Memorandum by the Federation of Small
Businesses (FSB) (LGC 13)
The Federation of Small Businesses is the UK's
leading non-party political lobbying group for UK small businesses
existing to promote and protect the interests of all who own and/or
manage their own businesses. With over 186,000 members, the FSB
is also the largest organisation representing small and medium
sized businesses in the UK.
Q. The general effectiveness of public consultation
and its impact on local authority decision-making and possible
ways to improve it
Consultation is often perceived to be little
more than a public relations exercise by the local authorities.
The FSB, does however, acknowledge that consultation between local
government and its constituents is not automatically a straight-forward
procedure.
Either way, it is often felt that the consultation
has a negligible effect. The questions are felt to be slanted
so as to arrive at outcomes that tie in with the authorities'
plans. Where consultation involves ticking a box or providing
yes/no answers, it is often considered to be no more than lip-service.
Whilst it can be difficult to get the messages
across to those whom policy will effect, those on the receiving
end often find the process is not structured to encourage local
participation, unless it is a high profile project ie a regeneration
scheme with ministerial backing, which receives significant publicity.
It is also clear that in some instances of planning
consultation the public do not trust information provided by both
the Council and the developer. Such difficulties may be alleviated
by involving the public at an earlier stage so they do get to
feel that the consultation is genuine and there is a chance to
not only amend, but actively form proposals. We also acknowledge
that often individuals only take note of consultation when a proposed
development is literally planned for their back yard.
On balance, there is a clear perception that
consultation does not effectively reach out to those it should
reach. The language and terminology used is often not conducive
to being read by a wide audience.
Q. How public consultation fits into the
local authority decision making processes
There is often a feeling that public consultation
is not undertaken early enough in the decision making process.
Too often it seems to happen after officers, and councilors, have
already deliberated on policy initiatives. Consequently a limited
choice is given, that will invariably lead to the public favouring
the authorities preferred option. Consultation should take place
at the outset, drawing on ideas from the public to enable initiatives
to be put together for further consultation.
It is often the case that only those with the
time and resources that can affect decision making. Often it is
those in most need who are disengaged and disillusioned by the
process. It is sometimes felt that most influence can be yielded
through personal contacts.
Q. Whether public consultation by local authorities
is part of a continuing process of communication, information
dissemination and participation
In some cases this is possibly the case. It
often seems, however, that consultation is used on an ad hoc basis
to justify an authority's proposals. It should be noted that although
consultation is perceived in this manner it is also generally
agreed that it is now better than it used to be.
The role of Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs)
with their participation from all sectors of the community—the
local authority, business, voluntary and community sectors and
the general public—could potentially provide a useful vehicle
for widening consultation to all interested parties. This is an
avenue that we believe is worth examining.
Q. Whether best practice is being developed
and applied widely
There is little evidence of best practice being
adopted. Our experiences demonstrate that Local Authorities often
want to retain their own ideas for themselves and do not have
any particular desire to promote their own best practice elsewhere.
Furthermore, there tends to be little consensus between authorities.
Q. The extent to which consultation exercises
reach an audience beyond those who typically participate
Again there seems to be little evidence that
consultation exercises reach a wider audience unless it is about
an issue or policy has already attracted considerable public interest.
Compared to central government, which issues a considerable number
of consultation papers inviting a response from a wide audience,
local authorities seem reluctant to follow this lead. Where consultation
documents are issued, they are frequently bulky comprising a few
hundred pages of minutiae. Consequently, the number of consultees
and the level of responses is limited.
It is often felt, that the views of the public
are ignored by the decision makers. There is a feeling that these
exercises are merely "tick box" activities designed
to meet central government targets and merely re-enforces much
of the public's cynicism about the political systems. Consultation
exercises are often considered a waste of time as stakeholders
do not believe their views will make any difference. Consequently,
it is difficult to get responses.
Q. Whether the new cabinet structures in
Local Government facilitate consultation and the involvement of
constituents in decision-making
There is a mixed feeling as to whether cabinet
structures offer any real improvement in public involvement than
the committee system did. It largely depends how good people perceive
their local authority's cabinet system to be. Many people are
not aware that they can submit evidence to scrutiny committees
and this is not widely publicised by local authorities. Possibly
too much power is concentrated in cabinet member's hands and that
is all too often used as a way of hiding information or delaying
discussion and decision making.
Cabinet structures do facilitate consultation,
but the extent to which they achieve the objectives of good consultation
varies. It can be difficult to break down the walls within the
Regional Development Agencies.
The cabinet style has, however, suited some
businesses organisation who find that it is easier to identify
those responsible and the decision making process within the local
authority looks to be more efficient.
CONCLUSION
Whilst it is evident that the small business
community consider there are serious shortcomings in the consultation
process with local government, we accept that this is essentially
a two way process. Any deficiency by either side results in the
whole process falling down and a tendency to blame the other side.
It is evident that until the issue is literally "in the back
yard" it can be difficult to get public participation in
the consultation process.
We appreciate that to put out the level of documentation
issued by central government could place a heavy burden on many
local authorities, especially the smaller ones. We would, however,
also question whether local authorities following this path could
actually handle greater participation if they were to get it?
It could be that local authorities are not well enough resourced
to handle what could be four times the number of responses?
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