Are they bovvered? Are we?

Like many of our readers, I spend a lot of my time trying to encourage public organisations and service providers to reach out and involve more people in their decision-making, to go beyond the people they normally hear from.   People want to be involved and so you have to involve them, I tell them.... 
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Mad March MAC Newsletter

We talked in the last newsletter of laughter and lunacy prompted by a 1956 Goon show and the goings on with the new NHS legislation. Things have got little better for patient or practitioner. The latest news is that Healthwatch is being stripped of its statutory status and so the patient voice is being... 
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Local school commissioners: be our heroes, but listen first

With utter predictability, Sir Michael Wilshaw, the man with the most self-aggrandising title in education, has just had a promotion.  The  ”Founding Principal” of the politicians’  favourite school, Mossbourne Academy, and poster boy of the government’s blazers-for-all approach... 
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Let’s see a “Parent Opinion” website

A new consultation on school inspections has raised the question of how much attention the inspection body Ofsted should pay to the views of parents. “We…. intend to take greater account of parents’ views in helping us to decide when a school should be inspected. We are currently considering... 
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Where Policy gets Personal – the MAC October Newsletter

The talk is of transformation and the mood is one of confusion and uncertainty. The rumour mills are producing a steady flow of an acid brew – difficult to swallow.  Transformation and change was the message from Sir David and blogged under the heading “St David’s Missal’. Seven... 
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The Gove School of Parental Involvement: late, lite or non-existent

The golden rule of public consultation is that you don’t waste your time and that of your consultees by consulting on an issue on which you have already made up your mind. It’s not just we at MAC that say this: it was enshrined in the previous government’s code of practice on consultation... 
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A long hot summer for user and citizen engagement?

The budget sparked a debate  about postponing retirement and getting your pensions.  Elder citizens and users who are involved in public engagement must be heard in any such  debate about retirement ages and reform of the job market. They frequently form a majority  of volunteers in citizen participant... 
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All change please – is consultation the enemy of decision-making?

Something I have noticed in my twelve years as the parent of school aged children is that there is nothing schools like more than to rush through change in the dying weeks of the summer term. Focus on the beach and the barbie Everyone is a bit tired, the beach is becoming increasingly attractive and... 
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The May Newsletter: A Spring Fever of Politics and Participation Possibilities

Overcooked Rhubarb Rhetoric Politicos have gone mad for it – so many of the election issues and debating points are about citizen engagement  and involvement. We have characterised elections as the biggest citizen participation opportunity going although as we pointed out in our  blog straight... 
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“Free” schools: free choice for parents?

I used to teach in Kilquhanity,  a real “Free School” set up in 1941 by the visionary Scottish educationalist John Aitkenhead.   His view of Freedom was simple:  ”You are free to jump into the water, but you are not free to stay dry”.  We all need to need to take his advice... 
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