ITEM NO. 4
__________________________________________________________________
REPORT OF
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
__________________________________________________________________
TO CORPORATE ISSUES SCRUTINY COMMITTEE
ON
22 FEBRUARY 2010
__________________________________________________________________
TITLE: LIFE IN SALFORD – LOCAL AND NATIONAL CONTEXT
__________________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION: THAT THE REPORT IS NOTED
__________________________________________________________________
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Life in Salford moved to a monthly publication schedule in March 2009.
Since that time its performance has been closely monitored by the Life Editorial Board. The Board
looks at its financial performance, legal issues, distribution, advertiser and reader feedback and
content.
The position of local authority newspapers has been examined in several different national contexts.
Information on these is contained within this report.
The latest position regarding the local media is also discussed.
__________________________________________________________________
BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS: Lead Member report dated 20 October 2008
http://portal.salford.gov.uk/pls/portal30/docs/FOLDER/DOCUMENT_DB/SRSC/CHEX/OP/SRSC0311
0801A.DOC
(Available for public inspection) Minutes of Strategy and Resources Scrutiny Committee dated 3
November 2008
http://portal.salford.gov.uk/pls/portal30/docs/FOLDER/DOCUMENT_DB/BUDGETCOMMITTE/CHIEF
EXEC/OPEN/SRSC01120807.DOC
__________________________________________________________________
KEY DECISION:
NO (No new decision is required)
__________________________________________________________________
1
DETAILS:
1.
Background
Most - if not all - local authorities produce a council magazine or newspaper in
order to provide information to their residents.
This was identified as good practice by Ipsos MORI in 2005 [see Appendix 1];
it sat at the heart of a campaign led by the Local Government Association to
improve the reputation of local government.
According to the LGA “councils with the highest satisfaction ratings among
their communities are the ones which best demonstrate they provide value for
money in the services they deliver. How do they do that? They invest in
effective communications.
“People who feel the council keeps them well-informed are much more likely
to believe that they are getting value for money.”
Using MORI’s research and drawing on the expertise of local authority
practitioners, the LGA identified five core communication actions that they
believe are key to improving reputation. Salford City Council was one of
many councils which signed up to the reputation campaign and which
committed to the production of a magazine “Life in Salford”.
At that time, the magazine was produced 6 times a year. It was funded
through a budget of £55,000 provided to the council’s Marketing &
Communications division and written and designed by staff within that
division. Distribution was to every household in the city by Royal Mail.
The ‘editorial policy’ of Life in Salford in not stated explicitly but content is
decided through an officer editorial group and ratified by members of the
cross-party Life in Salford Editorial Board. It aims to be apolitical and reflect
the policies of the council.
The publication has a magazine format and its content is largely feature-based. It carries
some ‘news’ – snippets of information – but its monthly deadlines and long lead-in times mean
that it cannot ever genuinely cover news. It does not contain TV listings or similar content and
therefore does not compete with the local news media.
2.
Development of Life in Salford
During 2008 the Leader of the Council, as Lead Member for marketing and
communications, began to give consideration to increasing the frequency of
Life in Salford.
2
The demand for a regular, reliable communications vehicle was increasing.
The council had a range of messages to deliver to its residents, from
recruitment information and statutory notices to campaign messages to help
the council achieve its targets, for example around smoking cessation.
The choice of communications methods all had cost implications. Depending
on the audience and the message, the council used a range of methods from
printed leaflets, outdoor media, brochures and other publications through to
local newspaper advertising.
It was recognised that some of this spend could be redirected towards a more
regular Life in Salford at no overall extra cost to the council’s budget.
The magazine had been published six times a year for the past few years and
was seen as an excellent communications vehicle. Feedback from the Big
Listening was positive, with the only negative comments concerning
frequency of distribution – many said they did not know how often they were
meant to receive it.
Distributed via Royal Mail, Life in Salford was the ONLY publication to reach
every household in the city on a regular basis. By way of comparison, the
Salford Advertiser at the time had good weekly penetration in some areas, but
only reached a circulation figure of c50% in some parts of the city.
Lead Member briefings considered the issue, taking both financial and legal
advice.
2.1
Financial advice
The cost of increasing the size and frequency of Life in Salford to a 24-page
monthly publication was estimated at £174,804 per annum. The budget for
this included the £55,000 existing budget and an advertising revenue target of
£36,000 (both per annum), giving a total base funding of £91,000 pa.
The PCT offered to support the publication with a regular monthly
advertisement; the remainder of the funding was to be met by a re-direction of
spend on advertising, recruitment and public notices advertising.
Annual spend on public and legal notices was estimated to be a minimum of
£100,000.
