Cynical
He added: “In place of the commitment to 12 week consultations, what we’ll be left with is an incredibly arbitrary system that will result in too little time being given to consultations on key policies and will severely limit the opportunities businesses and consumers group have to engage in public policy development and comment on the decisions that will most affect them."
“Make no mistake, this is a real step backwards and the Government’s decision to impose this new rules unilaterally and without consultation should send a shiver down the spine of anyone with a interest in public policy formulation.”
"Announcing this on the day Parliament rose for a long summer recess lasting several months was extraordinarily cynical.”
Whitehouse said the “retrograde” move would lead to consultations as short as two weeks.
Chris Whitehouse, managing director of the Whitehouse Consultancy, said the new arrangement would lead to shorter consultations, which would,“hamstring food businesses’ ability to contribute to policy development and comment on Government plans.”
