Public Consultation Toolkit - Civil Service College

Public Consultation Toolkit Public Consultation Toolkit
4. Pre-consultation considerations
The following table (Table 4-1) could serve as a general guide for agencies to determine the
need to conduct a public consultation exercise.
4.1. Factors to consider
As a rule of thumb, consultation should be conducted for policies and initiatives that have a
significant impact on stakeholders.
Five factors to consider whether to proceed with a consultation exercise are:
1. Confidentiality. Policies/initiatives that are classified and confidential (e.g., national
security) may not be suitable for public consultation.
2. Urgency of issue. For emergency situations (e.g., a security incident) where an immediate
response by agencies is necessary, public consultation is generally not realistic or possible.
3. Impact on stakeholders. For issues with significant impact (e.g., which result in changes
to how individuals or organisations operate, or which touch on religious or moral values),
agencies should choose to consult the stakeholders more thoroughly to understand the full
implications of each decision.
4. Level of public interest. The level of public interest determines the extent to which the
wider populace is consulted.
Policy areas that tend to attract more public interest include healthcare, education, housing
and transport 2 . Policy areas of public interest also tend to be covered more widely by the
media.
Conversely, for policies which attract less public interest (e.g., technical or regulatory issues
such as the regulation of financial institutions), agencies can choose to conduct targeted
consultation with affected stakeholders such as industry players or technical experts.
5. Scope of influence. This refers to the degree to which the outcomes of the policy could
be influenced by stakeholder feedback. It is recommended that consultation be conducted
primarily when stakeholder feedback can influence the outcome of the policy or initiative.
If consultation is conducted for policies or initiatives with minimal scope for influence, it is
important to manage stakeholder expectations carefully.
Key considerations
Confidentiality of issue
Does the policy/initiative
contain classified/
confidential information?
Urgency of Issue
Is there an urgent, short
timeframe for the policy/
initiative to be developed?
If the implementation
is delayed, will there be
adverse implications?
Impact on stakeholders
How significant is the
degree of impact of
the policy/initiative on
stakeholders?
To what extent are major
stakeholders concerned
about this issue?
Level of public interest
What is the level of public
interest or attention on the
policy/initiative?
What is the possibility that
the media will be interested
in the issue?
Scope of influence
What is the scope for
changes to be made to the
policy/initiative based on
stakeholder feedback?
Recommendation
Yes
Yes
Yes
Low
Low
Low
Low
Please circle the appropriate response
Moderate
Moderate
Moderate
Moderate
No
No
No
High
High
High
High
Low Moderate High
If most responses
fall in this column,
consultation may not
be required.
If most responses
fall in this column,
targeted consultation
is recommended for
affected stakeholder
groups.
If most responses fall
in this column, largescale
consultation of
the wider populace is
recommended.
2 Based on Singapore Public Perception Survey conducted by Ernst and Young Advisory, 2009.
Table 4-1: Pre considerations for consultation