Then they need to see some headline as to how those old functions will either continue or change – and what realistic options are. Then they can comment effectively. Another way is to use some ‘close to home’ case example – such as a proposal to plant up an upland reservoir area with conifer woodland – what is the Forestry Commission’s role, what would CCW cover, what would Environment Agency cover – and how would revised single environment body make for better outcomes?

I fully agree that the communications plans behind consultations leave them flat and uninteresting to all but the most driven/fanatical/bothered. If a government is serious about participatory democracy then an open and understandable discourse needs to be adopted and the diversity of interest groups engaged needs to be expanded.

Hopefully the Llais y Goedwig conference will inspire more people to comment on these consultations, to get to grips with the issues and make their voices heard.

That said – Westminster consultations also tend to get low response rates even if the policy area is one over which the UK government has high influence. Barriers include the boring / nerdy nature in which many policy debates are framed, and the appalling outreach effort by central govt – who are usually very happy just to deal with a narrow set of established interest groups.

A way to disturb this cosy system is to organise for higher levels of participation from outside the usual suspects. So sounds like your conference is much needed and timely.

Thanks for responding!

These are good points that you raise. There has been criticism in the past that consultation questions have been framed in ways that only really allow people “in the know” to answer, and prevent the lay person getting involved unless they have loads of time to trawl through the documents and get up to speed on the issues. This may be the case for some consultations and it is part of the territory, you’ve got to expect technical discussion when it comes to policy decisions. But, what is the point of open consultations if people can’t engage with them either because of time or jargon? Have a look at the Sustaining a living Wales consultation, it’s set out in an online form that is easy to find your way through and the questions aren’t loaded with policy terms. Also, if time is the problem, Llais y Goedwig will be submitting answers to both consultations over the next few months, this gives more people the chance to get involved and speak through the voice that is Llais y Goedwig. Watch this space for more on the Llais y Goedwig response and shout if you want to be involved! Adam