The Consultation Institute has published a Briefing Paper by Rhion Jones and Stephen Hill on ‘Exit after Lockdown – the case for Consultation’.
The Consultation Institute writes:
The pandemic has changed everything. Or so it is believed. The truth is that few people have any idea how the UK and other developed economies will recover, or how people will react in the aftermath of COVID-19.
It all happened so quickly, and within a week, Parliament passed the Coronavirus Act, with draconian powers to affect individual and corporate lives. And it did so without any consultation. Most business and commercial bodies and most representative institutions were stunned into uncharacteristic acquiescence. Local authorities were caught completely unprepared. Only the NHS seems to have appreciated the challenge that lay ahead.
Clearly, there was no time nor opportunity to consult, and, once decisions were taken, the Government machine operated with commendable speed to announce, explain and impose the Lockdown. Over the six weeks from its start on 23rd March to early May, public observance of the Lockdown has been consistently high, and although media speculation about an exit strategy has been febrile, evidence suggests that the general public is more cautious. On 1st May, IPSOS-MORI reported that its research found a great reluctance to resume ‘normal’ activities. The Government that worked so hard to instil into the population, its requirement for all non-essential workers to stay at home, may find it even more difficult to persuade them to leave their homes once again and return to work.
This paper asserts that whereas the establishment of Lockdown did not involve public consultation, the return to ‘normality’ will be different, and there will be an absolute requirement for greater openness and public engagement. Boris Johnson seems to have understood this.
‘I want to serve notice now that these decisions will be taken with the maximum possible transparency’, The Prime Minister April 27th 2020
