FINANCIAL/BUDGET
IMPLICATIONS
8. There
are no financial implications.
LEGAL
IMPLICATIONS
9. There is legislation controlling
publicity by the Council. This is
specifically aimed at ensuring that the Council’s formal publicity is primarily
informative and does not appear to be designed to affect support for a
particular political party. The proposed revision to the Protocol will
strengthen our arrangements around this to ensure that we do indeed follow the
legislative requirements.
OPTIONS
10.
1. To
agree the suggested revised protocol as attached at Appendix 2.
2. To
agree an alternative protocol.
EVALUATION
11.
As explained above, all Local Authorities need
to publicise their activities so as to keep the residents of their area fully
informed. However all Council publicity needs to be undertaken having regard to
the Code of Practice.
12.
The attached revised protocol has been drawn up
in line with the Code and reflects the local situation. Any alternatives would
still be required to comply with the National Code.
13.
To be totally effective the protocol needs to be
capable of easy amendment. This report asks Cabinet to agree the new protocol.
In order to facilitate amendments in future it is proposed that amendments in
future are agreed by the Head of Communications in consultation with the
relevant Cabinet
member.
RISK MANAGEMENT
14.
In the absence of a protocol there is a significant risk that the
council may inadvertently breach the national code and best practice. The
adoption of this code will help to prevent this happening.
|
RECOMMENDATIONS
15.
That:
a. The Cabinet approves the suggested
revised Communications Protocol as attached at Appendix 2.
b. Future
amendments to this protocol are delegated to the Head of Communications in
consultation with the relevant Cabinet Member.
|
APPENDICES
Appendix
1: Extract from revised Constitution
Appendix
2: Draft Communications Protocol
Contact
Point : Julia Corkey, Head of
Communications, 01983 823107, [email protected]
|
JOE
DUCKWORTH
Chief
Executive
|
CLLR
TIM HUNTER-HENDERSON
Cabinet Member for The Economy, The Customer, Communications, Leisure and
Tourism
|
Appendix 1
Communications Protocol
The council’s communications will be guided at all
times by the Government’s code of recommended practice on local authority
publicity. (http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1133861)
This code of practice emphasises that the
role of publicity is to be informative and should be well balanced and
objective.
Local authorities are accountable to their electorate. Local accountability
requires local understanding. This will be promoted by local authorities
explaining their objectives and policies to their electors and ratepayers. In
recent years authorities have increasingly used publicity to keep the public
informed, and to encourage greater participation. Local authorities also need
to tell the public about the services which they provide. Increasingly, local
authorities see the task of making the public aware of the services available
as an essential part of providing all kinds of services. Good, effective
publicity, aimed at improved public awareness of a council's activities, is to
be welcomed. This Code is not intended to discourage such publicity.
(Extract from code)
The council’s communications protocol outlines the
council’s communications processes. It covers the legal framework, the role of the communications team,
principles of effective communication, council spokespeople, clearing and
dissemination of press releases, handling media enquiries and interviews,
corporate identity and council publications.
It also deals with publicising the work
of Full Council, the Cabinet
and the council’s Scrutiny and Policy Commissions.
The Council’s Cabinet is
the guardian of the communications protocol.
It will be reviewed regularly to ensure it is kept up to date. A copy of
the protocol (as approved and updated by the Cabinet)
will be attached.
There are also clear guidelines for
publicity in the run-up to the elections. These guidelines are available from
the Head of Communications and will be appended to the communications protocol
before the election period commences.
APPENDIX
2
Draft Communications Protocol
Introduction
The purpose of this protocol
is to explain the council’s processes, quality standards and principles in
relation to communications activity. It
offers guidance and a clear set of rules which both officers and members are
required to uphold.
It is not the council’s
communications strategy, which is agreed each year and forms the Communications
team workplan. In delivering the communications strategy the council will
uphold this protocol at all times.
The
legal framework
Local authorities are
required by section 4(1) of the Local Government Act 1986 (as amended by the
LGA 1988) to have regard to the code of recommended practice on local authority
publicity (insert link) in coming to any decision on publicity.
The code recognises that
local authorities are accountable to the electorate and local accountability
requires local understanding. Local
authorities also need to tell the public about the services which they
provide. The code encourages effective
publicity aimed at improved public awareness of the council’s activities. However publicity is a sensitive matter in
any political environment because of the impact it can have. It is essential to ensure that proper
decisions are made on publicity in accordance with clear principles of good
practice. The purpose of the code is to
set out those principles.
The council fully adheres to
the government’s code of best practice on local government publicity in all its
communications activity.
The
role of the communications team
i.
We will raise awareness and improve understanding of
council services through communications, which are timely, accurate, clear and
accessible.
ii.
We will aspire to deliver the highest standards of
council communications, implementing existing best practice from other
authorities.
iii.
We will serve the council and offer our best support
and advice to officers and members.
iv.
We will observe all relevant legislation and comply
with the Code of Conduct on Local Government Publicity.
v.
We will proactively develop relationships with Island organisations, broadcast, print and specialist
media and others to maximise PR opportunities for the council.
vi.
We will use proactive communications to protect and
enhance the reputation of the council, recruit and retain good staff and help
win additional resources for the Island.
vii.
We will use internal communications to engage staff,
increase understanding of the One Island/One Council agenda and explain the
challenges we face in changing the organisation.
viii.
We will design communication campaigns that change
public perceptions and increase take up of services.
Principles
of effective communication
- PRIORITY: Effective
communications in terms of informing, listening and explaining to
stakeholder groups is regarded as a priority by the authority.
- STRATEGY: We will use proactive communications to
promote the Island, protect and enhance the reputation of the council,
recruit and retain good staff and help win additional resources for the Island.
