The “Talk” is being “Talked” – the challenge is for government at all levels to “Walk” the “Walk”.

The Coalition Government has invited the general public to take part in an unprecedented internet consultation on the spending review that it says will help to determine where spending should be cut.

David Cameron announced today plans for “a process to engage and involve the whole country in the difficult decisions that will have to be taken.”

Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, and Chancellor George Osborne, have both stressed the need to “bring people along” through widespread debate and consultation.

Treasury ministers are drawing inspiration from Canada, whose government tackled its huge national deficit in the 1990’s by slashing federal budgets by 20 per cent over four years. Indeed the Treasury itself has said that it will be “open to the public generating new ideas” for the way that public services should be run.

Simon Etherington, UK General Manager, Objective, stated: “The Queen’s Speech gave us the first insight into the Coalition’s thinking as it strives to rebalance the relationship between State and citizen.  This is a dramatic step toward citizen driven policy making as it is an unprecedented act of public engagement. The key issue now is how this will be delivered.”

“Internet consultations have not always had the most positive reputation in UK politics with Downing Street petitions seen by many as ineffectual.  However, what is clear from the statements being made by Coalition Ministers is that this is an integral part of the radical approach this Government is making in citizen engagement,” he added.

“The technology is there to connect the citizen with Government that can deliver meaningful consultation in a controlled way, and as part of the overall policy development lifecycle, not as a one-off online interaction. Such an approach to policy lifecycle management can be used to deliver better policies with wide consultation and engagement, while at the same time achieve substantial cost savings. We have seen this on a smaller scale with our 250 local government customers,” concluded Simon.