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The complaint crops up again and again when I talk to councillors and senior council staff around the country – ‘We make a minor slip-up, and the local newspaper runs it big on the front page. But when we get three stars from the Audit Commission, the story appears as a paragraph on page 16.' Such frustration is understandable, because local government can be proud of its record. The Treasury's own figures show that local government is the most efficient part of the public sector, and councils with a glowing health check from the Audit Commission increase year on year. But what the irritation also shows is the gulf between how business is carried on in much of local government, and what rings most people's bells. Ironically, it may be the very effort to bring about this huge improvement in services that is limiting the ability of councils to win the plaudits they deserve from the media and, ultimately, the residents. As one chief executive has told me: ‘To deliver change, we must be highly-efficient administrators, and skilled technicians in management. But it is emotions which drive most people, and thus, the media. We just aren't connecting with them.' What the media – and by extension, the public – are interested in, as one political correspondent from a broadsheet newspaper told a bunch of chief executives recently, is ‘greed, hatred, love, lust and all those other endearing foibles that make us human'. To be blunt, even if a council's star rating went stratospheric, newspapers would still never devote more than a couple of sentences to the achievement, because the story does not relate to people, and triggers no emotions. But you can bet one of those biblical caprices underpinned the front page story. So, what does using emotions mean? First, let residents know what you are doing by telling them stories which relate to their lives, about people like themselves. Saying the council has won plaudits for its fostering services won't work. Informing residents about how the council has found homes for vulnerable children illustrated by case studies of doting foster parents with their new cares will. Second, use language that residents understand. Talking about community engagement, transparency and positive outcomes may be appropriate for internal discussions about how to improve services, but won't resonate beyond the town hall. Stick to the words and phrases you use at home or in the pub. Third, generate an identity which people can buy into and feel pride in. Belonging is one of the most powerful emotions there is – just observe any football fan or member of a political party. Does your council have an identity for itself and the area it covers which people relate to? Ask yourself this, What do you want to be famous for? If you don't know the answer, then your residents certainly won't. Of course, driving up standards in councils is a must. But if we, as a sector, don't work harder to relate all the great stuff we are doing to how people feel, then we are going to continue to see the standing of councils decline in the eyes of residents.

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WHITEHALL

News must be about people

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