- THE MESSAGE: We are proud of this authority
because it delivers good value local services that are raising standards
and creating opportunity on the Isle of Wight.
- OPERATIONS: The corporate communications team is
responsible for the operational delivery of the media relations,
publications, web content and core internal communications of the council.
- POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS: We will develop positive
relationships with Island organisations,
media and others to maximise promotional opportunities for the council. We
will vigorously defend the reputation of the Council and rebut inaccurate
reporting of the council’s activities and plans.
- PLANNING: The communications team will produce an
annual communications work plan based around delivering corporate
activities such as the media service and One Island
and delivering a series of campaigns that support service objectives. We
will schedule activity through the Communications Grid to forecast likely
demands on time and significant news events. Members and officers must
feed news events into the communications team on a weekly basis.
- ONE VOICE: Officers and members recognise their
leading role in terms of actions and behaviours in building the reputation
of the authority. They should act, and communicate consistently, taking
responsibility and explaining the reasons for decisions. The credibility
of the media team rests on the fact that it is the authoritative and
accurate voice of the Council. All media requests are channelled through
communications and any direct approaches from journalists should be
reported back to the team.
- PATIENCE AND PERSISTENCE: Building reputation and
strong brand values will take a significant amount of time. It will
require discipline, patience and time. Members and officers will have to
use every media opportunity, marketing tools such as One Island, internal
communications and action following consultation to convince the public
that the Isle of Wight is providing good
value local services.
Spokespeople
and media comment
- The usual divide
between officer and member comment is based on whether the story contains
‘policy’ matters (Member comment) or ‘operational issues’ (Officers’
response). In practice the dividing lines can be blurred and so the media
team will gauge what sort of spokesman will be required to respond to a
story – authoritative or compassionate, officer or Member.
The Council’s key
spokesmen are: The Leader of the council and his deputy, Cabinet members within their
portfolios and Cabinet
Secretaries. They will
be featured in any council publicity where it relates to their responsibility
on the council.
The Chief
Executive, Directors and senior managers (as agreed by the communications team)
will also act as spokesmen on their area of expertise, ensuring any comment is
based on factual information in line with council policy.
Council officers
will not discuss council business with the press without the prior permission
of the communications team. This
includes speaking, emailing, writing or giving interviews. All press enquiries should be referred to the
communications team.
No officer should
publicise confidential information gained in the course of their work,
maliciously undermine the council by adverse or negative comments, take
personal issues concerning their employment to the media or bring the council
into disrepute by their actions or views expressed.
No member should
discuss or disclose confidential or exempt information to the media, impugn the
professional integrity of officers, make personal attacks or undermine respect
for officers or bring the council into disrepute as a corporate body in any
public forum, but this is not intended to inhibit proper political scrutiny of
the administration.
- The credibility of the
media team rests on the fact that it is the authoritative and accurate
voice of the council. It is essential that all media requests are
channelled through communications and that any direct approaches from
journalists be reported back to the team to deal with.
Drafting
and clearing press releases
- There is a substantial
amount of confusion between a press release and a story. A press release
is just one vehicle we use for transferring information from a press
office to a journalist. It is not the subsequent story that will appear in
the newspaper or on the TV. It is crucially important to remember this
when you are drafting or approving press releases. They are really just
adverts for a particular story. What will get them covered is the ability
to deploy supporting arguments in terms of expert witnesses, new evidence,
interesting figures or punchy comments.
- In most cases it is
expected that clearance for media comment and press releases will occur by
the end of the day when comment or clearance is requested, with a target
clearance time of four hours.
- If clearance is not
forthcoming from the Cabinet
Member or Director, the communications team will contact
the next person in the chain of command to ensure deadlines can be met.
Full
Council, Cabinet
and other decision-making bodies
A media officer will be
assigned to cover the activities of all key decision making bodies to ensure
the decisions that are taken are clearly communicated to the relevant target
audiences.
Where appropriate press releases
will be issued with agendas highlighting key items as agreed with the leader,
portfolio holder or chief executive. Quotes may be included from the leader,
appropriate portfolio holder or chair to explain and publicise council policies
and services.
Motions and questions from
individual councillors shown on any agenda will not be publicised through the
communications team.
If appropriate a press
release will be issued following the meeting, describing a decision and quoting
the leader, portfolio holder or chairman.
All communication relating
to the work of any decision making body must be agreed by the council’s
communications team. Any comment made by
the chair of any of these committees in relation to the work of their committee
must come though the communications team.
The head of communications
will make the decision on requests for press releases from decision-making body
chairmen. In the event of a dispute the
final decision will be taken by the chief executive.
Scrutiny
Committee and Policy Commissions
A media officer will be
assigned to cover the activities of the Scrutiny committee and the Policy
commissions to ensure the work of these bodies is effectively communicated.
Where appropriate press
releases will be issued with agendas highlighting key items as agreed with the
Scrutiny Chair or Policy Commissioner as relevant. Quotes may be included from
the Scrutiny Chair or Policy Commissioner to explain and publicise the work of
scrutiny or the policy commission.
In the case of both the
scrutiny or policy commissions, appropriate senior officers will be consulted
on the preparation of press releases.
All communication relating
to the work of the scrutiny committee or policy commissions must be agreed by
the council’s communications team. Any
comment made by the Scrutiny Chair or a Policy Commissioner in relation to the
work of their committee must come though the communications team.
The head of communications
will make a decision on requests for press releases from either scrutiny or
policy commissions. In the event of a
dispute the final decision will be taken by the chief executive.
Individual
councillors
Press releases will not be
issued by the communications team on behalf of individual councillors.
Individual councillors
should make their own group leaders aware of any media activity they are
undertaking and should keep the communications team informed in case of
enquiries.
The communications unit will
not promote the views of individual councillors.
