Consultations stay on the same page of GOV.UK throughout their lifecycle. The status starts as Open and changes automatically:
Select the New document tab and click on Consultation.
Add a title and summary and enter some body copy of no more than 100 words which summarises the call for responses.
Enter the opening and closing dates.
Under Ways to respond, add the contact details for public responses. If youre providing a downloadable response form, add it here rather than uploading it with other attachments.
The consultation will automatically be tagged to your organisation. If more organisations are involved you can tag them under Lead organisations and Supporting organisations.
Schedule the publication for the opening date (you do not want the consultation to appear until it is open). Tick the box next to Schedule for publication and enter the date in the boxes that appear.
Select Save to go to the edition summary page, or Save and continue to add topic tagging. The attachments tab will not appear until you have saved the document.
Select Edit draft to edit the document and add attachments.
Select the Attachments tab.
Attach the main consultation document, plus any supporting documents that are part of the consultation, for example, technical papers, by clicking on Upload new file attachment.
Add links to supporting documents such as impact assessments in the body copy (impact assessments should be separate publications).
Select the Document tab, scroll down to the end of the page and click Save.
Click on Submit for 2nd eyes. The editor reviewing the page will need to click Schedule in order for the consultation to go live at the scheduled time.
When the consultation reaches its closing date the status changes to Closed, with the message We are analysing your feedback.
After the consultation has closed there may be some public feedback or other documents to add to the page before the consultation process is fully concluded.
Do not change the original text, this will move to the bottom with the sub heading Original consultation.
Select the Public feedback tab
Add text to summarise the update (maximum 100 words) in the Detail/summary field.
Click Save.
You can now upload any attachments about the public feedback by clicking on Upload new file attachment. This is an optional field.
Select the Document tab, scroll down to the end of the page and click Save.
Click on Submit for 2nd eyes. The editor reviewing the page will need to publish the consultation again for the Detail of feedback received section to appear on the consultation.
When the consultation is updated, the status remains as Closed. The new content shows at the top of the page under the title Detail of feedback received.
When the government response is ready, you should conclude the consultation.
Do not change the original text, this will move to the bottom with the sub heading Original consultation.
Open the document for editing and click on the Final outcome tab.
Add text in the Detail/Summary field to summarise the governments response (maximum 100 words).
Click on Save.
Upload documents that are part of the consultation as attachments, for example, the official government response and final impact assessment, by clicking on Upload new file attachment.
Documents produced as a result of the response should be published as separate publications and linked to, for example, implementation plans, command papers, new guidelines.
Select the Document tab, scroll down to the end of the page and click Save.
Click on Submit for 2nd eyes. The editor doing the review will need to publish the consultation for the the status changes to Outcome. The new content will show at the top of the page under the title Detail of outcome.
Do not add more information or attachments to the page after the government response has been published.