The “Talk” is being “Talked” – the challenge is for government at all levels to “Walk” the “Walk”.
The Coalition Government has invited the general public to take part in an unprecedented internet consultation on the spending review that it says will help to determine where spending should be cut.
David Cameron announced today plans for “a process to engage and involve the whole country in the difficult decisions that will have to be taken.”
Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, and Chancellor George Osborne, have both stressed the need to “bring people along” through widespread debate and consultation.
Treasury ministers are drawing inspiration from Canada, whose government tackled its huge national deficit in the 1990’s by slashing federal budgets by 20 per cent over four years. Indeed the Treasury itself has said that it will be “open to the public generating new ideas” for the way that public services should be run.
Simon Etherington, UK General Manager, Objective, stated: “The Queen’s Speech gave us the first insight into the Coalition’s thinking as it strives to rebalance the relationship between State and citizen. This is a dramatic step toward citizen driven policy making as it is an unprecedented act of public engagement. The key issue now is how this will be delivered.”
“Internet consultations have not always had the most positive reputation in UK politics with Downing Street petitions seen by many as ineffectual. However, what is clear from the statements being made by Coalition Ministers is that this is an integral part of the radical approach this Government is making in citizen engagement,” he added.
“The technology is there to connect the citizen with Government that can deliver meaningful consultation in a controlled way, and as part of the overall policy development lifecycle, not as a one-off online interaction. Such an approach to policy lifecycle management can be used to deliver better policies with wide consultation and engagement, while at the same time achieve substantial cost savings. We have seen this on a smaller scale with our 250 local government customers,” concluded Simon.
About Objective Corporation and Limehouse Software
Objective Corporation (ASX:OCL) is an established leader and specialist provider of content, collaboration and process management solutions for the public sector. Its solutions empower public sector effectiveness; efficiency and transparency, helping governments deliver public sector outcomes at a lower cost to the community.
Objective recently acquired Limehouse Software, a specialist in collaborative content creation, publishing and stakeholder consultation solutions for local and central government in the United Kingdom and has an emerging presence in North America.
Limehouse Software develops software solutions that unite three key functions - collaboration, document publishing and consultation. Its hosted service provides an integrated collaborative environment to develop policies and strategies; provide unified workspace, publishing and delivery services; and facilitate the involvement of stakeholders through real-time collaboration and consultation with communities.
It helps more than 400 organisations unify information and communication; accelerate the business processes people are involved in; better engage with virtual teams; and encourage socialisation among employees, partner organisations and citizens.
For more information visit www.objective.com.
For more information, please contact:
Richard Merrin
Spreckley Partners Ltd
T: 020 7388 9988
E: merrin@spreckley.co.uk