This Toolkit is a companion document to the councils' Consultation Framework document, which sets out the councils' commitment to consultation and the basic principles of good consultation.  The council expects that any consultation carried out is used to:

• Engage and gain the views of relevant communities;
• Plan what needs to be achieved;
• Establish how far the services meet their objectives from the customers' perspectives;
• Enable changes to services in line with customer feedback;
• Determine how visible changes can be tracked as a result of consultation;
• Provide feedback on the results and actions arising from consultation.

The toolkit provides a number of options for undertaking consultation and should be used as a starting point, to ensure that the approach adopted is appropriate for the particular consultation. The effective use of the toolkit should result in better engagement with our communities, improvements in services for customers and an enhanced image for the council as a provider of high quality services through listening and responding to customers' needs.

Please click here to download the Consultation Toolkit (PDF 520KB)