What is the point of all the public consultations swirling around Whitehall and beyond? They are now an established feature of the policy landscape, trotted out by departments seeking cover for an unpopular policy or hoping to delay implementation until a more propitious political moment presents itself.
There are currently 255 open consultations taking place and a further 6,600 are closed, though without necessarily having reported their findings – if they ever do. Outside of central government, thousands more are under way on every subject imaginable.
Many of us who take part in such exercises naively think that we might have an influence over what happens.
Another major consultation ended on Monday into National Grid’s plans to install a network of pylons across 110 miles of countryside in East Anglia to transport offshore windpower to London and the South East.
Local people, councils and MPs – predominantly Tories – have kicked up enough of a fuss that a review has been ordered into alternatives to transfer by pylons. However, the consultation ended on Monday before the review by the Electricity System Operator (ESO) had even started.
All the region’s MPs have warmly welcomed the review but to my admittedly jaundiced eye it appears the National Grid is just going through the motions. The end result will probably be a decision to install the pylons by insisting they are infrastructure vital to the national interest.
This provision can override even the failure to take government environmental guidelines into account. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/…/consultations-are…/…
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