I wanted to give Ken a hug last week and say you’re doing OK – keep going. He looked so miserable, sitting alone at his little desk towards the front of the stage at ‘Peoples Question Time’.

This is a twice-yearly event where Mayor and Assembly face ‘the people’ and answer public questions. The first had been in central London. This one was south of the river, and next time, hopefully, the road-show will come north. So be ready!

We (the Assembly) sit in two lines along the back of the stage, like some dreadful chorus line, only less decorative and certainly less entertaining. A minor celebrity chaired the event. Ken Livingstone was definitely not his usual chirpy self. Not surprising given that this was the day he had announced he was taking Labour to court over its plans to sell-off and privatise the Tube. Maybe he was thinking that this might not be the best way for him to win friends and influence the party into whose womb he reportedly wishes to climb back. No – the ‘cheeky chappy’ was definitely downbeat.

Or maybe his low spirits were caused by the fact that it is so desperately difficult to engage ‘the people’ successfully. There wasn’t adequate time for a real debate or argy-bargy. Ten minutes for policing. Ten minutes for equalities. Ten minutes for housing, etc. Transport was given longer – but of course there is so much that people want to discuss – but in the end the answers are always much the same and predictable.

Ken answered each question first – followed by a relevant member of the Assembly or two. From the feedback we got, it would seem that the audience felt Ken should have said more and the Assembly less. Thanks a lot folks! It confirms my view that much of London barely knows that there are 25 elected members of London government – let alone what we do. If people don’t know who we are, or what we do, how can we sensibly be held to account at the next London elections?

But how can we engage people? It is easy to be cynical about these events. I feel they serve a purpose – if only that the Mayor and Assembly actually go out into an area outside of central London and put themselves directly in the firing line. Perhaps it’s difficult because people have been turned off by previous consultation processes that were actually public relations exercises by their local councils to push something through?

Consultation should be an engaging experience that informs and affects outcome. Sometimes it works. For example, “Planning for Real” – involving local communities in decisions over regeneration projects on their estates – was done properly and did produce wonderful results.

However, over-consultation – particularly when it is used as a thin cover for already closed minds – is devaluing this genuinely valuable and democratic tool. What an earth are people to make of the current consultation across, not only London, but the whole country, on what form of local council structures we want?

I just came back from a week-end away with two friends and assorted children and I was telling them that I was minded to write a column on consultation. They started telling me about consultations they had recently received – one on the new forms of local governance and one on what sort of secondary education she wanted in the borough.

‘What do I know?’ asked one friend. ‘I don’t have the information to make a real contribution to this. What’s the point? They don’t listen anyway!’ And the other said: ‘Do we want a Mayor and Council Manager? Do we want a cabinet and Leader? How the hell should I know? How can I judge?’

We still have to try though. And Ken is one of the few politicians (outside of Liberal Democrats of course!) who I believe is genuine in wanting to engage with the public to find out what they really think. So cheer up Mayor!

(c) Lynne Featherstone, 2001