How do we communicate

with our residents?Overview and Scrutiny Committee

5 February 2019

Overview and Scrutiny Committee Members asked for an update on the Council’s approach to communications

This presentation outlines the Council’s communications channels and their reach and impact

Members are asked to note the detail and invited to comment on areas for improvement

Emily Blackshaw, Head of Communications and Policy Emily.Blackshaw@lbbd.gov.uk

Context

One Borough newsletter

Current list: 13,431 (post GDPR)

Average open rate for 2018: 47.7% (industry average 20.7%)

But the total open rate is much higher

21 Dec issueOpen rate 49.2% (5,275 opens from the mailing list) Total opens 10,073

• Changes to council services e.g. bin collections• CCTV appeals to catch fly-tippers• Enforcement news (e.g. counterfeit candles, fake cigarettes, anti-social

behaviour)• Consultations (budget, CPZ, PRPL) • Council jobs• Regeneration/affordable housing news (e.g. new estates with shared

ownership options available)• Positive news stories from our schools

In the last year this seems to have shifted towards the more hard-line, gritty content around enforcement

One Borough readers

like reading about:

Launched August 2017

Giving the council and the local community an online video platform to tell stories about the people and places in Barking and Dagenham

88,449 page views

36,320 individual people viewing videos

One Borough Live

We use our platforms in different ways

They each have different uses, benefits and audiences

Social media

FacebookPage likes: 5,808 (Dec 2016), 10,386 (Dec 2018)79% increase(plus targeted adverts)

TwitterFollowers: 7,901 (Dec 2016), 11,937 (Dec 2018)51% increase

YouTube Subscribers: 69 with 1,765 views (Dec 2016), 353 with 5,127 views (Dec 2018)411% increase in subscribers, 190% increase in views

InstagramFollowers: 150 (Dec 2017), 955 (Dec 2018)536% increase

Social mediaOur follower numbers have continued to increase since 2016

Close work with enforcement 10 episodes: 21,880 views

Fortnightly videos 15 FPNs following tip-offs

Re-connecting on hot topics- Insight shows us that residents want to see more enforcement type stories – more clicks than jobs, greater concern about

antisocial behaviour than national levels- It also shows us that residents need to see more stories about activities for teenagers and the quality of education in the

borough as perceptions do not always match reality – Youth Zone, education results

Household mail outs

No council newspaper leaves a gap and places greater reliance on digital channels

Aim to do 3-4 a year

• Borough Manifesto – targets for the next 20 years

• Good Neighbour Guide – the do’s and don’ts of living in Barking and Dagenham

• Beam Energy – how to save money on energy bills

We support services with smaller, issue based mail outs

Localised mail outs

CPZ consultation

Housing and repairs

Highways works

Local press

Outdoor advertising – new policy

Railing banners – challenges

Events i.e. Summer of Festivals

News section of council website – redesigned to have timely updates as well as news stories

Other channels

More insight led comms where possibleMore monitoring/evaluation

Behaviour and perception change campaigns to tackle the things we know we need to address and the things we know matter to residents i.e.:

• Obesity• Beam Energy switching• Domestic Violence• Concerns around community safety• Concerns around lack of affordable Housing• Concerns around litter

Going forward

Raising awareness that all council services communicate with residents – not just the comms team

Maximising scope to engage more with specific parts of the community• database of community leaders for emergency messages• Belief In B and D newsletter - 150 faith leaders

Engagement HQ – improved online consultations with space for residents to post their own events etc

Going forward