Typical outputs from Phase 1

As noted in Task 6, at the end of this phase, you may need to prepare a short internal briefing paper. This paper should be based on readily available evidence and data. It should help to establish whether you should further explore the policy ask. The briefing document will typically include:

• a statement of the policy demand
• the source of the demand
• the legitimacy of the demand in terms of responding to the political and public context
• consideration of relevant legal, political, or social ramifications of proceeding, or not proceeding, with the policy demand
• profile alternative approaches that could be explored to achieve the objectives
• an initial assessment of how feasible it is to meet the policy demand, including high-level budget estimates and any other implications, and
• a recommendation (read more on this below)

This recommendation should be based on evidence and help make an informed decision as to whether we should:

• reject the policy demand, or
• move to Phase 2 of the five-stage policy process. Phase 2 is about deepening our understanding of the policy demand

If we recommend moving to Phase 2, we should also list next steps.

The briefing document and recommendation should help us make an informed decision as to whether or not we need to explore the policy demand in more detail. If so, we will move into Phase 2 where we will conduct a more in-depth analysis of the policy issue.