Councils must work much harder – and together – to earn a better reputation among the public,says Cormac Smith There has never been a more difficult – or exciting – time to work in local government communications. Central government has commissioned Sir Michael Lyons to carry out a wide-ranging review of how councils operate and a government White Paper is expected before the end of the year. In the meantime, noises from Whitehall are indicating the new direction in which we are being expected to move. Earlier this summer, speaking at the LG Communications annual conference the minister for local government, Phil Woolas, spoke of the increasingly-important role councils had in shaping our local areas. If we are to rise to this local area leadership challenge then we will need all our powers of persuasion to do so. The backdrop is not promising. Despite improving the quality of services we are delivering to residents in recent years, public satisfaction with councils has continued to fall. But does it matter that the majority of people think we are poor and even our own colleagues are not willing to champion our brand and the values we stand for? Absolutely, it matters. People engage and co-operate with people they trust and respect. In order for us to do our jobs effectively, we need our colleagues, residents and partners to give us this trust and respect. This is a wake-up call for local government and an opportunity for council communicators to stand up to the plate. What we need to do is not rocket science, and the tools are there clear for all to see and use. Local government gets a bad press, and too often we only react when it is too late. We have got to get on to the front foot and start treating the media as partners. This means developing better relationships, producing more positive stories and being robust, yet open and honest when we need to defend our reputations. Our brand is our reputation. Visually, it is represented by our logo. We have got to impose stricter corporate identity guidelines, ruthlessly retire additional logos and make sure that all our services are clearly linked to one brand which people can recognise and understand. Most councils produce a residents’ newspaper or magazine, and this is an important way of explaining what we do. But we must get it right. We have got to stop producing publications with front covers that scream ‘Throw me in the bin’, with every other page featuring pictures of and quotes from members. Research tells us this is a real turn off. So keep producing the newspaper but evaluate it rigorously and honestly, and if it’s not what people want, change it. If you are not already doing so, produce an A-Z of council services once a year and get it into every household in your area. This is an easy win because we know it is appreciated by residents and makes that all-important link between our brand and our services. But make sure the branding is right. None of this will work if we don’t get internal communications right, and this must start from the top. The real challenge to us as communicators is to show greater leadership within our organisations. In the long term, this means more heads of communications being appointed at director level. In the short term, however, we need to create this change. This means punching above our weight so that more senior people take ownership of the organisation’s vision and grasp the real value of good public relations. Only then will we fulfil the number one rule of corporate reputation and make our colleagues our biggest brand champions. LG Communications is the national body dedicated to driving up the standard of local government communications. The LGA Reputation programme was launched a year ago. To date, less than half the councils in the country have engaged with either. We need to work together to get the reputation we deserve. n Cormac Smith is head of communications at Richmond upon Thames RLBC and a member of the national executive committee of LG Communications . For information on LG Communications events, e-mail lgcommunica-tions@westminster.gov.uk or call 0207 641 2575
