Public consultation data management: how UK councils keep one defensible consultation record
Public consultation data management is how a council captures, organises and evidences every response, meeting and conversation in a consultation, so it can show what it heard and how it responded. When a decision is challenged, or a Freedom of Information (FOI) request is made, the council is judged on the quality of its records.
What does the law expect from a council consultation?
When a council consults, the consultation has to meet the Gunning Principles. They come from R v London Borough of Brent, ex parte Gunning (1985), and the Supreme Court endorsed them in R (Moseley) v London Borough of Haringey (2014). A lawful consultation must:
- Happen while proposals are still at a formative stage
- Give enough reasons for the proposals to allow an intelligent response
- Allow adequate time for people to respond
- Show that responses were conscientiously considered before the decision was made
Other duties sit alongside the Gunning Principles. The public sector equality duty (PSED), under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, requires councils to consider the impact of decisions on people with protected characteristics. Planning authorities must follow their Statement of Community Involvement (SCI). And under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the engagement record can be requested by anyone, with a response due within 20 working days.
Good consultation data management software should:
- Keep one record per stakeholder and per consultation, including survey responses alongside every other interaction
- Track every issue raised through to how it was considered and responded to
- Show who has and hasn't been reached, by initiative and by area
- Produce a structured, time-stamped account of the consultation on demand
- Control access by role, including for consultants and contractors
- Store data in a way that meets UK GDPR and UK data residency expectations
Why security and data residency matter for council consultation data
Consultation records hold residents' personal data, and everything in them can be disclosed under FOI. Where that data lives, and who can access it, are procurement questions from day one.
Certified security
Cyber Essentials certified, and ISO 27001:2022 and ISO 27017:2015 certified.
UK-hosted
Data for UK customers is hosted in the UK.
UK GDPR compliant
Consent and subscription preferences are managed in one place, and personal data can be redacted from public-facing reports.
Access control
Multi-factor authentication (MFA), single sign-on (SSO), role-based permissions and a dedicated Information Security Officer.
Secure AI
Customer data is never used to train AI models.
Available through G-Cloud 15
Buy through a call-off contract on the Digital Marketplace, with no full tender. G-Cloud is run by the Government Commercial Agency (GCA).
Jambo is trusted by governments and organizations worldwide
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): public consultation data management software
What you need to know about transforming public consultation data management with Jambo.
If you don't find the answer you're looking for, our friendly sales team is always here to help. You can contact us at hello@jambo.cloud.
What is public consultation data management?
It's how a council captures, organises and evidences every response, meeting and conversation in a consultation. Good consultation data management provides the council with a single record that shows what it heard, how it responded, and how those responses shaped the decision.
What are the Gunning Principles?
They're the four legal tests a lawful public consultation must meet: consultation at a formative stage, sufficient reasons for proposals, adequate time to respond, and conscientious consideration of responses before a decision. They come from R v Brent LBC, ex parte Gunning (1985), and were endorsed by the Supreme Court in R (Moseley) v Haringey LBC (2014).
Can a council consultation be challenged in court?
Yes. A consultation that fails the Gunning Principles can be challenged by judicial review, and the court can quash the decision. The council's defence depends on its record of the consultation, especially evidence that responses were conscientiously considered.
How long does a council have to answer an FOI request about a consultation?
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, a council must normally respond within 20 working days. With the consultation history in one searchable system, producing the record becomes a search, not a rebuild.
Is a survey tool enough to manage a public consultation?
A survey tool collects responses, but it doesn't capture the meetings, emails, letters and calls around a consultation. If a decision is challenged, you need the whole record. Jambo keeps survey responses alongside every other interaction.
How do we know staff have briefed stakeholders on a council initiative?
Log each briefing and tag it by initiative, then filter by that tag to see every stakeholder who's been contacted and identify those who haven't. You can also assign follow-up tasks to team members, so every agreed-upon briefing has an owner.
How is consultation data management software different from a CRM?
A CRM is built to move prospects through a sales pipeline. Consultation data management software is SRM software, built to maintain a complete, defensible record of engagement throughout a consultation and to demonstrate that responses were considered.
How does Jambo support the public sector equality duty (PSED)?
Jambo records who you engaged with, how, and where. Mapping engagement geographically shows where participation gaps remain, so you can reach communities you've missed and evidence how equality was considered.
Can councils buy Jambo through G-Cloud?
Is council consultation data secure and hosted in the UK with Jambo?
Jambo is trusted by governments and organizations worldwide
Ready to stop rebuilding the consultation record?
