|
Return
to Agenda
ITEM EX5
EXECUTIVE
– 14 MAY 2002
CORPORATE
COMMUNICATIONS REVIEW
Report
by Director for Strategy
Introduction
- This report implements
the "Raising our Performance" commitments on strengthening
our communication and responds to a request by the Executive for a review
of all the County Council’s communications activities. It contains a
series of proposals for expanding the scope and scale of these activities.
- The proposals
have been made after evaluating feedback from:
- members of the
public
- councillors
and staff
- the IDeA peer
review
- other authorities
- the Local Government
Association.
- For clarity I
divide the proposals into five key communications areas.
The Media
- As MORI observed
"Few are as powerful in affecting the way people think about things
as the media" - a statement as true for our own colleagues as it
is for the wider public. "The news", be it via newspapers,
radio broadcasts or television, is how most people find out about most
things. Journalists and their readers/listeners are the eyes and ears
of a community and can be a very accurate barometer.
- Some County Council
services recognise this already. Others have been slower to use the
opportunities of media coverage to publicise our services within the
Oxfordshire community and pick up weaknesses and failings.
- Proposals:
- With the endorsement
of the County Council Management Team a plan has been developed to
strengthen the Media and Communications Unit so that it can provide
a fuller and more focused service. This will include a new programme
of member/officer media training and the introduction of a detailed
monthly assessment of how the Council is performing - and perceived
as performing - by the media and the wider community to help us identify
problems as they occur and deal with them fast and effectively.
Publications, Branding
and Buildings
- The look and feel
of an organisation’s public face are its enduring showcase. Smart (not
necessarily expensive) publications, clear signs and branding and clean,
tidy buildings stocked with up to date notices and leaflets communicate
more than just information. They convey professionalism, competence
and the value we attach to communication not just to our public but
to our staff as well.
- Proposals:
- Establish Community
Information Points in key County Council buildings and co-ordinate
a programme of work to ensure all buildings are properly signed and
stocked with information and look welcoming and tidy, within available
resources.
- Audit all existing
County Council publications to ensure the best use is being made of
materials to promote the Council’s services and ensure they are accessible
to all.
- Publish a County
Council magazine (see Annex A).
Website
- Almost as fast
as electronic information has established itself as a key communications
medium, expectation of what it can provide has grown to almost unmanageable
proportions.
- The County Council’s
newly-launched website is a great improvement on its old one, but there
is scope for it to be more interactive. So while we can take heart that
we have got this far there is much more to be done.
- Proposals:
- Use our new
electronic information capacity as creatively and constructively as
possible to inform the community about our work and the services available
to them.
Consultation
- The County Council
Consultation Officer joined the Media and Communications Team in March,
a logical move given the importance of consultation to effective communications.
But one Consultation Officer alone cannot hope to offer an effective
full-scale service to an organisation as large as Oxfordshire County
Council.
- Proposals:
- The Consultation
Officer to maximise her effectiveness by concentrating principally
on major corporate consultations and acting in an "adviser only"
capacity on smaller projects.
Internal Communications
- Internal communications
are perceived by many within the County Council as being less than adequate.
Much of the criticism focuses on improving processes beyond the remit
of the corporate communications team – e.g. introducing team briefing
arrangements – but there are other areas where we can and should redefine
the part we play.
- Proposals:
- Make "The
Post "a larger, brighter, fortnightly publication that includes
a section where services might wish to include "Items for Information".
The vacancies list could be published as a stand-alone in the intervening
weeks.
- Seek ways to
increase distribution of The Post within the Council.
- Cease publication
of the Members’ Bulletin and include some of the information that
would have appeared in The Bulletin in the Post instead.
- Publish a revised
edition of Going Public, our staff guidance manual to communications,
to include all our latest advice on media handling, publications,
the website and consultation.
Finance
- The costs are
estimated at £175,000 and these funds have been identified through efficiency
savings in services.
RECOMMENDATION
- The Executive
is RECOMMENDED to approve the proposals contained in the report.
STEPHEN
CAPALDI
Director for
Strategy
Background
Papers: Nil
Contact Officer: Nicky
Kirkwood, Head of Media and Communications. Tel: Oxford 815266
May
2002
Return to TOP
|