Agenda item

To consider the progress made against the actions within the Communications Strategy Action Plan during 2017/18 and to endorse the Action Plan for 2018/19.

15.1           The report of the Head of Corporate Services, circulated at Pages No. 132-146, gave an update on the delivery of the Communications Strategy Action Plan.  Members were asked to consider the progress that had been made during 2017/18 and to endorse the action plan for 2018/19.

15.2           The Interim Communications and Policy Manager explained that communication was at the heart of everything the Council did and clear communication helped to strengthen links with the public, residents, stakeholders, Members and staff.  It had been a very busy year with focus on providing continued support for the Public Service Centre; the Joint Core Strategy; new waste rounds; the new garden waste system; and the introduction of the new format of Tewkesbury Borough News.  In addition, the team had continued to produce all internal communications and had dealt with a significant number of media enquiries as well as producing regular newsletters and annual reports for various audiences.  It was noted that the Communications and Policy Manager and the Communications Officer had been on maternity leave during the year and contingency plans had been put in place to ensure there was no detrimental impact on day-to-day communications and delivery of the action plan. 

15.3           The majority of actions had been delivered or were ongoing and this was reflected in the action plan at Appendix 1 to the report.  With regard to the digital strategy, Members were advised that a great deal of work had been done in relation to online forms during the year; this action would carry over into 2018/19 as there was an ongoing need to support the digital strategy.  A short course on the Council’s approach to social media had been developed and this would be rolled out between June and September.  It was noted that Members had been briefed previously and one to one training had also been offered.  The Council’s media protocol had been reviewed and, whilst no major changes had been made, it was felt that the social media aspects warranted a more in-depth review during the forthcoming year.  Whilst the recommendation to issue a minimum of two press releases per week had been achieved on average, they were becoming less relevant with the popularity of social media and this needed to be recognised as an important platform for promoting the Council.  The review of internal communications had raised a number of questions but there was an opportunity to provide a more streamlined service using Office 365 and these ideas would be brought to Members at the appropriate time.  The Interim Communications and Policy Manager explained that opportunities had been taken to use video content, where appropriate, and this had been effective in increasing the number of likes and followers on social media.  It was noted that the Council had secured a double page spread in the Association of Public Service Excellence (APSE) magazine early in the year based on the Council’s approach to transformation and promoting the Council’s achievements in the local government arena would continue to be an aim for the forthcoming year. With regard to the production of an annual forward action plan for communication opportunities, Members were informed that the introduction of Free Plug Friday on social media had resulted in the creation of a diary which was populated with upcoming events and corporate services projects.  Consideration was being given as to how this could be shared with the wider Council in order to gain greater awareness of upcoming communication opportunities.  She went on to explain that an email survey had been sent to all Town and Parish Councils to seek feedback on how the Parish Matters newsletter could be improved; there had only been 12 responses, three of which had stated that they did not read it.  It was thought that the content may be being received elsewhere, e.g. social media, press releases, Tewkesbury Borough News, and it was intended to raise this at the next Town and Parish Council Seminar as the future of the newsletter was dependent on engagement from the Parishes.  Members noted that the Council’s followers on Facebook had increased by 48% over the year - from 992 to 1,463 - and 2,964 followers had been gained on Twitter which was an increase of 1,240%.  Whilst this was good progress, there was still a lot to do in this area.  The proposed action plan for 2018/19 was set out at Appendix 2 and the Interim Communications and Policy Manager welcomed questions from Members.

15.4           A Member drew attention to Page No. 145 of the report which included an action to review ways to make the intranet a one-stop shop for staff and he asked that Members be included as they could not currently access the intranet.  The Interim Communications and Policy Manager understood that access would be possible through Office 365 therefore it was thought Members would be able to use the intranet in the future.  The Head of Corporate Services noted that this issue had been raised before and he provided assurance that it would be considered by the new ICT Operations Manager who had been formally appointed earlier that day.

15.5           A Member was disappointed to hear that only 12 Parish Councils had responded to the survey about Parish Matters.  The Interim Communications and Policy Manager advised that read receipts were attached to the emails and less than half were opened so clearly something needed to change.  Another Member raised concern that there were no communications in relation to grass cutting until the press release had been issued and he felt there could have been an interim response to at least acknowledge there was a problem.  In response, Members were informed that this was a conscious decision and a press release had been prepared when the issue had first arisen for circulation if, and when, the problem escalated.  The feedback on social media had been monitored and this had been fed back to the relevant Officers.  Had a decision been taken to issue a response on social media, Members would have received this information at the same time; however, it had been decided that the matter would be taken to the Executive Committee.  The Chief Executive felt that the Member had a good point in terms of how communications with Councillors had been handled but this related to the team dealing with the issues rather than the Communications Team.   He recognised that there were a number of lessons to be learnt from the grass cutting issues this year and these would be picked up in the action plan.  The Communications Officer clarified that the Council had responded to people on social media but it had taken a reactive approach rather than a proactive one.

15.6           Having considered the information provided, it was

RESOLVED          That the progress made against the actions within the Communication Strategy Action Plan during 2017/18 be NOTED and that the action plan for 2018/19 be ENDORSED.