To consider the revised Social Media Policy and Guidelines and recommend to the Executive Committee that it be approved.

63.1          The report of the Head of Corporate Services, circulated at Pages No. 54-64, attached, at Appendix 1, the revised Social Media Policy and Guidelines.  Members were asked to recommend to the Executive Committee that the revised Policy and Guidelines be approved.

63.2          The Corporate Services Manager explained that the Social Media Policy and Guidelines had been introduced in 2015 and it had been considered prudent to undertake a review at this point in order to ensure they remained relevant and reflected best practice for local government.  The Social Media Policy and Guidelines set out the Council’s approach to social media and the expectations in terms of managing its use.  It was a helpful reference for anyone working for the authority who was actively involved in using social media, as well as being an important way to ensure communication was consistent and a tool for enhancing the Council’s brand.  Social media had grown significantly since the policy was first introduced and was now one of the main channels of communication allowing Officers to communicate with, and respond to, members of the community on an immediate basis.  Social media was a friendly, approachable way for the Council to engage with the community and customers recognised they could rely on those channels for advice, for instance, in adverse weather conditions such as snow or flooding.  The proposed main changes were outlined at Page No. 56, Paragraph 4.1 of the report and related to the inclusion of Instagram as a social media channel used by the Communications team; the recommendation that Members help to promote the Council’s messages to their social media followers by sharing content from the corporate accounts on their own pages; and an explanation of why the Council did not currently interact on Facebook noticeboards.

63.3           A Member asked whether new social media platforms, such as Tik Tok, were considered for use by the Council and how often that was reviewed.  In response, the Communications Officer advised that social media platforms were reviewed regularly and, as stated at Page No. 55, Paragraph 3.1 of the report, the ones currently used by the authority were Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.  Social media was constantly evolving with new platforms coming forward and growing in popularity – whilst Tik Tok was not something which the Council was considering using at this point, a few years ago it would have been unthinkable for the Council to have an Instagram account so it was possible that it would become relevant at some stage and a corporate account would be created if and when that was the case.  A Member recognised the 24/7 nature of social media and he asked what processes were in place to manage that.  The Corporate Services Manager explained that it was made clear via the social media channels that they were only managed during working hours; however, if there were any emergencies, these were managed between the Communications team with a rota being developed if necessary to ensure the responsibility did not lie with any one individual.  In response to a query regarding moderation, the Corporate Services Manager explained that, on the rare occasion it was needed, action would be taken immediately. 

63.4           A Member questioned whether a Social Media Policy was in place as part of employees’ code of conduct in terms of personal social media use and the Corporate Services Manager undertook to check following the meeting.  The Chief Executive pointed out that the authority did not monitor staff personal use of social media as that would be too resource intensive; however, staff did agree to general terms and conditions of employment which required that they must not bring the Council into disrepute and, should an issue arise, it would be a disciplinary matter.  Another Member asked what training was available for staff and Members and was advised that training sessions had been run previously, particularly for Members, and the Communications Strategy required a further session to be delivered so it was hoped to run a Member seminar early in the New Year on the approach to social media, with a separate session for those staff involved in managing the Council’s social media accounts.

63.5           The Head of Corporate Services indicated that the resourcing of the Communications team had been raised at a previous meeting of the Committee with a growth bid having been submitted for a permanent Communications Officer post.  He was pleased to report that, following a reshuffle of hours within the Corporate team, this could be funded through existing resources so there were now two Communications Officer positions within the base budget.

63.6           It was

RESOLVED          That it be RECOMMENDED TO THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTTEE that the Social Media Policy and Guidelines be APPROVED.