Agenda item

To review progress of the Partnership Communications Strategy one year from adoption (presentation of the Assistant Director – Corporate enclosed).

Consideration was given to presentation of the Assistant Director – Corporate, to review progress of the Partnership Communications Strategy one year from adoption.

The Communications Lead introduced the presentation which outlined:

• That the council had implemented the local government standard ‘CORE’ purpose communication model across the following four areas of work:
  • Strategic communications;
  • Media management;
  • External communication; and
  • Internal communication.
• An update on progress made since adoption of the strategy; and
• An outline of work still to do.

Members considered the presentation and made the following comments:

·       Members queried SHDC’s approach regarding ‘media management’. It was felt negative feedback should not be ignored and that responses which challenged/corrected misinformation posted by the public onto SHDC’s social media feeds were required.

·       The Communications Lead responded that:

o   Social media comments were viewed by the Communication Team. Where it was evident that a news story posted on SHDC’s social media had been misinterpreted, the Communications Team would address this with the release of further information;

o   Reponses were given to questions posted on SHDC’s social media platforms but not on third party pages such as Spotted Spalding. SHDC’s approach was not to respond to each and every comment but only when considered appropriate. Regarding inaccurate public comments made on social media platforms, each example was assessed on a case-by-case basis however consideration of a response would be made which may lead to a widely published article to address the points raised;

o   Messages posted on the SHDC Facebook page which included certain words, such as profanity, were filtered out and abusive comments directed at the council/officers could be hidden from public view. Negative comments were not hidden as a matter of course since all opinions, if not factually incorrect or abusive, were welcomed;

o   The ability of the public to post comments on Facebook could be removed however this would only be considered in very specific circumstances and had not yet been deemed necessary;

o   Members were encouraged to report any unresolved inaccuracies or untruths posted on the SHDC social media sites direct to the team via communications@sholland.gov.uk; and

o   Following processes in place at East Lindsey, a solution was being explored to unlock further engagement activity capacity for South Holland;

·       The Assistant Director – Corporate confirmed that:

o   Decisions to respond to public comments on SHDC’s social media platforms were assessed by the team on a case-by-case basis however engagement would not take place on third party sites;

o   It was expected that a response would be made where an identified inaccuracy had been posted to a SHDC platform however responses to comments relating to specific service areas required the input of relevant officers;

o   Where a public comment on a SHDC platform exceeded allowable standards, the comment could be deleted, hidden, or be responded to where necessary; and

o   The need for a social media policy had been identified to provide a framework for officers and would be presented to the Policy Development Panel in due course.

·       Members welcomed future pre-scrutiny of a new social media policy, with particular interest expressed regarding action to counteract the spread of untruths.

·       Members referred to the recruitment of two apprentices to the Communications Team and noted that one apprentice had been appointed to officer level within a ten-month period. Did the council usually attract such high-quality candidates or had this been a particularly impressive cohort.

o   The Communications Lead responded that apprenticeship recruitment considerations for school-leavers strongly focussed on aptitude, enthusiasm and pro-activity, with the view that technical skills would be learnt on the job. The appointed officer had excelled in these areas.

·       Members welcomed advances in the digital sphere, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), but were concerned that traditional communication formats remain available for those who relied on such methods.

o   The Communications Lead responded that:

·       Traditional communication methods remained crucial to the council;

·       Communication methods would only be removed where a purpose was no longer being served. This was currently being considered for ‘X’ (Twitter) where public engagement was not forthcoming; and

·       The utilisation of AI assisted with ‘back-end’ processes which therefore released capacity for ‘front-end’ officer engagement activity.

·       Members stated the importance of the member intranet site to provide information, such as relevant officer contacts. When would the site be reinstated?

o   The Communications Lead responded that the aim was for a new partnership member intranet site to be available by the end of December 2024. The site would include contact books, reporting tools, policies, an intelligence hub for ward level data, and quick links to other documents such as the policy registers and risk registers.  Member feedback would help shape future development of the site; and

o   The Assistant Director – Corporate added that:

§  Members were invited to take part in a member reference group to provide feedback on the member intranet prior to launch.

·       Cllr Gibson requested to be included in the member reference group; and

§  An updated contact book was due to be reissued in the New Year which would include the addition of senior officer contact information, and the contact details of Boston officer Alison Hull, the designated point of contact for members across the partnership for relevant officer information.

• Members had identified a public misconception regarding the remit and responsibilities of councillors. A communications piece was requested to clarify the difference between the powers of executive members, non-executive members and officers, and which differentiated between parish, district and county council responsibilities and common civil matters.
  • The Communications Lead welcomed the suggestion and would look to release a piece on the matters raised to coincide with the Local Government Association’s annual spring national campaign regarding local councillors.

• Members requested information regarding the ‘Neighbourhood’ WhatsApp channel.
  • The Communications Lead advised that:
    • WhatsApp ‘channels’ were distinct from WhatsApp ‘groups’ in that they were used solely for content output where subscribers received real-time information via newsfeeds;
    • WhatApp channels were deemed to be an effective tool in disseminating information especially in crisis situations; and
    • Whilst the WhatApp channel would be utilised district-wide, the council also utilised the Nextdoor App to relay information at ward level.

• Members queried how digital communication was released during a critical incident, such as loss of power.
  • The Assistant Director – Corporate responded that:
    • The county-wide ‘Lincolnshire Resilience Forum’ was in place to deal with both the effects of and the output response during emergency scenario emergencies;
    • The services of the BBC were embedded within the forum;
    • The forum regularly advised how the public should prepare for emergency scenarios such as the benefits of obtaining a ‘wind-up’ radio, and ensuring battery life on mobile phones; and
    • Traditional communication methods would also be utilised in emergency scenarios such as posting to local noticeboards and the cascading of information into communities by elected members.

• Members were grateful for the weekly ‘member update’ emails which were considered very helpful.

• Members thanked the Communications Lead for the update at the meeting and progress made.

AGREED:

That the progress of the Partnership Communications Strategy one year from adoption, be noted.