‘Your Freedom' Campaign Brings Power To The People Citizen centric policy making right at the heart of Government

In the July 1st announcement by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg that “people, not policymakers” are the best judges of which “unnecessary laws” should be repealed, has been applauded by Objective Corporation, for its radical new approach to policy making.

Simon Etherington, UK General Manager, Objective Corporation, stated: “The Queen’s Speech gave us an insight into the new Government’s thinking, but this initiative is the most revolutionary development in modern British policy making ever. The real challenge will be whether this can be delivered efficiently as they ‘walk the walk’ when it comes to actively listening to the people.

“The approach is part of the Coalition’s attempt to redress the balance between the citizen and the state, and as part of Mr Clegg’s initiative, we are being invited to tell the Government what laws we would like to see repealed in what is already being called The Freedom Bill.”

Mr Clegg himself has said: “Today we are taking an unprecedented step. Based on the belief that it is people, not policymakers, who know best, we are asking the people of Britain to tell us how you want to see your freedom restored.

“We are calling for your ideas on how to protect our hard-won liberties and repeal unnecessary laws. And we want to know how best to scale back excessive regulation that denies businesses the space to innovate. We’re hoping for virtual mailbags full of suggestions. Every single one will be read, with the best put to Parliament.”

The Deputy Prime Minister asks people to concentrate on three areas:

•Laws that have eroded civil liberties.

•Regulations that stifle the way charities and businesses work.

•Laws that are not required and which are likely to see law-abiding citizens criminalised.

Simon continued: “This is going to be one of the biggest public consultation exercises ever as we are all being asked to come up with ideas and suggestions and write in via the Your Freedom website.  This really will be citizen centric policy making at its best!”

Once the ideas have been logged through the website, users will be able to comment and rate those which they believe should be considered by the Government.

Once sifted, assessments will be made on which laws should be repealed. They will then be included in a new Freedom Bill, which will be unveiled in the autumn.

“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.