There are profound risks in not engaging the public with social and technical developments and not taking sufficient account of the impact of decisions on society.
Policies fail at the first contact with reality as they haven’t been developed with the people impacted by the issue, either those that deal with it in their daily lives or are on the frontline of tackling it. There are several past examples of decisions that have failed due to lack of dialogue (Sciencewise):
What are the benefits of public engagement in decision making?
- Genetically Modified Foods developed rapidly without effective public engagement and their development has been halted in many jurisdictions.
- The policy on Universal Credit making claimants wait five weeks for their first payment also would not withstand input from frontline officials or those receiving benefits.
- The government scrapped its flagship £1.5 billion green homes grant scheme six months after its launch in 2020. The programme offered households grants of up to £5,000 or £10,000 to put in insulation or low-carbon heating. This could have been avoided if the government had worked with the people most impacted by the policy - building firms who had to deliver the green improvements, and the public who had to apply for the grants. There were issues with the accreditation and accessibility of the scheme for these groups that could have been designed out with early engagement.
Early deliberation with the public helps to create a balanced view of the risks and opportunities that new approaches present.