Communicating at a local level: EU showcases, trends and tools Communicating the messages of political administrations to citizens - Evolution of UK best practice over last decade Cormac Smith Chairman of LGcommunications Director of Westco

The Research Spring 2005 research by MORI finds: Despite improved services councils perceived as remote, bureaucratic & inefficient Just 1% of people would talk highly Only 5% know a great deal LGA reputation campaign – (2005) (Tactical)

The environmental core actions 1.adopt a highly visible, strongly branded council cleaning operation 2.set up one phone number for the public to report local environmental problems 3.know your grot spots – and deal with them 4.aim to remove abandoned cars and fly-tipping within 24 hours 5.win a Green Flag award for at least one park 6.ensure no gaps or overlap in council cleaning and maintenance contracts 7.educate and enforce to protect the environment LGA reputation campaign – (2005)

The communications core actions: 1.manage the media effectively to promote and defend the council 2.provide an A-Z guide to council services 3.publish a regular council magazine or newspaper to inform residents 4.ensure the council brand is consistently linked to services 5.good internal communications – make sure staff and members are informed

New Reputation Guide (2010) (Strategic) Three big issues that are crucial: your Leadership; your Brand and your Communications Strategy The five rules of reputation: 1.prove you provide value for money 2.always inform and engage residents & staff 3.build trust and confidence in what you do 4.improve key services and show you are doing so 5.focus on changing lives for the better

The Building Trust campaign is a joint project for the first time bringing together the LGA, SOLACE and LGcommunications For local areas to survive and thrive we need to change the relationship between local government and the public Building Trust (2013) (Engaging)

Some thoughts about the ‘T’ Word (Trust) Communication cannot build trust, behaviour builds trust – good communication helps You cannot make anyone trust you, all you can do is behave in a trustworthy fashion Barry Quirk, Chief Executive LB Lewisham Trust is not a message, its an outcome Robert Philips, Ex CEO Edelman & Author of: ‘Trust me, PR is dead’

The truth about trust, honesty and integrity at work “Trust underpins effective working relationships. The more someone trusts a colleague, manager or team member, the greater the likelihood they will co-operate, share information and work effectively together.” Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM), September staff-report-finds/37276

The truth about trust, honesty and integrity at work Local and central government least trusted by staff, Institute of Leadership & Management report finds – September 2014 Only 10% of LG employees including police and fire service had high trust in organisations compared to 32% in education & 34% in banks Only 29% of public sector managers have high levels of trust compared with 45% in the private sector

The truth about trust, honesty and integrity at work Those we trust the most are those closest to us – line managers Trust in managers increases with seniority – it is first /front line managers who are least trusted and these are the managers who have greatest impact on public / customers Trusting managers are the most trusted and vice versa – ‘to win trust you must give trust’

Key drivers to establish trust Institute of Leadership and Management (Internal) Communication Integrity Competence Openness Decision making Edelman Trust Barometer -property/2015-edelman-trust-barometer/ (external) Engaging (communication) Integrity Competence Purpose for greater good Providing quality services

Building public trust through our communication Communications will be about science not art Communications must keep pace with technology change content/uploads/2015/07/6.1048_Cabinet- Office_comms-future-document_v2_print_web.pdf

And finally - STRATEGY Who is this?

STRATEGY C ommunications is more science than art

@CormacS63