External and Internal Communications Strategy

External and Internal Communications Strategy 2022-2025

Information is one of the Council’s most important ‘frontline’ services

Residents and all stakeholders need information about Council services, what’s going on in the Borough, who to contact, what the Council is doing and more about services which contribute to their quality of life.

Residents pay Council Tax to Rushcliffe Borough Council; in return they expect a variety of services, delivered to a high quality, that meet their needs, in order to understand these needs the Council needs to engage with and listen to its residents.
The easier it is for them to access these services, or to find out information about what their Council Tax is being spent on, the more satisfied they are – and happy residents make for a happy Borough.

Ipsos MORI, and others, have carried out research which confirms that the more informed residents are, the more satisfied they are with their council.

And if residents’ aren’t informed, there is a natural reluctance to engage positively with our services, our activities, our plans and our proposals, further deepening the rift between the Council and the community it serves.

There is also some information to suggest that residents are more likely to engage with a council where it is clear that residents’ views are taken into account and where they feel they can influence decisions, in line with those made my councillors.

This means that the production of quality communications highlighting the strategic development work of the Council as well as the delivery of direct, frontline services is an essential factor in continuing to make Rushcliffe a great place to live and work.

To be effective, this information needs to be timely and engaging, clear and accurate, inclusive and informative as well as utilising a variety of channels and mediums to ensure as many residents as possible are informed.

Not only is this critical to strengthening our relationship our residents and the communities they live in but it is also crucial to ensuring we continue to deliver our vision for the Borough, our priorities and our activities which have all been designed to meet the needs and desires of our residents.

Equally, keeping internal stakeholders such as councillors and staff fully engaged with a comprehensive range of channels is ever more important in an era when the COVID-19 pandemic has further changed the manner of where and how people perform their roles in the organisation.

It means this strategy, underpinned by its respective action plans has now been extended from its 2018-2021 version to now include an internal communications strategy, acknowledging the increasing need to keep staff, councillors and other internal parties up to date consistently and effectively to maximise these audiences feeling ever more integrated and connected to the Council’s internal objectives.

Our latest research shows that 84% of Rushcliffe’s residents feel satisfied with their local area as a place to live (2021). The ‘Putting People First’ survey carried out by the Local Government Association showed nationally the figure for district councils stands at 55%. In
addition:

The research also showed:

• 64% of residents think the Council keeps them well informed
• 83% of Rushcliffe’s residents are aware of our event’s programme
• 59% of Rushcliffe’s residents are satisfied with the ways they can contact the Council
• 55% of Rushcliffe’s residents trust the Council

The figures are just one indicator of the value we place on communicating with our residents to ensure they continue to be satisfied and feel well informed, we must ensure we continue to think creatively and explore new, and ever more effective, methods of communication.

However, we appreciate that residents are not our only stakeholders and that others, such as partners, businesses, other councils and in some areas central government and its departments, also need to ‘hear’ what the Council is doing.

In order to meet these differing stakeholder needs and meet the personal preferences of our residents the Council will continue to communicate using as many different methods and channels as it can.

It is generally well received by residents and a key source of information about the Borough and services provided by the Council.

It also publishes leaflets and brochures about the specific services it offers, such as the Rushcliffe Gardener magazine to garden waste subscribers with target specific audiences within the Borough.

We also use social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram channels to publicise news and events in a topical and swift fashion – these sources of information are becoming more and more popular with our residents and new channels will be explored during the lifetime of this strategy.

All of our communications are written in clear English and designed with our residents in mind. The Council website www.rushcliffe.gov.uk is also a key source of information to our customers with over 50,000 visitors per month.

Our news stories are regularly featured in the local newspapers, on local radio and, less frequently, on TV – this is a vital part of getting our messages heard by residents who do not naturally engage with the Council directly.

Our latest research shows that 87% of Council staff are proud to work for the organisation in a 2021 survey.

In addition:

• 96% of staff understand how their work contributes to the success of the organisation
• 93% understand the values of the organisation and how they are expected to do things
• 90% of staff think the organisation makes good use of their skills and abilities
• 85% of staff think Executive management are open and honest in their communications
• 84% of staff think the organisation manages change effectively

It saw a combined employee engagement score of 88.5%.

Over the life of this Strategy, we intend to increase the range of channels we use to communicate with residents to include Instagram and an electronic newsletter to reach even more residents.

We also intend to start using more engaging technologies such as videos and electronic polling on our social media channels, as well as continuing to develop strong, positive relationships with the local media outlets to ensure our communications reach a wide an
audience as possible.

There are also a number of specific tasks to increase the transparency of our decision making processes and broaden the profile of our councillors within their local communities. We are also committed to engaging further with our residents through a large scale residents’ survey and associated consultation activities to inform the future plans of the Council.

This strategy demonstrates our commitment to clear and consistent communications that meet the needs of all our stakeholders, assisted by an annual communications plan. It’s vital that we talk to, listen to and respond to local people so that they feel informed and empowered, and are able to play an active part in local democracy.

Good external communications are vital if the Council is to enhance its already strong reputation. Effectively communicating with residents, engaging them in healthy debate, and meeting their needs as customers of the services we provide, are all important
elements of delivering efficient external communications. To that end, we pledge to:

• keep our residents informed about the services they can access if needed and the development work the Council is doing to improve the Borough
• use the tools at our disposal to ensure residents’ views are listened to and that Council priorities are clearly and regularly communicated to residents
• make our residents aware of the decisions being made by the Council and the ways in which those decisions can be influenced
• engage further with Town and Parish Councils, health and other local partners effectively to signpost to their key services and updates digitally and in print to reach as many demographics as possible.

We pledge to:

• Maintain, refresh and introduce updates and channels that ensure key messages reach the audiences in the most timely and direct manner that inform or ‘nudge’ behaviour appropriately
• Ensure information links back to corporate priorities and where applicable assists the Council’s policies
• Make the stakeholders aware of wider Council related news and information that assists them update their peer groups and communities accordingly.

Any external communication published in any format or on any channel will have due regard to the Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity 2011 especially with regard to objectivity, even-handedness and political bias.

Monitoring the Effectiveness of this Strategy

Delivery of the tasks contained in this Strategy are monitored through the Council’s internal performance monitoring systems as well as through a six-weekly Executive Management Team briefing which focuses around the data contained on the Communications Dashboard. The following measures are monitored directly:

External

• percentage of residents who feel the Council keeps them informed (residents’ survey)
• percentage of residents who feel satisfied with Rushcliffe as a place to live (residents’ survey)
• percentage of residents speaking positively about the Council (residents’ survey)
• percentage of residents feeling they can influence decisions that affect their local area (residents’ survey)
• the number of media releases produced
• percentage of media releases which generate further coverage
• the number of unique users visiting the Council’s website each month
• satisfaction with the Council’s website
• the number of transactions being completed via the Council’s website
• annual rating of the Council’s website from the Society of Information Technology Management (Socitm)
• the Council’s Gov Ranking (digital media presence)
• the number of people following the Council on its social media channels
• the engagement in Council news across all social media channels

Internal

• the volume of unique open clicks for internal update for staff and councillors
• the volume of engagement in staff campaigns and updates
• the volume of stakeholders who engage
• anecdotal feed back from stakeholders month to month to tweak and shape updates

Alongside the development tasks listed in this Strategy, the team will deliver an Annual Communications Plan each year. Large scale campaigns will have individual communications plans containing specific behavioural change measures alongside measure of coverage and effectiveness.

External Communications Action Plan

 

Internal Communications Action Plan