What is a government consultation?

A consultation is a process of inviting people to share their views on an issue to help inform decision-making. You can use your knowledge and research in consultations to share your views and potentially influence the direction of government policies. Learn more about how consultations work.

Responding to Government consultations is one of the most straightforward ways to demonstrate the impact of your research. Engaging in this process is a great way to get started when looking to achieve impact and influence policy making.

Finding open consultations

Government Departments regularly publish details of new consultations on their websites. You can find a regularly updated list of opportunities on the government website.

The CoSS Public Affairs team also send out relevant consultation opportunities to academics and researchers on our radar. You can email Hannah or Nick to let them know you’re interested: H.Bradley.3@bham.ac.uk or n.j.i.brown@bham.ac.uk.
The central public affairs team also send a regular Influencing Policy Bulletin email with opportunities. To be added to the mailing list, contact publicaffairs@contacts.bham.ac.uk.

Steps to responding

Once you’ve found a consultation to respond to, review the series of questions and background information provided by the Department leading the consultation. These questions are what you will respond to while the consultation is ‘open.’ Note: Only respond to the questions that are relevant to your work. It is fine to leave some questions blank!
Make note of the closing deadline and ensure you have enough time to format your response.
Ask clarifying questions. If you have questions about a consultation, you can ask the associated civil service team. Civil servants are public officials and may not be able to express a view on the issue itself, but can advise on the consultation process. You can also ask for help from the CoSS Public Affairs team.
Write your responses and reach out for a second set of eyes if needed (hint: CoSS Public Affairs is always happy to help!)
Submit your response before the deadline, then let the CoSS Public Affairs team know and send a copy of your submission to H.Bradley.3@bham.ac.uk or n.j.i.brown@bham.ac.uk.

Tips and tricks

Keep an eye on relevant departments: If your research is relevant to one particular Department, you can regularly check their website for updates on new consultations.
Be direct and succinct: Answer questions directly, include references/footnotes with hyperlinks where possible, and keep answers as succinct as possible.
Write for the public: Your response may be published and shared, so be sure that anything you write is suitable to be released to the public.
Mirror the consultation’s language: Maximise the impact of your responses by using the same terms and mirroring some of the language used in the consultation outline. This helps to show the relevance of your work.
Write clearly, succinctly and accessibly. Avoid acronyms and jargon and use words and phrases found in a National broadsheet newspaper where possible.
Consultations receive a lot of responses. Make your response stand out by:
- Considering which elements of your research are most relevant to the consultation questions and ensuring relevance is clear within the first few sentences. Frame what you write in terms of how it relates to the questions.
- Offering practical, achievable recommendations that demonstrate the impact of your research or findings.

Examples

You may find the following useful to refer to while preparing your response:

Example consultation response by Dr Kathryn Spicksley & Dr Nicholas Stock

Example written evidence by Dr Anandadeep Mandal

Next steps

Once the consultation closes, the Department will consider responses and then publish a report. Responses may be referenced in the report to evidence new plans, actions or directions taken forward. The publication or reference of your research in this report could help to demonstrate impact.

In addition to submitting your response to the Department, you can also brief politicians on your views on an issue in writing or in person. You can consider sending a written briefing the relevant Minister, their Shadow, the relevant spokespeople in the House of Lords, your local constituency MPs and any other relevant stakeholders.

Contact

The team is happy to advise on responding to government consultations and any other policy engagement queries you may have.

Dedicated CoSS team:

Hannah and Nick: H.Bradley.3@bham.ac.uk; n.j.i.brown@bham.ac.uk.

How to respond to government consultations