We’d like to (look like we want to) know what you think?

Controversial view: we consult the public too much in this country. Calm down, let me explain.

Consultation is important. Listening to real concerns, seeking to find ways to overcome problems. Democracy is important too, as is honesty and trust. All four of these principles really matter in public life, but over decades we have continued to over-inflate one, often to the detriment of others.

A proper - even half-hearted - consultation does not come cheap. They take time, usually the preparation of some report, a website, often posters and printed materials distributed to libraries. On many occasions this will be managed by specialist consultation experts paid to collate and analyse results. So if we, as taxpayers, are funding this eternal Lazy Suzanne of consultations it seems reasonable to expect that the outcomes should have some impact.

In my own county of Oxfordshire the Lib Dem-run County Council has worked hard to earn a reputation, even amongst many of its supporters, of turning a deaf ear to the results of their own consultations. A new congestion charge scheme for the city of Oxford, new speed limits in rural areas, plans to pedestrianise town centres and many more projects going ahead, despite a clear opposition voiced through public consultations.

They are of course not unique, and the consultation disease exists amongst all parties and at almost all layers of government. Part of the problem is that consultation is hard-wired into our system. Statutory consultations are often required for the smallest of changes, even where an electoral mandate might exist. Failure to conduct a full, wholesome - and expensive - consultation will risk landing public bodies in an even more lengthy and costly judicial review.

So with the risk appetite of our public leaders at a low ebb, is it any wonder they follow the advice of civil servants and local government officers and roll out yet another consultation?

Of course a consultation is not a poll, it is not democracy. That is why we have elections and occasionally, dare I mention it, referenda. So I accept that consultations are not a popularity contest, but that does not stop them often being sold as such. Even the most ardent proponents of these constant consultations must realise how dispiriting it is for people who take the time to consider and respond, often with well reasoned arguments, find themselves persistently on the losing side of the argument. Is it any wonder that participation is so low.

I am not suggesting that public bodies should no longer consider the views of residents, frankly it should be fundamental, but the incessant formal consultations can be a fig leave for those who do not really want to hear what people are saying. Democracy is all about listening to people. Our councillors, Members of Parliament, and yes, even Police & Crime Commissioners, are elected to serve. As Edmund Burke pointed out that does not mean that the popular will must win through on every topic, but it does mean that people should be heard.

The legal requirement is a genuine problem. In 2011 I was elected as Leader of the local District Council. The Conservatives won a majority partly on a platform of introducing 2-hours free parking in our market towns. Once in power we were told that we would have to run a public consultation on the changes over several weeks. Frankly this was pointless. We had a mandate to scrap the charges. My position would have been untenable if I had not. So we waited, we ran the consultation, and we cut the parking charges. As it happens that consultation was supportive, but I have no hesitation in saying I would have gone against it whatever the result. It was entirely a waste of time. In that instance it was democracy and the electoral mandate that mattered, not the consultation.

In the case of Oxfordshire County Council the current Lib Dem majority took overall power earlier this year, with no mention of a congestion charge in their manifesto. Within weeks of being back at County Hall they announced their scheme. The consultation showed that 66% of people said there should not be a charge, while 74% said it would negatively affect them. Yet the scheme begins at the end of this month.

So yet again trust has been damaged. Even those who think the idea is a good one, and there are some, generally accept the way it has been handled has done nothing but damage trust.

The answer to this is honest, with a little courage thrown in. We need to drastically reduce the number of consultations that public bodies are forced to carry out by law. Instead we need politicians to have the courage to set out their plans, defend them to the electorate and if elected carry them through.

Consultations are incredibly important. That is why I am so dismayed by this tendency that discredits them so much. The public certainly need to understand what purpose consultations have, but they also need to be able to influence, often at the ballot box, the direction of their public services. The lip service paid to consultations is damaging for everyone. If you are going to ask the people what they want, you have to listen to the answer.