Method
How a consultation works here
Four stages, two kinds of commitment, and one rule that makes the whole thing mean something: the office says what it will do with the answer before it asks.
The four stages
Stage 1
Announced
The office publishes the question, the sponsor, the deadline, the reason it is being asked and what it will do with the result. Nothing is hidden until after the answer.
Stage 2
Open
Responses are accepted. The count of responses is public; the responses themselves are not published individually.
Stage 3
Closed
The deadline passes and the result is published in full — every option, every tally, every percentage.
Stage 4
Outcome reported
The office publishes what it did with the result, including when it did something else and why. This is the stage that makes the others matter.
Advisory or consultative
Every poll carries one of two weights, published on the poll itself. The difference is what the office has promised to do with the answer.
Advisory
Sentiment is recorded and read
The office commits to read the result and to publish it. It does not commit to act on it — the decision may rest on legal limits, budget or a technical assessment the public has not seen.
6 of 15 polls
Consultative
The result is weighed in the decision
The office has committed to weigh the result in the decision and to publish how it was used. This is a stronger promise, and it is the one the portal is built to hold offices to.
9 of 15 polls
What an office must provide
A poll cannot be published without all six. This is what makes the result citable and what makes the office accountable for reading it.
- The question, written so a reasonable person can answer it without knowing the file.
- The sponsor — a named office and a named person, not a department in the abstract.
- The deadline, with the poll closing at a stated date and time.
- The reason — why this is being asked now, and what is already known.
- The use — what will actually be done with the result, and which of the two weights applies.
- Eligibility — who the office is asking.
What a result can and cannot tell you
What it shows
- The direction of opinion among people who chose to respond.
- Which option has more support, and by how much.
- Whether an office’s reading of its own public is accurate.
- Where the trade-offs are, when options are costed.
What it does not show
- A representative sample — responders self-select.
- How strongly anyone feels, only which option they picked.
- The views of people who did not know the poll existed.
- What should be done when options split the difference.
Results here are one input among several. They are strongest when read alongside the technical assessment and the budget, and weakest when used alone to settle a question the options were not designed to capture.
The register at a glance
Polls
15
Open
9
Closed
5
Responses
120,695
| Subject | Polls | Open | Responses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health | 3 | 1 | 12,107 |
| Transport | 2 | 1 | 18,177 |
| Environment | 2 | 2 | 17,509 |
| Education | 2 | 1 | 20,795 |
| Waste & Sanitation | 1 | 1 | 9,648 |
| Water & Drainage | 1 | 1 | 8,647 |
| Housing | 1 | 1 | 8,782 |
| Digital Services | 1 | 1 | 8,145 |
| Public Safety | 1 | 0 | 9,011 |
| Markets & Trade | 1 | 0 | 7,874 |