What is Policy?    

Policy is a set of ideas and proposals for political action that culminates in government decision, usually in the form of rule or regulation enforceable by law. Public policy is any government decision which affects the public and public services this could be through legislation, regulations or funding.

Policy is generally held to be created through a three stage process comprising initial proposals, formulation of the policy and implementation.

1. The Initial proposal stage usually includes consultancy from non-party sources such as ministerial department debates, select committees and private member’s bills.
2. The formulation stage will often have scrutiny by royal commissions, formal enquiries and taskforces.
3. The implementation stage involves the publication consultation documents (green and white papers).

The green paper outlines the policy proposals while the white paper outlines future policy proposals. Once this period ends the policy is presented as a parliamentary bill and after adequate debate by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords becomes an Act of Parliament.

The NCVO guide is available at: http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/what-policy