Reputation

This section looks at the importance of reputation to local authorities and how to build it.

• The business case
• Residents’ perceptions of local government
• 12 core actions to boost your council’s reputation
• Changing residents’ perceptions
• Consultation
• Using elected members
• Campaigns
• Community newspapers or magazines
• A-Z guide to council services
• Promote your services

The business case

The importance of reputation has become more widely understood by local authorities since the Local Government Association (LGA) launched its Reputation Campaign in 2005.

The Reputation Campaign was based on Ipsos MORI research which identified 12 core actions for councils to enhance people’s perceptions of their council. More than half of councils in England and Wales signed up to the campaign in the first two years. 

The campaign helps councils work together to deliver these core actions, and is supported by Local Government Improvement and Development.

However, the most recent Ipsos MORI analysis of councils’ best value performance indicator (BVPI) user satisfaction data shows that people may love their parks or libraries but dislike their council. There is still a wide gap between residents’ satisfaction with council services and overall satisfaction with the local authority.

What can make a difference in narrowing that gap is good communication with residents.

The LGA’s own study of the BVPI data in 2008 reinforced the focus of the Reputation Campaign and identified the councils with the best and worst reputations. This analysis shows that the top two drivers of satisfaction are perceived value for money and how well informed residents feel.

It showed that both satisfaction with services and council tax levels have virtually no correlation with council satisfaction scores. Interestingly, it also found that perceived opportunities for public involvement in council decisions has only a weak correlation with overall council satisfaction.

Read more about this in 'Residents’ Perceptions of Local Government'

This research led the LGA to relaunch the Reputation Campaign in 2008. This time the focus was on challenging and supporting councils with the worst reputations and working with the best performers to drive improvement throughout the sector. The LGA wants to see the 12 core actions being delivered more effectively.

Councils have a duty to inform, consult and involve their stakeholders. And, under the comprehensive area assessment (CAA), they are judged on how well they engage their citizens and on public satisfaction. Councils are having to work even harder to prove their value.

Go to the 12 core actions

Visit the LGA's Reputation Campaign

Residents’ perceptions of local government

Public distrust of local government in general is likely to have been strengthened by the series of negative media stories about councils, including:

• 'Baby P' and other child protection cases
• revelations of council investment in collapsed Icelandic banks
• stories about chief executives’ pay.

Public distrust had already been identified as a major issue for local authorities and led to the LGA setting up its Reputation Campaign in 2005. 

Analysing data on councils’ best value performance indicators (BVPI), Ipsos MORI has published a series of reports on public perceptions of local authorities’ performance. The latest was published in January 2010 and is available from Ipsos MORI’s website. 

Frontiers of Performance in Local Government V: Place shapers or shaped by place? – on the website of Ipsos Mori

Residents are often confused, particularly in two-tier structures, about who provides what services. This means they are not always clear how their council tax is spent.

Local Government (LG) Communications surveyed council communication managers in early 2008. They saw their biggest challenges as linking corporate identity to services and improving consultation with residents.

The credit crunch makes councils’ spending on communications even more likely a target for cuts. In late 2008, the TaxPayers’ Alliance claimed that councils were spending an average of £1 million a year on publicity. Communications managers have to be better at playing a strategic role and proving the value of communications to the council.

12 core actions to boost your council’s reputation

Ipsos MORI research shows that councils will boost their reputation if they deliver the following 12 core actions well. These actions are at the heart of the LGA’s Reputation Campaign.

Cleaner, safer, greener

These are the core services that matter to everyone – they are the most visible and affect people’s daily lives. Getting them right and publicising them well will make residents value the council more highly.

• Adopt a highly visible, strongly branded council cleaning operation.
• Ensure no gaps or overlaps in council cleaning and maintenance contracts.
• Set up one phone number for the public to report local environmental problems.
• Deal with ‘grot spots’.
• Remove abandoned vehicles within 24 hours.
• Win a 'Green Flag' award for at least one park.
• Educate and enforce to protect the environment.

Local environment

Waste

Communications

These core actions tell people what you can do and are doing for them, and they show your residents what they get for their money.

• Manage the media effectively to promote and defend the council. 
• Publish an 'A-Z Guide to Council Services'.
• Publish a regular council magazine or newspaper to inform residents.
• Ensure the council 'brand' is consistently linked to services.
• Communicate well with staff so they become advocates for the council.

Changing residents’ perceptions

Residents get most of their information about their council through the media, mainly the local press. This means that the council has limited control over how its work is presented, and some councils receive a largely negative local press. This clearly affects how residents view the council.

Increasing numbers of councils are finding that improving their direct communications with their residents is the key to getting accurate information across and changing attitudes. Central to achieving this is relying less on local media and standard council leaflets, and more on resources targeted on effective campaigns, community magazines or newspapers and new media. For example, community magazines or newspapers or a good 'A-Z of Council Services' are better than standard council leaflets for explaining council tax expenditure.

No matter how much direct communication a council has with its residents, however, working more effectively with the local media is also essential. Read more in 'Building Positive Media Relations'.

Poor communication about consultation also damages residents’ trust in their councils.