Some of the spend on public and legal notices could not be moved to a
monthly publication for operational reasons. For example some statutory
procedures, such as appropriation and disposal of land under sections 122
and 123 of the Local Government Act 1972, require publication on 2
consecutive weeks. Similarly, it might not be possible to wait a month if an
urgent road closure or similar order was required. There would also be a
need to be seen to advertise in an external publication (e.g. if required to
publish an Ombudsman judgement)
3
It would, however, be possible to transfer some spend where this could be
underpinned by good planning and adhering to clear publication deadlines.
Using Life in Salford would also offer greater opportunity for residents to see
public and legal notices and to be made aware of issues which may affect
them or which may be of interest and relevance to them.
2.2
Legal advice
Some councils, (notably the London Borough of Waltham Forest and Bolton
MBC) had already decided to accept the legal risks and move statutory
notices’ spend to their own publication. Others (such as Liverpool City
Council) considered this approach but decided that the risks outweighed the
benefits.
Informal discussions with Waltham Forest indicated that they already had a
regular monthly distribution of their newspaper, and when they moved their
statutory advertising to it they increased publication to a fortnightly basis.
They said they were careful to ensure their publication had the” feel” of a
newspaper (unlike Life in Salford).
Bolton MBC confirmed that they published their magazine 11 months out of
12 and had moved most (but not all) of their statutory advertisements both
into the publication and onto the website.
An attempt to canvas professional opinion nationally through the Association
of Council Secretaries & Solicitors forum, however, produced only one
response (recommending against proceeding).
2.3
Decision to proceed
Given that several local councils had already taken the decision to pilot the
use of their own publication for legal and statutory notices, the Lead Member
for Marketing & Communications took a similar decision in October 2008, also
increasing the frequency to 12 editions per year.
This decision was subsequently called in and considered by the Strategy &
Regeneration Scrutiny Committee (which at the time covered Marketing &
Communications issues). The decision to proceed with a monthly Life in
Salford was ratified by full Council.
Whilst some legal and statutory notices were moved to Life, a decision was
taken not to seek advertising from private companies. This would have raised
other legal issues and an accusation that Life was competing against the local
media. Advertisements from partners would continue to be accepted and
this area developed further.
4
3.
Performance of monthly Life in Salford
The performance of Life in Salford has been monitored by the Life Editorial
Board; its membership comprises the Leader, Deputy Leader, Councillors
Jane Murphy and Mashiter (controlling group) and Councillors Robin Garrido
and Tope (opposition members).
Life in Salford continues to operate on apolitical lines with content reviewed by
members of the Life Editorial Board. Members are proactive in reading draft
content and offering feedback. For example, a concern was expressed
recently by one member about the use of quotes from councillors in an
otherwise factual story about the level of council tax being set for 2010/11;
these quotes were subsequently removed.
The board has looked at the financial performance of Life in Salford, as well as
considering advertiser feedback and relevant Big Listening results.
3.1
Financial performance
The financial performance can be summarised in the following table. It
covers a full year’s income and expenditure for Life in Salford between March
2009 (the first of the monthly editions) and February 2010.
There are no staff whose work is dedicated entirely to Life in Salford so no
staffing costs are directly attributed to the publication. Production tasks
(sourcing advertising and content, copywriting and design) are shared across
the Marketing & Communications division. The Corporate Marketing
Manager performs toe editor role.
Internal revenue income includes that for general advertisements, job adverts
and public notices; these naturally vary month to month depending on
requirements. The figures in this column reflect the amount of funding which
is re-directed towards Life as opposed to direct spend in a commercial
publication; the cost of commercial advertising would be significantly higher.
5
Issue
Issue 53:
March 09
Issue 54:
April 09
Issue 55:
May 09
Issue 56:
June 09
Issue 57:
July 09
Issue 58:
Aug 09
Issue 59:
Sept 09
Issue 60:
Oct 09
Issue 61:
Nov 09
Issue 62:
Dec 09
Issue 63:
Jan 10
Issue 64:
Feb 10
Expenditure
Income
Income
Difference
Notional
income
TOTAL
Advertising Council
Total cost
Amount
Net
(print,
revenue
revenue
less total
which would outcome
design and
(partners
funding –
income
have been
distribution
and
M&C budget
spent on
costs)
council)
public
notices,
recruitment
ads, other
advertising
etc.
