Busted: When done properly, CAs are sponsored from the heart of government. They aren’t another way of consulting or a fancy focus group that can be ignored, they are a real input into a real, live decision being made. The whole point of them, and core to the design, is that without knowing the answers in advance, government still promises upfront to take the eventual recommendations of the Assembly and respond.
And when politicians trust the Assembly members to make wise and considered recommendations, and the public trust that politicians will listen - then we build back trust in our politics.