Action 14 case study: using digital tools to engage the public
Published 24 March 2014
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Using digital tools to consult the public at Department of Health
The Civil Service Reform Plan stated an ambition for open policy making to become the default. This means finding ways to involve the general public in policy discussion and using their feedback to help shape future services. But what would this look like in practice?
Department of Health has taken the first steps in making this a reality with its consultation on the care and support white paper and draft bill, published in July 2012. This will create a single modern statute for adult care and support, replacing more than a dozen pieces of legislation in the most comprehensive reform of social care law for more than 60 years.
Rachel Neaman, departmental digital leader, says:
This is about the way we provide care for the elderly and vulnerable, and the way we fund it. It is a big issue for the department and the country.
Stephen Hale, Head of Digital, added:
We needed to explain the ideas in the White Paper in a way that helped people to understand what the changes would mean for them. And invite people to contribute to the legislation at the draft stage to improve the proposals and make sure the final Bill is fit for purpose.
Inviting comments on a draft bill provides the clearest potential route for digital engagement.
The department used digital to engage with the public and stakeholders on this policy, creating 2 new dedicated engagement spaces to invite public comments on the draft bill and explain the white paper policies, supplementing this with new use of social media.
People could publicly comment on individual clauses or answer questions by topic, or respond to other people’s comments and generate discussion. This was the first time a government department had made a draft Bill available for comment online in this way and at such an early stage in the process. The department is ‘closing the circle’ by explaining how people’s comments are influencing changes to the Bill.
Rachel believes that this was a far more open, and potentially wide-reaching consultation than has been attempted before on draft legislation.
By opening up the draft Bill to online comments, we enabled anyone to help shape the legislation, not just the main stakeholder organisations who will give evidence in Parliamentary pre-legislative scrutiny.
A dedicated Twitter feed was also created, @caresupportbill, which summarised each clause in a tweet and influenced debate in social media (including triggering discussion in independent podcasts). This was the first time draft legislation has been shared in this way.
Stephen Hale is Head of Digital at Department of Health.
Rachel Neaman is Digital Leader for Department of Health and Deputy Director for Digital, Channel Strategy and Publishing.