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Adopted March 2024
Communication is a vital function of Tendring District Council, providing people – residents, businesses and visitors, but also our own staff – with information. That can range from how to access our services, changes in policy, and support transparency and openness about how decisions are made in our democratic institution.
As an organisation, Tendring District Council carries out huge amounts of fantastic work each year to serve and improve the lives of our residents, businesses, and visitors to our area. Some of this work can be very visible: new buildings and facilities, for example. But much of it can slip under the radar, we take it for granted and perhaps only notice it in the rare instances when things go do not go quite right.
I want us to shine a light on this activity; not only to celebrate it and our successes, but on a more basic level to help people understand what we deliver with the money they pay in council tax or business rates. These are core tenets of Our Vision – our Corporate Plan – and why this Communication Strategy is reviewed to align with that that top-level strategic direction of the Council.
With difficult and uncertain times ahead globally, as well as challenging financial times for us as a Council, we must build – earn – trust in what we say from local communities. We must be a trusted authority voice to tackle rising mis- and dis-information (both deliberate and accidental); therefore it is more important than ever that we communicate effectively and efficiently so that we can remain accountable to those we serve and act as community leaders; remembering that our reputation affects not only us as a local authority, but the district as a whole.
Communication is not one-way, and we will endeavour to listen as well as talk to our community.
Councillor Mark Stephenson - Leader of the Council
The over-arching vision for communications at Tendring District Council is that it is proactive; externally, sharing information with its audiences before it is requested, and internally that communications is planned in at the beginning of work where possible.
Communications should be innovative, at the forefront of technological and social change – without taking undue risks. There will always be an element of reactive communication, but this should be prepared for as much as possible.
All work of the Communications Team should support the golden thread narrative in Tendring District Council’s adopted Corporate Plan. Though this may not always be explicit and direct, for example when considering internal communications, help for operational services, civic activities, or supporting transparency by communicating the work of Council committees, it should be there.
The Corporate Plan – and subsequent annual priorities – will be the determining factor in prioritising the team’s focus during periods of peak workload when capacity is reached, while also considering urgent matters and emerging priorities. This is managed through project and activity planning processes adopted during the previous Communications Strategy period.
In order to support this golden thread, more scope will be allowed for strategic planning work, taking a more proactive approach from the Communications service. This does not mean necessarily proactive communications – though this will also continue to be part of the approach – but a move from the Communications team away from solely reacting to other services’ communications needs (albeit in a planned way) and beginning to source and develop their own work. This would involve making suggestions to services of how Communications can help, not just in informing audiences, but by being the solution in some cases.
Being on the front foot in this way also extends to reviewing and updating ways in which we can communicate with the public, exploring new channels and opportunities. As always in the fast-paced digital world innovation will be actively encouraged, with the team able to try out new methods – and, where they prove successful, develop a business case for adoption.
This innovation will have a particular focus on assessing and embracing the opportunities provided by Artificial Intelligence (AI), including ensuring it is used in an ethical and safe framework. Within the Communications service this will initially involve testing and using internal tools to improve content and planning creation; but may evolve as the technology does.
In addition to this increased proactive approach, Communications will look to provide inputs into the organisation, not just delivering outputs and outcomes. These inputs will move beyond providing professional advice and expertise, and include feeding back sentiment from the wider public captured from the team’s work on social media.
Internal communications will also be a focus, to ensure that staff and Members are all part of the same golden thread. A corporate approach to internal communications will be regularised, with an added focus on improving two-way communications with seldom-heard staff. The recently implemented new intranet provides a potential platform for expansion of internal communications through further phases of development.
Accessibility will continue to be at the centre of communications work, while the service will push for wider adoption of accessible standards – reminding staff that everyone has a role to play in delivering accessibility.
Community engagement is important for Tendring District Council, and while two-way communication should not replace dedicated engagement, it will be a vital pillar to ensure that this engagement is effective. This strategy therefore supports and overlaps with the Council’s Community Engagement Strategy – itself due for review under the proposed Highlight Priority Actions for 2024/25 being considered as this strategy is being developed.
Each and every officer and member of the Council has a responsibility for communication, and to do so effectively, whether that be through everyday conversations, public meetings, letters and emails, or online.
The Communications Team oversees this function by providing advice, guidance and appropriate procedures, to ensure information is exchanged in accordance with this strategy. The team also considers long-term and wider planning of communications, to achieve and manage the overall picture of communications across the whole Council; while individual services retain their own budgets to finance campaigns and communications activity beyond the standard use of our channels and officer time and expertise.
