A number of strategies which are being implemented by the government are causing much furore among the Opposition, and the public in general, due to the fact that at times, they are put into effect without prior consultation.

This is definitely not in line with Labour’s pre election pledge, that it would listen to all stakeholders and then decide on what should be implemented or not.

To be fair, the government has embarked on a series of ‘A Government that listens’ sessions, and has evaluated feedback before taking certain decisions. However, in a number of instances, it has been lacking.

For instance, in the former health minister’s case, stakeholders such as the nursing union had many a time spoken out against Godfrey Farrugia’s implement first, consult later, or do not consult at all, attitude.

The UHM has now warned Chris Fearne, the newly appointed parliamentary secretary for health, not to go down the same road, lashing out at Dr Fearne for implying that the hospital’s in-house system could be sidelined. The union also hit out at the junior minister for failing to mention the union in an his plans. Dr Fearne was quoted as saying that was ready to work with stakeholders but only mentioned other unions such as the MUMN. According to the union, this sent a clear signal that for Dr Fearne, the UHM does not form part of the list of stakeholders in the health care sector, despite the majority of its members forming part of the health sector in some way or other.

One need not comment about the IIP scheme since enough has been said about the government’s lack of consultation, which led to an eventual backtrack on its citizenship-for-sale plans no less than four times.

Another concern is the education minister’s publication of a legal notice which gives him new powers to request private data of children, from ‘ability’ reports to the identity card number of students.

The news caused a furore and now the minister has now said that he is ready to consult with theKunsill Studenti Universitarji and the Opposition on the matter.

So one asks, if the minister had consulted with all stakeholders in the first place, would the issue have cropped up, fuelling doubts in the process?

The Opposition has also accused Mr Bartolo of implementing other strategies without prior consultation, such as the middle school concept, a move, which according to the Opposition, once reversed, could have severe implications on teachers and students.

One other example which lacked prior consultation is the education minister’s announcement that another form of streaming, or as the government calls it ‘banding’, would be introduced in schools as from September.

This news of the strategy was met by harsh criticism from the Faculty of Education. Here again, the minister called an urgent meeting with the faculty to discuss a way forward. The Equal Partners Foundation and a number of parents whose children have been diagnosed with learning difficulties also stated that they are worried over what would happen to their children.

But one cannot say that the minister has never consulted with educators though, and has held various meetings with teachers and heads of schools.

In comments to this newspaper, Mr Bartolo did say that he does not invite the media to meetings he holds since he is not calling such meetings for publicity.

But the key to achieving successful results is by involving all stakeholders and listening to those who have hands-on experience.