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There are seven principles which we will follow for each written consultation.

Before the consultation

1. Where possible, we will hold informal talks with people and organisations before announcing a big consultation to find out whether we are thinking in the right direction. If we do not have enough time to do this, we will hold an open meeting to explain our proposals shortly after announcing the consultation.

During the consultation

2. We will be clear about who we are consulting, why, on what questions and for how long.

3. We will make the consultation document as short and as simple as possible, with a summary of no more than two pages. We will try to make it as easy as possible for respondents to give us a written response. If the consultation is complicated, we may provide a shortened version for smaller organisations or individuals who would otherwise not be able to spare the time to share their views.

4. We will normally allow ten weeks for responses, other than on dispute resolution.

5. There will be a person within Ofcom who will be in charge of making sure we follow our own guidelines and reach out to the largest number of people and organisations interested in the outcome of our decisions. This individual (who we call the consultation champion) will also be the main person to contact with views on the way we run our consultations.

6. If we are not able to follow one of these principles, we will explain why. This may be because a particular issue is urgent. If we need to reduce the amount of time we have set aside for a consultation, we will let those concerned know beforehand that this is a 'red flag consultation' which needs their urgent attention.

After the consultation

7. We will look at each response carefully and with an open mind. We will give reasons for our decisions and will give an account of how the views of those concerned helped to shape those decisions.

We think it is important for everyone interested in an issue to see the views of others during a consultation. We would usually publish on our website all of the responses we have received.

We would prefer for people and organisations to give us views which they would be happy to see in public. However, if those who have responded to a consultation tell us that some or all of their views must stay confidential, we will respect this.

We will also:

• list these seven principles in every consultation document that we publish;
• run a consultation helpdesk - to help organisations such as small businesses and consumer and community groups make their views heard in response to our consultations; for more details contact Philip Rutnam on 020 7981 3585, and;
• keep a table on our website at www.ofcom.org.uk listing all current consultations, those recently closed and (as far as possible) those we are planning in the near future. The table will include a brief summary of each document.

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