£15,308
£5,250
£4,583
£5,475
£6,983
£1,508
£15,308
£5,070
£4,583
£5,655
£7,730
£2,075
£15,308
£3,450
£4,583
£7,275
£6,678
-£597
£15,308
£4,220
£4,583
£6,505
£8,015
£1,510
£15,308
£4,580
£4,583
£6,145
£6,135
-£10
£15,308
£3,830
£4,583
£6,895
£7,030
£135
£15,308
£3,595
£4,583
£7,130
£18,265
£11,135
£15,308
£2,995
£4,583
£7,730
£6,161
-£1,569
£17,035
£3,795
£4,583
£8,657
£12,132
£3,475
£16,272
£4,395
£4,583
£7,294
£12,975
£5,681
£16,655
£3,595
£4,583
£8,477
£11,978
£3,501
£16,655
£2,680
£4,583
£9,392
£4,514
-£4,878
£189,081.00 £47,455.00
£54,996.00
£86,630
£108,596.00
£21,966
6
In the last financial year that Life in Salford was produced bi-monthly, the authority
spent £97,862 on public notices alone.
The council revenue funding figures are pro rata per issue from the existing £55,000
budget that was allocated to deliver the previous six-issue format.
Using the figures in the table supplied above:
 The average cost of print/design/delivery per issue is £15,756. 75
 The average partner/council advertising income per issue is £3,954.58
 The average notional income (the amount which would have been spent on
public notices, recruitment advertisements, other advertising etc.) is £9,049.67
Life in Salford is delivered to every residential and business address in Salford; it is
posted by Royal Mail delivery staff through 114,557 letterboxes.
The following advertisements or features appeared in Life in Salford in 2009/10 and
would have needed to be advertised in the Salford Advertiser had they not appeared
in Life in Salford:
 Core Strategy consultation (April 2009)
 Carer representative appeal (May 2009)
 Councillors expenses (July 2009)
 Consultation on new law (October 2009)
 Benefit changes (October 2009)
 Christmas opening hours notice (December 2009)
 Budget consultation (December 2009)
 Summary of accounts (December 2009)
 Adverts for Garden Party and SNAPs (communicating dates and details)
 Closure of Minerva House reception (February 2010)
 Publishing dates of community committee meetings (all)
In addition, Overview and Scrutiny have stopped printing their newsletter and instead
include information in Life in Salford, saving £3,796 annually. Similarly the
Performance Summary is now included in Life in Salford (September 2009); in the
previous format this cost £8,000. The Core Strategy summary consultation
(November 2009) would have been in a similar format to the Performance Summary
costing a minimum of £8,000. In the last 12 months Life in Salford has also covered
information on such issues as events’ dates, community safety/crime initiatives, free
swimming contact details and details about refugee week and Heritage Month.
Life in Salford has effectively replaced all leaflets that were previously circulated on a
citywide basis and other marketing advertising placed in local newspapers.
If the production of Life in Salford were to cease, the council would not need to incur
the net cost of £141,626. However it would need to place all legal and statutory
notices in the Salford Advertiser. It would also need to use the Salford Advertiser to
communicate the kind of information shown in the paragraph above at a minimum
cost of £108,596. The notional saving on print, distribution etc. from not producing
Life in Salford is therefore £33,030. Given the current distribution of the Advertiser
[see section 6, Local context] it may also be necessary to use other paid-for forms of
D:\219513509.doc
communication. Without a council magazine, the money spent on the print and
distribution of leaflets and other publicity - all required to communicate information
and help deliver the council’s objectives - would increase.
The issue of Life in Salford funding and income has been picked up recently by the
Salford Star. The Salford Star’s website carried an item as a result of a Freedom of
Information request; unfortunately they have not correctly interpreted the figures.
You can read the story here:
http://www.salfordstar.com/article.asp?id=454
Council leader John Merry commented on the story to other media. He said: “The
Salford Star has got its sums wrong, I’m afraid. While it does cost money to
produce the magazine, this is the same money we would otherwise have been
obliged to spend on public notices or recruitment advertising in newspapers.
“The net cost of producing a monthly publication like this is less than our previous bimonthly schedule where we had the additional expense of newspaper advertising for
notices and jobs.
“It is our duty to let people know about the council services and facilities available to
them and as holders of the public purse strings we want to do that in as cost
effective a way as possible, ensuring good value for money for our residents.”
3.2
Advertiser/reader feedback
As part of the wider assessment of performance, advertisers are asked to monitor
feedback to Life in Salford.
For example:
 There were approximately 40 entries in the “Get set for digital”
competition in March 2009.
 Eight memories were submitted in response to the Buile Hill
consultation article in March 2009.
 Citywide job advert: the Environment directorate reported
approximately 20 calls, with three relating to catering and cleaning
jobs.
 SCL did not count the number of calls/hits but they reported that that
they were “inundated” with phone calls after the magazine contained a
feature about free swimming. Callers were mostly in the over 60s
category. [Most free swim passes for under 17s were generated
through schools prior to this promotion.]
