: implications for consultation

 

4 January

Consultation law: the key cases of 2023

 

29 December

Thank you, Keith McCallum

 

27 December

Consultation Law latest: six new Court judgments to consider

 

13 December

Policy-making criteria for a challenging world: Latest thinking from Carnegie UK and from Wales

 

29 November

Glasgow’s Low Emission Zone (LEZ) survives legal challenge:
consultation held to be lawful

 

23 November 

Autumn Statement triggers a dozen consultations – including a planning BOGOF

 

17  November

Government by Announcement:
Suddenly, an extra item of legislation!

 

9 November

How the King's Speech might have been ... if consultation mattered more!

 

5 November

Accounting for engagement activities: Lessons from recent FOIA requests

 

28 October

Non-selective badger-culling through ‘controlled shooting’. Consultation declared unlawful

 

13 October

Consultation and the ‘Plan for Drivers’ - High on rhetoric; hesitant on content

 

 

More here ...

 

Running Commentary

July 22

This morning I found that Sam Coates (acting as a mouthpiece for Robert Jenrick) has reported that Ministers think the Aarhus Convention is mad! I have posted a rebuttal on LinkedIn - See https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhion-jones-339317/recent-activity/all/

 

Alongside Elizabeth Gammell he wrote The Art of Consultation in 2008 and The Politics of Consultation in 2018. Both books are available at AMAZON.

 

His thought-leadership pieces, particlarly on Consultation Law are universally regarded as the most authoritative anywhere. 

 

With thousands of significant consultations launched every year in the UK, and even more in other countries, Rhion applies his forensic skills and extensive knowledge to specific exercises. There is no-one better to advise on the quality of a consultation. Just ask.st ask

 

Now, post-COVID, he is able to travel to meet those who share his passion for public engagement. Alternatively, he uses zoom, though confesses to be frustrated by some aspects of an online presence!  

 

His focus is on spreading the word, and inspiring individuals and organisations with the message that consultation and engagement matters more than ever - and must be done to the best possible standards.

 

More here

 

 

 

The Monthly Consultation Catch-up