What a government consultation response can tell you

In January 2023 the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs published its response to a consultation on restricting certain single-use plastics in England. The document provides a useful example of how to read a consultation outcome. It describes what officials asked, who responded, and which parts of the proposals the government said it would carry forward.

First find the original question

Consultations are usually organised around particular proposals. A department may ask whether to proceed, which options should be covered, or whether the timetable is workable. The Cabinet Office’s consultation principles ask departments to make the purpose clear and explain how responses informed policy.

In this example, Defra’s published outcome records proposals to restrict products including plates, cutlery, balloon sticks and some polystyrene food and drink containers. The details matter. An answer about the timetable gives different information from an answer about including a particular type of container.

Check how the responses were gathered

Defra recorded 53,329 responses. A campaign run by 38 Degrees and City to Sea accounted for 51,462. The other 1,867 responses came through the GOV.UK survey or by email. Defra said the way the data were collected meant that the campaign submissions had to be analysed separately. The response includes a separate annex for that route and says views from all routes were considered.

The response count describes submissions the consultation received. People and organisations could decide whether to submit, and the routes could ask or record questions differently. When a percentage is quoted, look for its question, group and collection route. In this case the annexes make that distinction visible.

Find the decision and what moved

The response says the original question asked whether April 2023 allowed enough preparation time. The government instead announced an intention to introduce the restrictions in October 2023, subject to the parliamentary process. It explained that additional time would allow businesses to prepare amid challenges that had arisen since the consultation. That is the government’s account of its policy decision at the time.

An annex can also preserve views that a single headline percentage would compress, including reasons respondents gave and issues they wanted the department to consider.

A consultation outcome can contain a summary of views, an explanation of the department’s decision and links to later documents. If you are tracking whether a proposal took effect, follow the decision forward to the legislation or implementation record. For a comparison between a proposal and an outcome, keep the original consultation, response date and relevant section together.