 Fostering: this is now a regular advert and the service is happy with
the steady response received from advertising in Life in Salford. The
first advertisement generated 13 enquiries (compared to 20 from the
Salford Advertiser), five of which were followed up by enquirers.
 SNAP: there were 348 website unique visitors to the Irwell Riverside
SNAP webpages after publication of the magazine; this SNAP was only
promoted in the magazine.
 Salford West: webpage hits in the four weeks after publication were
235, with 33 going directly to the published address.
D:\219513509.doc





3.3
Launch of the recession web address: in the four weeks following the
publication of Life in Salford there were 237 hits, with 45 people going
directly to the web address printed.
Admin pool advert: there was a noted increase in people enquiring
about the admin pool since an advert appeared Life in Salford; 35
Salford residents submitted CVs for admin and clerical positions.
Older people’s services: Healthy Hips and Hearts received ten
enquiries from people who had read about the initiative in Life in
Salford; Mature Movers generated five new class members and have
two other people who are particularly interested in joining.
The Salford Carol Service was featured in Life and members of the
public were invited to ring for tickets; this resulted in over 500
enquiries. All 374 public tickets were allocated with the remaining
residents joining a waiting list.
The Lowry has reported an unprecedented response to their “Our
Lowry” residents’ offer in Life in Salford. The Our Lowry scheme now
has 2630 members: the first 1000 members joined in the first eight
weeks with the next 1000 members being added 6 weeks later, set
against an initial membership target for the whole year of 800. Our
Lowry offers, promoted in Life and elsewhere, have so far generated
2536 ticket sales across 13 events. One of the 546 bookers who have
used their membership, 43% have attended a show at The Lowry for
the first time. The Big Listening also shows that attendance at The
Lowry is up by 9% this year.
Big Listening results
The council’s Big Listening survey has been used to obtain reader feedback on Life
in Salford. Questions were asked most recently in the Big Listening 11 survey
carried out in July 2009.
The survey looked at readership and content.
Comparisons were drawn between the latest results and those from previous
surveys, namely Big Listening 3 (carried out in November 2006), Big Listening 7
(April 2008) and Big Listening 9 (December 2008).
3.3.1 Readership of Life in Salford
Over two thirds (68%) of Salford residents say that they regularly receive Life in
Salford, this is up significantly since Autumn 2008 (52%). A further one in five (21%)
say that they receive it infrequently. Only one in ten (10%) of residents have never
received it and of these, only half (5% of all respondents) have never heard of it.
D:\219513509.doc
Have you seen a copy of Life in Salford?
Yes, I receive it regularly
Yes, I receive it infrequently
No, I have never received it but heard of it
No, never heard of it
Don’t know
Not stated
68%
BL11 (1167)
21%
52%
BL7 (1183)
BL3 (751)
32%
45%
35%
5%
5%
11%
5%
8%
7%
2
2
Those who live in Walkden and Little Hulton are most likely to say that they receive
Life in Salford regularly (77%), whilst residents of East Salford are least likely to say
they receive it.
Almost seven in ten (69%) residents who have seen a copy say that they read Life in
Salford; one in five (22%) say that they read all or nearly all of it and a further quarter
(25%) say that they read most of it. Just under three in ten (28%) who have seen a
copy say that they do not read it, with only 4% of these saying that they did not even
glance at Life in Salford.
Thinking about the most recent issue of Life in Salford that you have seen, did you read it?
Yes, I read all or nearly all of it
22%
Yes, I read most of it
25%
Yes, I read a few articles
22%
I just glanced at it
I did not read it at all
24%
4%
Don’t know /can’t remember
1%
Not stated
1%
Older residents are still the most likely to read Life in Salford with almost a third
(31%) of those aged over 65 saying that they read all or nearly all of it. Residents of
East Salford are also the most likely to say that they read all or nearly all of it, with a
almost third (30%) saying this.
3.3.2 Content of Life in Salford
Over six in ten (62%) Salford residents who have seen a copy of Life in Salford find it
useful, with 13% finding it very useful. These results are comparable with those from
BL7, although there has been a slight downward trend in those who find Life in
Salford useful since BL3.
D:\219513509.doc
How useful or not do you think Life in Salford is?
Very useful
Fairly useful
Neither/nor
Not at all useful
Don’t know
Not stated
Not very useful
BL11
13%
49%
18%
12%
4% 3
BL7
13%
49%
18%
12%
5% 3
BL3
14%
56%
16%
9%
3 2
In keeping with older residents being more likely to read the publication in full, they
are also the most likely to find it useful, with almost three quarters (72%) saying this.
