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Consultations begin life as 'open', move to 'closed' when the expiry date passes and finally become 'concluded' when the final response document is published.

Best practice for consultations

  • Never use the word 'consultation' in the page title and summary because that's the content type which will display with the title and summary
  • Use active voice for summary - 'we're inviting feedback on' or 'we're seeking views on' to invite responses 
  • Never change the summary and description text through the process - add new text to the relevant tabs instead
  • Tick the Consultation principles box in Whitehall which says 'We have considered the consultation principles' or you won't be able to save the page


  • Add the attachments to the right tab:
    • consultation docs and response forms go under 'attachments';
    • feedback docs go under 'public feedback' tab;
    • PHE/government response documents go under 'final outcome' tab.

Examples of a consultation


Here are some good examples of how to content design a consultation:

https://government-frontend.herokuapp.com/examples/consultation/best-practice-consultation

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/uk-smi-tp-12-deoxyribonuclease-test



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