There are several excellent sources of information which provide advice on how to plan and implement consultation effectively.  One of the most comprehensive list of sources is the IDeA’s Consultation Module which provides a step-by step guide to effective consultation.  You can also access from this site Portsmouth City Council's recently updated consultation tool and their consultation briefing card together with North Lincolnshire Council's consultation tool.

You will find further assistance in the Audit Commission’s report 'Listen Up! – Effective Community Consultation' (Nov.1999).

An important aspect of data collation and analysis is continuous evaluation of the quality and relevance of the data itself. Quantitative data must be robust and specific.
You will only be able to generalise conclusions providing the sample measured is sufficiently large and representative of the whole group to which you are referring.  
You must therefore evaluate the data as well assess the implications of the findings.  
The IDeA’s Consultation Module provides the following checklist to assist evaluation:-

• numbers of those who took part: were they as expected?
• the techniques used: was the research carried out well?
• the representativeness of those consulted
• success in reaching the hard-to-reach
• evaluation by those who took part about how perceived the exercise  
• did you get the information you wanted in sufficient time, depth, quality?
• did it change anything?
• overall perceptions of ‘listening’ in general residents’ surveys
• what would you do differently next time?

Case Study - Sefton Borough Council

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