What Are Consultations?
Consultations are exercises in seeking evidence and input to help design effective solutions to issues that the Government wants to address. In this sense, they are not referendums on policy.
The Government launches between 500 and 600 formal Consultations a year. The majority are largely technical in nature and address options for solving particular issues affecting small sectors of the economy.
Of course the Government will sometimes take policy decisions without Consultation. For example, you would not expect the Government to launch a Consultation on a policy that had been a manifesto commitment. However, it will often need to consult on the detail, such as how the policy is implemented.