Those aged 25-44 are the least likely to Life in Salford useful, with slightly over half
(54%) of those who have seen it claiming this. BME residents are also more likely to
find the magazine useful (82%). A similar proportion of residents to those who find
the publication useful would also describe Life in Salford as interesting (61%).
These figures show a slight increase on BL7, but again a drop from the proportion in
BL3.
How interesting or not do you think Life in Salford is?
BL11
BL7
BL3
Very interesting
Fairly interesting
Neither/nor
Not at all interesting
Don’t know
Not stated
13%
11%
14%
48%
47%
17%
18%
54%
Not very interesting
14%
16%
13%
12%
4% 3
6% 2
3 2
Women and those over the age of 65 are most likely to find Life in Salford interesting
(64% and 67% respectively). As may be expected over three quarters of those who
read Life in Salford say they find it interesting, compared to just 24% of those who
say they do not read the magazine. Over half (52%) of respondents who have seen
a copy of Life in Salford would describe it as easy to read. Almost a third (31%) say it
is modern, although one in five (22%) say it is uninspiring. Altogether almost three
quarters (72%) of respondents mention positive words to describe the magazine,
with 37% mentioning words with more negative connotations.
D:\219513509.doc
Which of the following two words best describe the style of Life in Salford, in your opinion?
Easy to read
52%
Modern
31%
22%
Uninspiring
Attractive design
15%
Eye-catching
12%
Boring/dull
12%
Outdated design
10%
Old fashioned
Not stated
7%
2%
Older residents (37% of over 65s) are most likely to say that the magazine has a
modern design.
The most popularly requested content of Life in Salford is more local news, with six
in ten (60%) residents saying that they would like to see more. Residents would also
like to see information about events and things to do in Salford (58%) as well as
information about who to contact in the council for different things (52%). Credit
crunch and recession information, as well as interviews with interesting local people
are less popular, but still both mentioned by at least one in five residents (19% and
27% respectively).
What sorts of things would you most like to see more of in Life in
Salford?
D:\219513509.doc
Local news
60%
Information about events and things to do in Salford
58%
Information about who to contact in the council for different
things
52%
Information about council services
49%
Features on crime prevention/community safety
49%
Information on what the Council spends its money on
49%
Features on neighbourhoods/your area
44%
Features on local history
41%
Health information
41%
Council job vacancies
34%
Letters from residents
33%
Adult education/training
33%
Interviews with interesting local people – e.g. 5 minutes with
27%
Credit crunch/recession information
Other
None of the above
19%
2%
5%
Younger residents are most likely to want to see more information on events and
things to do in Salford, with 82% of those aged between 18 and 25 mentioning this.
Older respondents are most likely to want to see information on what the council
spends its money on and local history.
3.4
Distribution issues
The Marketing & Communications division is very proactive in picking up complaints
around the distribution of the magazine.
Based on the highest number of complaints ever received for any issue of Life, the
proportion of complaints per issue compared to the number of magazines delivered
is tiny – just 0.005%.
For example, there were four complaints about non-delivery of issue 53.
D:\219513509.doc
The Royal Mail’s response to these was that after speaking to the local delivery
office manager they could find no reason why the magazine would not be delivered.
The manager agreed to monitor mail delivery to these addresses.
On issue 54, there were two complaints of non-delivery and a complaint about
copies being dumped in a recycling bin (potentially a malicious complaint).
All of these issues were pursued with Royal Mail.
On issue 55, there were four complaints of non-delivery and two complaints of other
items being distributed within the publication (namely a BNP election leaflet)
On the issue of non-delivery, Royal Mail responded: “I have spoken to the Delivery
Office Manager at North West Delivery Office, who is going to monitor this walk…..
They are also going out to speak to the occupant, and ask if she would mind
returning all door to door items to the office, to enable them to see if there is any
fraudulent behaviour by the postperson. They will supply the occupant with prepaid
addressed envelope to enable them to do this, without expense to themselves. May
we take this opportunity to thank you for bringing this to our attention, as we rely
heavily on our customers’ feedback to monitor the performance of our delivery staff.”
On the issue of other leaflets being enclosed within Life in Salford, Royal Mail
indicated that they were very concerned by this issue. The Delivery Office Manager
at Salford was notified and gave an assurance that all staff had been made aware of
the correct procedure in delivering door to door leaflets. It was reported that if an
employee continues to carry out such an act and ignores this instruction, the Delivery
Office Manager would take disciplinary action. In practice we were told that this
rarely occurs as delivery staff usually learn from their error.
In terms of the content of the leaflets, these were separate postings delivered using
the door to door service; Royal Mail has legal obligations, under the Representation
of People Act, to deliver election material for all parties.
A similar issue of delivery of a BNP leaflet within Life in Salford was raised in
January 2010 concerning issue 63. Again, this issue was picked up with Royal Mail.
Their Customer Services Advisor Ashley Harvey responded to say that he had
monitored the progress of Life in Salford from the moment copies were received at
the Royal Mail Walk Bundling Centre at Warrington to the time they were processed
by the Delivery Officers at each Delivery Office.
Mr Harvey stated: “I have also interviewed the Delivery Office Manager of the Salford
Delivery Office, Mr Johnston. I have explained the situation to him and asked him
how this incident could have arisen. He has in turn held an emergency meeting at his
Delivery Office for all of his staff. He has again informed them how Royal Mail
strongly discourages the practice of delivering smaller Door to Door items placed
inside larger ones, nesting as it is known. He has explained how we at Royal Mail
are legally bound to deliver all items by political parties but that we also must be
seen as neutral and some must our customers. This meeting ended with all of his
staff signing an agreement with Mr Johnston that stated how they were aware of the
fact that the nesting of political party items is against Royal Mail policy and that if
they were found to be doing it again they will be subject to disciplinary action that
D:\219513509.doc
may result in dismissal. I can assure you we are taking this case very seriously and
Mr Johnston has assured me that he will try and implement the necessary steps to
ensure a similar incident will not arise in the future. I again would like to apologise for
any inconvenience or concern this matter may have caused and I do sincerely hope
that these results can provide you with some reassurance that we are doing all we
can to ensure that your future campaigns are as successful as possible. Please be
assured that you are a valuable customer of ours and that as a direct result of your
concerns we have put measures in place to ensure that the service is improved.”
At the time of writing, there have been three similar complaints regarding BNP
leaflets delivered with issue 64 of Life in Salford; these affect postcode areas M27,
M28 and M30 – different delivery areas to the ones investigate as a result of the
complaints about issues 55 and 63. Royal Mail’s response to this is as follows:
“I am writing to confirm the results of the follow up investigation I have carried out on
your behalf after your enquiry this morning. After our telephone conversation I have
gone through your previous contract and assessed all of the sectors that your items
have been delivered to in the past. I have then looked at each of these sectors and
gone through all of our systems to ascertain which of our Delivery Offices cover each
of these sectors.
Through this process I have found that on your previous contract your items were
delivered by six different Delivery Offices. There are the Delivery Offices at
Northwest Manchester, Manchester Main, Manchester North, Salford, Eccles and
Irlam. Having identified these Delivery Offices I have gone on to talk to the Delivery
Office Managers for each of these Offices in an attempt to outline your situation to
them. They are now all aware of the incident and each manager has in turn agreed
to use their weekly team meetings to outline to all of their staff that the ‘nesting’ of
political and council items is strongly discouraged as both you at the council and
ourselves at Royal Mail must remain neutral in terms of political parties. The Officers
have all been warned that if they are found to be continuing this practice they may
face disciplinary action. The Delivery Managers have all separately offered their
apologies for this incident and any concern it may have caused, I would like to add
my own apologies to this and I hope the work I have done will go some way into
reassuring you that we are keen to resolve this issue by tackling it head on.”
Royal Mail always investigates complaints promptly and is proactive in trying to
resolve the issues. We are, however, seeking assurances on these issues.
D:\219513509.doc
4.
National position on council newspapers and magazines
In March 2009 The Newspaper Society – the body which represents the interests of
local newspapers and magazines – called for a ban on local authority publications
which “purport to offer ‘independent’ local news and compete with local media for
readers and third party advertising.”
An article on this issue can be found at:
http://www.newspapersoc.org.uk/default.aspx?page=4281
The Society described council publications, websites and broadcast services as an
“ever increasing threat” to local businesses in their submission to consultation on the
Publicity Code for local authorities.
It was also announced in March 2009 that the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was to
examine the effect of council-run newspapers on other local publications.
This followed the decision of the Barking and Dagenham Council to launch its own
fortnightly free newspaper.
An article on this can be found at:
http://www.editorsweblog.org/newspaper/2009/03/uk_council_publications_to_be_lo
oked_at.php
In their report on the Review of the local and regional media merger regime of June
2009 [see http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/mergers_ea02/oft1091.pdf] the OFT
comments on the issue but does not make any specific recommendation.
Their report states:
D:\219513509.doc
Later in June 2009, the Audit Commission announced that they had been asked by
Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw to look at the issue of council newspapers and
associated funding.
The announcement can be found at:
http://www.auditcommission.gov.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/Pages/20090617digitalbritain.aspx
In June 2009 it was also reported that Conservative-controlled Thurrock Council in
Essex was to launch its own publication at a cost of £100,000. This attracted further
industry attention, with the editor of the local Thurrock Gazette expressing concern at
the proposals: see the story at:
http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/news/090624thurrock.shtml
There has been other media comment on the issue. In November 2009 the Daily
Mail reported Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge’s comments on “town hall spin”. Lord
Judge, speaking to the conference of the Society of Editors, said: 'I don't want the
press to become the broadsheet of the institutions.'
He added that some local weekly newspapers 'are relying on council press officers'
for the information they print.
See the full article at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1228423/Beware-townhall-spin-says-judge-amid-growing-fears-Big-Brother-surveillance.html
Also in November 2009, a report in LGC quoted shadow local government and
communities secretary Caroline Spelman on the subject of council newspapers. She
said: “Council publications listing important information about council activity is one
thing – taxpayer-funded council newspapers with TV listings, sports reports and
theatre reviews is quite another.”
The full article can be found at:
http://www.lgcplus.com/policy-and-politics/latest-policy-and-politics-news/spelmancondemns-council-newspapers/5009014.article
In January 2010 the Audit Commission wrote to Stephen Timms, the Minister for
Digital Britain, with its findings on council periodicals. Their letter is shown below.
D:\219513509.doc
D:\219513509.doc
The Audit Commission also announced their findings in a Press Release at:
http://www.auditcommission.gov.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/Pages/councilperiodicalsandothercom
municationwiththepublic.aspx
This announcement also links to the letter (above), the evidence supporting the
findings (see appendix to the letter (PDF, 124Kb) (opens in a new window) and the
supplementary appendix, Council periodicals and other communication with the
public (PDF, 64Kb) (opens in a new window).
The Audit Commission’s findings were reported in the media as:
Council newspapers not wasting public money: Audit Commission
You can read the story here:
http://www.printweek.com/RSS/News/979428/Council-newspapers-not-wastingpublic-money-Audit-Commission/
5.
Position on publicity for planning applications
In July 2009 the Department for Communities and Local Government began a
period of consultation on publicity for planning applications.
This in turn followed the publication of the final report of the Lifting the Burdens
Task Force in November 2008.
This Task Force had been commissioned to tell the Secretary of State for
Communities and Local Government which Government requirements “caused the
most aggravation on the ground and which added the least value”. The intention
D:\219513509.doc
was to see the freeing up of local government from “onerous and prescriptive
controls in order to allow greater innovation, better quality services more responsive
to local needs and continue to make further strides in improving performance.”
The July consultation on publicity (which can be found at:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/consultationpubli
city.pdf) asked the following:
One example highlighted by the Task Force was the London Borough of Camden
(see panel below).
The outcome of this consultation has not yet been published in full but Housing and
Planning Minister John Healey has confirmed that the rules for local authorities
advertising planning applications in local newspapers will not change. New
guidelines will say that as well as advertising in papers, local authorities will be
required to publish information about planning applications on their website, to
ensure local residents are fully informed about planning issues in their area.
D:\219513509.doc
A press release about the outcome can be found here:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/1419192
This lack of change following the consultation has been criticised by the Planning
Officers Society - see their comments at:
http://www.planningofficers.org.uk/file/e0bf5fef4dec706be5314027d3a7f93b/societyslams-dclg-decision-not-to-dispense-with-the-need-for-newspaper-publicity-ofplanning-applications.html
It has also been criticised by Planning magazine (see Appendix 2).
6.
Local media context
Since the decision to move Life in Salford to a monthly publication, there have been
several significant changes in the regional media.
The Guardian Media Group, which publishes the Manchester Evening News as well
as the Salford Advertiser and similar weekly newspapers, is – like many other
regional newspapers groups – being forced to react to a changing publishing and
economic climate.
Newspapers are no longer the primary source of information on, for example,
recruitment advertisements; most people in search of a job turn to the worldwide web
for information. The same applies to property searches and, to a lesser degree, to
news: the ready availability of online and television news has undoubtedly affected
the newspaper industry.
When Life in Salford moved to a monthly schedule, some legal and statutory notices
were moved to Life in order to reduce spend and to fund the publication. This has
undoubtedly resulted in an overall reduction in spend with the Salford Advertiser.
However a level of advertising, mainly planning notices, has remained with the
Advertiser, generating regular income for the newspaper.
In response to the current economic and business climate, the Guardian Media
Group has been seeking to reduce its costs. One example of its actions has been
the closure of all local newspaper offices and the bringing together of weekly
newspaper staff within the Manchester Evening News offices at Spinningfields. This
has meant no ‘High Street’ presence for local newspapers including the Salford
Advertiser. Newsgathering is done at a distance although reporters have been
seeking a presence in local buildings such as libraries and supermarkets.
In addition, it has been announced that the Salford Advertiser is to withdraw
distribution from several postcode areas of Salford, namely M44, M45, M54, M72
and M73. This means that the whole of Irlam and Cadishead, Pendleton and
Salford Quays, Higher Broughton/Lower Kersal/Kersal/Charlestown and Lower
Broughton/Charlestown/Broughton Park will no longer receive free deliveries of the
Advertiser, although it will remain on sale in those areas. There will also be a
reduction in deliveries in M55 covering Seedley, Weaste and Pendleton.
D:\219513509.doc
The overall penetration – the percentage of homes who will receive a copy of the
Advertiser - will hit 93% (compared to 94% previously) with a reduction in circulation
of just over 10,000 copies. The move will achieve considerable financial savings
and the company state that this is an issue of “commercial reality” – the areas
removed “are simply the most unproductive in terms of revenue generation, both for
leaflets and in-paper advertising.”
The net result is that the opportunities to reach the residents of Salford through the
news media have diminished.
It was announced on February 9 2010 that the Manchester Evening News itself –
which lists Salford as one of its key areas of readership - has been bought by Trinity
Mirror Plc, publishers of the Daily Mirror and Liverpool Echo. The deal, which also
sees Trinity Mirror acquire the 22 regional newspapers from within the Guardian
Media Group Plc, is expected to be completed on March 28. TV station Channel M
is not part of the acquisition.
The full consequences of the acquisition are not yet known, but announced on the
same day was the move of all MEN Media operations from Manchester's
Spinningfields to Oldham.
You can read these stories at:
http://www.crainsmanchesterbusiness.co.uk/article/20100209/FREE/100209876/108
3/newsletter01
http://www.crainsmanchesterbusiness.co.uk/article/20100209/FREE/100209873/108
4/newsletter01
7.
Conclusions
Since Life in Salford moved to a monthly publication schedule, its performance has
been closely monitored by the Life Editorial Board.
The rationale behind the magazine remains: it affords the council an opportunity to
communicate directly and regularly with residents, which is seen as good local
government practice.
It does not seek to compete with any other media: it only carries advertisements from
the council or from partner organisations and its limited use of legal and statutory
notices – essential to provide funding for the publication – enhances residents’
opportunities to become aware of issues affecting them or their locality. It does not
carry news or TV listings.
The placing of some legal and statutory notices has not been challenged and is
consistent with the actions of other local authorities.
The national context, for example around areas of planning legislation and the
scrutiny of the Audit Commission, is understood by the council.
In financial terms the magazine continues to perform as anticipated. It derives
sufficient income to fund a monthly publication schedule but does not carry every
D:\219513509.doc
legal and statutory notice issued by the council; the remainder are placed in the local
media in the usual way. This also guarantees a level of income to local newspapers.
Direct reader feedback is good, with the majority of people – over 60% - finding it
both useful and interesting. The magazine carries information which readers would
not find in any other media. For example, an Ordsall resident contacted us recently
to say how much she appreciated information in Life in Salford; it had guided her to
services for her disabled son and grandson which she had not seen elsewhere.
The response to the magazine is excellent, with advertisements resulting in high
levels of take-up for events and services. The Lowry has seen an annual increase
in visitors of 9% (according to the Big Listening) since using Life in Salford to
promote its Our Lowry scheme.
The use of Royal Mail for distribution ensures that Life in Salford has a very high
penetration rate, with copies distributed to every premise in the city. Complaints are
taken seriously and the failure rate is extremely low; nonetheless this must continue
to be monitored and each incident raised with Royal Mail.
The value to the council of a monthly publication is high. Without Life in Salford, a
range of other communications channels would need to be used, almost certainly at
greater cost to the council.
___________________________________________________________________
KEY COUNCIL POLICIES:
___________________________________________________________________
EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND IMPLICATIONS:- We provide the
publication in accessible formats on request (audio and large print etc). We use a
diverse range of images to represent all of the communities within Salford and help
to promote services to all sectors of the population.
___________________________________________________________________
ASSESSMENT OF RISK: Low
___________________________________________________________________
SOURCE OF FUNDING: Existing budgets
___________________________________________________________________
LEGAL IMPLICATIONS Supplied by City Solicitor
___________________________________________________________________
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS Supplied by
___________________________________________________________________
OTHER DIRECTORATES CONSULTED:
___________________________________________________________________
CONTACT OFFICER: Susan Wildman
TEL. NO. 0161 793 2550
___________________________________________________________________
D:\219513509.doc
WARD(S) TO WHICH REPORT RELATE(S): All
___________________________________________________________________
D:\219513509.doc