Reputation, Cuts and Leadership

Paul ComerProgramme Director for

Local Government Communications

LGA Group

• Why we started and what’s happened

• Why it matters even more now

• Some things to think about next

Reputation

• About each council– Satisfaction Gap– Trust– Media Weakest Link- Christmas lights

• Get the basics right AND tell people about it

• Just being good is not good enough

Why we started

• Defending– media weakest link- Christmas lights

– individual crisis- service failures

– sector crisis- Iceland

• Promoting– most efficient part of the public sector– best because we’re closest

Councils’ reputation nationally

• When it comes to rooting out waste and cutting costs, or improving services through innovative new policies, councils are showing us that it can be done.

George Osborne, Sept 2009

Great result…

• Satisfaction Gap- still there

• Trust- still low

• Media Weakest Link- Christmas lights are still getting cancelled

• new reputation campaign right focus

But 5 years later…

Why it matters even more now

• Different environment– Apportioning pain not dividing spoils

• Different scale– Massive change- 40%

• not just salami slicing but stopping or transforming

– All in it together• Will affect all public services, not just parts of it

• Call Centre• Pest Control• Magazine• Planning• Elsie’s door• Council Tax• Waste Collection• Building Control

My council’s reputation with me

• Which do you consider fall inside your communications remit?

• Every reputation is individual and multi-faceted

• Only one experience away from a bad reputation

Your Council’s reputation with people

What’s next- Leadership

• Locally– Leading or following– Vision and story

• Nationally– Skills– The offer and the longer term

1. Savings and quick cuts

2. Local control for sustainable savings

3. Councils taking responsibility for themselves

What’s next- Brand

• Locally– Think place not institution– Approach cuts like crisis comms

• Nationally– Local freedoms give the best solutions

What’s next- Communications

• Locally– Conversations not communications– Stories not sets of facts– No surprises

• Nationally– National media and national public affairs

office– National campaigns

Paul ComerProgramme Director for

Local Government Communications

LGA Group