Staff are provided with Customer Service Guidelines, and we also display our Customer Services Standards in our reception and public areas. As society moves increasingly into a digital age our websites, intranet and social media are critical methods of exchanging information, while ensuring anyone not digitally enabled is not excluded. Therefore a close working relationship between the Communications Team, Customer Services Team and the IT Team is essential.
In the ethos of every officer having a responsibility for communication, these tools are not solely owned by the Communications Team.
Internal communication – engaging with our staff and ensuring information flows down, up and across the Council – is also critical so that our organisation acts effectively and as one.
We have a range of channels through which the Council communicates, and people can communicate with us. These include: telephone; face-to-face meetings; our websites; press releases; social media; consultation groups; Council, Cabinet and other Committee meetings and public questions; consultation events and displays; reports and policy documents; staff and member briefings, emails and newsletters; the intranet; and mobile apps.
Specific projects will need to reach specific audiences, which will be determined as part of the campaign planning process.
In general terms, though, Tendring District Council has the following audience groups:
Tendring District Council’s adopted Corporate Plan ‘Our Vision’ (2024-2028) has six areas of focus each containing a number of more specific objectives.
Already the Communications Team supports a vast number of these objectives, directly or indirectly, but in line with the Vision above Communications will now look to deepen that work to uphold and deliver against, the Corporate Plan.
This can be done in a number of ways, such as (but not limited to):
Each year planned communications work will be aligned with the Highlight Priority Projects, which are drawn out of the Corporate Plan.
A strong theme in the public consultation held as part of development of Our Vision was the importance of the public engaging with the Council’s work; two-way communications can support with this aim.
Over the period of this Communications Strategy, there will be five key focus areas to improve activity:
Measuring success in communications can be difficult, especially when considering areas such as behaviour change and reputation management – however, that does not lessen the importance of setting specific, measurable objectives. Each communications campaign should have its own specific objectives, aligned to the desired outcomes of the campaign.
This strategy’s success must be aligned with its vision and outcomes, and will be measured as below.
This will be dependent upon approval of a business case and appropriate financial and governance processes.
Corporate Plan theme: Financial sustainability and openness
Work has already begun on this, but has been paused due to other commitments.
Corporate Plan theme: Cross-cutting all themes
This is subject to appropriate research and internal process testing.
Corporate Plan theme: Financial sustainability and openness
Building upon work completed in the previous Communications Strategy; this does not mean a re-brand of the Council or its logo.
Corporate Plan theme: Financial sustainability and openness
Work is underway with partners on this framework, which will need cross-organisational support. Internal use of AI tools is intended to support staff with capacity and efficiency.
Corporate Plan theme: Pride in our area and services to residents
This will help to bolster corporate communication with all staff, and could include a section on the new Intranet.
Corporate Plan theme: Cross-cutting all themes
This may begin in a simple form and be developed over time; for example, with a ‘You Said, We Did’ approach which is an emerging highlight priority.
Corporate Plan theme: Financial sustainability and openness
The Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity (2011) says that:
“Publicity by local authorities should be: lawful; cost-effective; objective; even-handed; appropriate; have regard to equality and diversity, and be issued with care during periods of heightened sensitivity.”
We will have regard to the Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity and all our communication will be free of political bias
As such, we are committed to making all our communications activities:
Communications must also have regard to other regulations, such as the Code of Corporate Governance and Tendring District Council’s Constitution; and local authorities should pay particular regard to the legislation governing publicity during the period of heightened sensitivity before elections and referendums.
The Civil Contingencies Act (2004) also confers a duty on local authorities to ‘Warn and Inform’ on potential and occurring critical incidents; the Council has a separate Media Plan for such occasions.
This Communications Strategy outlines the overarching approach we plan to take to reach our stakeholders. It is linked to, and supported by, the following guidance and protocols:
If there are any queries regarding the Communications Strategy please contact the Communications Manager at communications@tendringdc.gov.uk.
The previous Communications Strategy set out five broad areas of focus to improve communications at Tendring District Council:
Over the period of the previous strategy there has been some improvement in generating video content; but there is more work to do to embed this as part of the team process
New processes have been put in place both internally within the Communications team and also with engagement across the organisation. This will continue to be refined
The Council has expanded the range of social media it uses, including the introduction of corporate Instagram and NextDoor accounts. Work is underway on an audit of existing channels to refine these
This became downgraded as a priority over the lifespan of the strategy, though email has seen an expanded use in internal communications.
Some improvements have been made in this area, which can now be built upon and refined.
Although these previous objectives have now been superseded by the new strategy, they will continue to play a role in communications activity as embedded practice.
There is value in reflecting upon the success or otherwise against the measures set-out in the previous (2021) Communications Strategy: