Communicating standards

Research shows that local authority staff who feel well informed and have a say are more likely to feel involved in and positive about their organisation (IDeA). It is important that councils give a clear message about their stance on standards and what it expects from others. 

Case studies

• Managing media coverage: Rossendale Borough Council
• Securing proactive publicity: North Tyneside Borough Council

Notable practice from the 2009 annual returns

Publicising the process for making complaints

• Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council has a dedicated website for standards issues.
• Bristol City Council places an advert detailing the complaints process on employee payslips.
• Dorset County Council's monitoring officer was interviewed on local radio station, Ivel FM.
• Some members of the Epping Forest District Council standards committee were interviewed by the local press on conduct issues.
• Harborough District Council placed an article in a publication circulated to all households with their council tax bills.
• The chair of Plymouth City Council's standards committee gave an interview to the local press.
• Taunton Deane Borough Council distributed leaflets in post offices.

Communicating information to members

• If it is a parish council matter, South Cambridgeshire District Council send a copy of the decision notice to the parish clerk. Parish councils are kept informed via the Standards Committee Parish Council Newsletter.
• At South Holland District Council, complaint outcomes are used in training sessions.
• Officers and members at South Kesteven District Council are provided with weekly information detailing decisions and findings that have been made.
• Taunton Deane Borough Council and Three Rivers District Council both send copies of press releases to all members.

Communicating information to the public

• At Taunton Deane Borough Council hearings are held in public and are webcast.
• South Cambridgeshire District Council's panel chairmen have received media training and advice on how to handle media enquiries.
• South Tyneside Metropolitan District Council has a media protocol that sets out the publicity issued at the various stages of dealing with complaints.
• At Stratford on Avon District Council the outcome of a hearing was sent to the clerk of the parish council, who arranged for the Councillor's apology to be published in the Parish Council's newsletter.

Unique ways of promoting standards

• Buckinghamshire County Council holds annual officer quizzes that include questions on standards.

Examples from the 2010 LGC standards and ethics award shortlist

Waveney District Council has taken a particularly innovative approach to raising the profile of standards amongst young people and the public. The Young Filmmaker competition asked entrants to produce a short film about ethical governance, the role of the standards committee and the Code of Conduct. The competition was promoted via local media and the winning film was streamed on the council website, and used in new member inductions. This fresh approach to promoting standards was also evident in a ‘Ten Principles’ poster competition, which called on students to design a series of posters raising awareness of the principles of public life.

The London Borough of Bromley has created a new section on their website which brings together links to a wide range of governance and feedback information, to make it easier for people seeking advice. They have also launched a dedicated email address for standards queries. The standards committee used a recruitment exercise to boost its profile and raise awareness of its work.

Leeds City Council has developed an internal newsletter called ‘Governance Matters’ which promotes ethical and corporate governance issues and details the work of their standards committee. They also contacted the city’s many Citizens Advice Bureaux with notices for them to display and letters explaining the new local standards framework, should they be asked to help a member of the public with a complaint about an elected member.

South Cambridgeshire’s standards committee sends a quarterly newsletter to all district and parish councillors, and has provided all panel chairs with media training and advice on how to handle media enquiries.

Kent County Council has developed a clear role description for all councillors, to help local people understand what they can expect from their councillors. It includes a commitment to leading by example and upholding the highest standards of conduct in public life. The role description forms part of the council’s constitution and is published on their website.

Examples from the 2009 Standards and Ethics Award shortlist

• Leeds City Council has developed an internal newsletter called 'Governance matters' which promotes ethical and corporate governance issues and details the work of their standards committee.
• Leeds City Council has identified good ethical behaviour as part of the organisations overall aspirational culture.
• Rossendale Borough Council has their own slogan 'Serious about standards' which helps to engage staff. Councils can hold events to engage their members and council officers and keep them up-to-date with what the authority is doing to maintain high standards. For example, some councils host clerk forums that are regular meetings between council officers and town and parish clerks.
• Lincolnshire County Council produce standards committee annual reports that outline the members of the committee, what they do, their work programme and the numbers of complaints and policies they've considered.
• Newcastle City Council has used their internal staff information bulletin to draw staff attention to the code of conduct for members and the work of the Committee. Some councils agree various ethics statements that are used in publicity and in engagement with the public and other stakeholders.
• Rossendale Borough Council’s standards issues are reinforced through the corporate Team Briefing, in their staff newsletter 'Grapevine' and through specific information booklets on whistleblowing and their gifts and hospitality policy.