Consultation

Some residents express concern that councils are consulting for the sake of it, to 'tick a box', having already decided what course of action to take. A common complaint from residents is that once a consultation has been completed, they never get to hear the outcome.

Councils can do better at communicating the purpose and outcomes of consultations and making it clear exactly what residents can and cannot influence. They need to demonstrate to residents how their comments have been used to shape council services.

Being honest about the reasons for taking an unpopular decision following a consultation is also important.

Practical ways to engage with your community

Using elected members

Councillor visibility also affects residents’ perceptions. Councillors are often ‘the council’ in the eyes of many residents. However, councillor involvement with residents is mixed.

Some local councillors are heavily involved in community events and forums. Others are more distant from their local communities. Where they were actively involved, there are obvious benefits. Residents know where to turn if they want to bring up an issue. Residents are also more likely to understand the council when councillors are involved in specific events.

Some councillors are embracing the popularity of social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook and others have started to blog.

Blogging and Facebook for councillors

Campaigns

Councils are increasingly running imaginative marketing campaigns to showcase how they spend money on services, to respond to a community concern, for example street litter, or to promote one of their priorities, such as recycling. Done well these involve local people and improve the council’s reputation locally. Read more about marketing campaigns.

Residents support council in airport extension battle

Community newspapers or magazines

In a bid to have more control over messages to residents and boost reputation, a number of councils are moving away from the more traditional residents’ magazine – which were often perceived as council propaganda – to publishing their own community newspapers. This enables them to provide news and respond to events more effectively and to shift the focus towards how the council is working with the community and its partners and what the impact of this activity is.

For some councils, changes to their publications have seen them become resident’s main or preferred source of information about the council. In the London Borough of Lewisham – following a revamp of 'Lewisham Life' – 84 per cent of readers said in 2007 that they used the magazine as their main source of local information, overtaking the two main local newspapers.

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets was the trail-blazer with its award-winning, free weekly newspaper 'East End Life'. The magazine has recently been redesigned following resident feedback.  'East End Life' has had a positive effect on residents’ perceptions of the council. Residents who read it report higher ratings of satisfaction and feeling informed than residents in general. 'East End Life' is the main way people get their information about the council (59 per cent) and their preferred way of finding out about the council (53 per cent).

The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham had gradually targeted more of its communication resources to producing 'H&F News'. Since it became a fortnightly publication in May 2008, the council has seen double-digit increases in its 'resident informed ratings'.

Top-tips for producing a good magazine or newspaper

Invest in it – quality matters. It should be well designed, with a clear format and quality photographs. A poorly designed and produced publication can be more damaging to your reputation than not producing one at all.

Make it easy to read and accessible.

Focus on the community, with news and features on community activity and views.

Publish it at least once a quarter and deliver directly to every household.

Make sure it demonstrates the value for money provided by the council and how it is working with partners to improve the area

It’s well worth taking a look at other councils’ publications to get ideas about how to improve your own.  A good starting point would be award winners.

Nottingham City Council’s 'Nottingham Arrow' has won:

• the Chartered Institute for Public Relations (CIPR) Local Government Group Excellence in Communications Award in 2008  for ‘Best civic newspaper and or magazine, 60,000 and over circulation’
• LG Communications 'gold' for 'Best publication' in 2009.

Judges praised it for its informal style and good use of design and photography. They found it easy to read and noted that it focused on local people. Different editions are produced for the council’s nine area committee areas, and special editions are published for specific groups in the city, such as businesses and students. A readers’ survey found that 74 per cent say it’s their preferred way to get information about the council.

More about 'Nottingham Arrow' – on the My Nottingham website

Communications: magazine make-over gets satisfaction

A-Z guide to council services

Producing an annual A-Z guide, along with a council magazine or newspaper, will improve ‘feeling informed’ ratings. 

Research shows that the A-Z is the most used council publication, favoured by 55 per cent of respondents. Most councils produce it at the same time as council tax bills and use it as an effective way of showing what residents are getting for their money.

Good A-Zs are linked to the council’s website to enable residents to access services directly. They should:

• have a clear layout and give a brief explanation of each service
• include information about partners’ services
• use plain language and avoid council jargon
• be delivered directly to every household and business
• be in a format that is easy for people to keep and use.

Nottingham City Council and the London Borough of Camden are among those whose A-Z publications have contributed to a rise in their residents’ satisfaction and feeling well informed. 

Nottingham’s new A-Z won 'gold' in the LG Communications Reputation Awards 'A-Z category' in 2008. The publication includes council achievements and case studies of service users.

Camden won:

• 'silver' in the LG Communications Reputation Awards 'A-Z category' in 2008
• CIPR’s Local Government Group Excellence in Communications 'Best A-Z' Award 2008.

They distribute their A-Z to doctors and dentists, as well as residents, libraries and community centres.

Promote your services

Evidence shows that one of the main reasons residents think badly of their council is that they simply aren’t aware of the huge range of services the local authority provides. This prompted the Local Government Association (LGA) to launch a My Council campaign to help councils promote what they do, linked strongly to their brand.

More about the 'My Council' campaign – on the LGA website

Page updated June 2010.