Comment

Encouraging the ‘new normal’ in public consultation

Robert Jenrick’s update on consultation on plan making this week provides useful reinforcement that public consultation in planning can, and should, continue despite the difficult circumstances created by the lockdown. A well-considered, proportionate and digitally-led approach, supported by officers and local members who know their areas best, can replace traditional face-to-face methods without affecting accessibility or reach.

The MHCLG guidance is available here.

For statutory consultation requirements on Local Plans or Supplementary Planning Guidance documents, the Government is encouraging LPAs to review minimum consultation requirements and adapt their Statements of Community Involvement (SCIs) to ensure safe methods of engagement in line with the current social distancing measures. This could include, for example, digital drop-in events in place of holding in person community consultation events, or using social media and online newspapers for publicising applications for inspection.

What have LPAs been asked to consider? 

• An assessment of their SCIs to identify which policies are inconsistent with current guidance on staying at home and away from others or any superseding guidance.
• The opportunity to make any temporary amendments that are necessary to allow plan-making to progress.
• Encouragement to use online engagement methods to their full potential. Appropriate methods include virtual exhibitions, digital consultations, video conferencing, social media and providing documents for inspection on a public website.
• Reasonable steps to ensure sections of the community that don’t have internet access are involved and consider alternative and creative ways to achieve this.

Our Strategic Communications team is progressing digitally-led public consultations during COVID-19 in Manchester, Belfast, Birmingham and Worcestershire. These consultation programmes have been agreed through close liaison with officers and members to ensure a locally appropriate approach. The evidence thus far demonstrates that the approach is enabling opportunity to genuinely engage with a wider section of the community. A digital-led strategy, supplemented by a combination of traditional methods of publicity, provides a real opportunity to achieve higher than average response rates than those achieved through a more traditional, face-to-face exhibition-led public consultation.

Despite the changes being temporary in nature, the context leads us to expect this to become the ‘new normal’, with recent ONS data (2019) demonstrating 93% of households in the UK now have internet access. Furthermore, additional data indicates that the use of mobile phones and tablets for internet browsing is increasing, whilst over a third of people between the ages of 65 – 74 and 93% of those between the ages of 16 – 24 have a social media profile (Ofcom 2019).

Our digital consultation approach is about people, not platforms, and focussed on improving engagement, inclusivity and support for our clients’ projects – both through current times of lockdown, and also into the future and at a time when restrictions may be lifted. Download our digital strategy to find out more.

For more information, please contact Emma Dickson or Emily Baldwin.

15 May 2020