ANNEXE 2
Communications Strategy Action Plan 2006 to 2009
Actions
Resource Implications
Time
Cost
Target Date
Resource
EEBC
Responsible
Officer
Comments
Required Outcomes
REPUTATION
1
Media Management
 To develop an effective
media plan.
W
One-off
W
W
From June
Ongoing
2006
 To evaluate the success
of the media plan.
W
W
Ongoing
 To review and update
the media plan.
W
W
Ongoing
 To implement the media
plan.
2
W
Mid June
2006 for Yr 1
Irene Clarke,
Director of HR &
Communication
Ongoing
Annual
Produce an updated A to Z
Guide of Services
 To produce an updated
A to Z guide in Borough
Insight, as well as in a
separate leaflet.
 To review and reproduce on an annual
or biennial basis as
necessary.
The Local Government
Reputation campaign is a 5year strategy for improving the
sector’s reputation
Improved communications.
Good practice achieved.
Having a standard and
consistent look that is recognised
The campaign actions are all
by all and promotes the vision of
communications or environment
the Council.
based – and proven to have a
big impact on the way the public Improved perception of the
view their council. Specific
Council.
actions for EEBC have been
Improved information to
developed.
residents.
Improved two-way staff
communications.
W
W
W
W
Ongoing
Ongoing
July 2006
Ongoing
Susan Bush,
Public Relations
Manager
Improved staff morale.
Central government
requirements met.
Communications Strategy
Actions
3
Borough Insight
Resource Implications
Target Date
Time
Cost
Resource
W
W
Ongoing
W
End Dec
2006 for 1st
Ongoing
review
(annual)
Ongoing
 To continue to produce
Borough Insight 4 times
per year.
 To regularly review
content of Borough
Insight.
W
Corporate Visual Identity
4
 To produce a corporate
visual identify guide for
all Council-related
communications.
 To obtain approval for
this guide.
 To communicate this
guide to Officers and
suppliers.
 To develop a
centralised quality
assurance process for
approval of all Councilrelated material.
 To develop and keep an
up-to-date information
register of
communications
materials available, and
develop a rolling
programme of when
materials need to be
reviewed and updated.
Epsom & Ewell Borough Council
W
W
One-off
W
W
One-off
H
W
One-off
and
ongoing
M
W
One-off
and
ongoing
M
W
One-off
and
ongoing
End-June
2006
EEBC
Responsible
Officer
Comments
Required Outcomes
Susan Bush,
Public Relations
Manager
Irene Clarke,
Director of HR &
Communication
End July
2006
July to Dec
2006
End July
2006 and
ongoing
From July
2006
Irene Clarke,
2
Communications Strategy
Actions
Resource Implications
Time
5
Resource
Internal Communications
 To develop an internal
communications plan.
W
W
One-off
W
W
Ongoing
 To measure its success.
W
W
Ongoing
 To review and update
the plan.
W
W
Ongoing Ongoing (biannual)
 To implement the
internal communications
plan.
6
Cost
Target Date
End-July
2006
 To re-test perceptions
to identify what shift, if
any, has been
achieved.
Epsom & Ewell Borough Council
H
H
M
M
Required Outcomes
Director of HR &
Communication
Ongoing
One-off Jan to March
2007
One-off
Comments
From endJuly 2006
and ongoing
Perception of the Council
 To establish a baseline
of perceptions of the
Council as a brand from
different stakeholder
groups.
EEBC
Responsible
Officer
Jan to March
2009
Sara Childs,
Service
Improvement
Manager
Stakeholders should include
residents, businesses,
Councillors, members of staff as
well as partner agencies. The
traditionally “hard to reach” such
as young people and ethnic
minorities should be included in
stakeholder groups.
Understanding how stakeholders
view the Council.
Being able to develop actions to
improve perceptions.
Improved perception of the
Council.
Improved customer experience.
A series of workshops can be
held to ascertain perceptions,
along with pre-workshop tasks
such as taking Council-related
pictures in the Borough.
3
Communications Strategy
Actions
Resource Implications
Time
Cost
Target Date
Resource
EEBC
Responsible
Officer
Comments
Required Outcomes
GENERAL COMMUNCIATIONS
7
Communications
Handbook
 To produce a
Communications
Handbook for staff.
 To communicate the
Handbook to staff.
 To regularly review and
update the Handbook
as required.
8
Irene Clarke,
Director of HR &
Communication
W
W
One-off
W
W
One-off
W
W
Ongoing
End July
2006
 To identify
inconsistencies
regarding signs and
develop an action plan
to address (within
financial constraints).
Epsom & Ewell Borough Council
Good practice shared.
Improved communication.
This Handbook will be reviewed
and updated as and when
required, but at least once a
year.
From Sept
2006
Ongoing
This Handbook will be available
in hard copy and electronically.
Signs
 To undertake an audit
of all Council signs
(internal and external on
buildings, in parks and
open spaces, vehicles
etc.).
The Handbook will cover all
aspects of communication, and
provide useful tips and
checklists. It will be similar to
the Consultation Handbook.
W
W
W
TBC
One-off
End Dec
2006
Ian Dyer, Head of
Operational
Services
At present, the Council does not
have a centralised record of
each of its signs around the
Borough. It is possible that
there are inconsistencies with
the signs due to a lack of
Corporate Visual Identity.
Greater understanding of
inconsistencies re signs.
Gap identification.
Improved perception of the
Council.
Improved consistency of
branding.
One-off
and End Jan 2007
ongoing
4
Communications Strategy
Actions
9
Design and Print
Services
Resource Implications
Time
Cost
Resource
W
W
One-off
Target Date
End March
2007
To review and recommend
options with current
contracts for design and
print services.
EEBC
Responsible
Officer
Andrew Forzani,
Procurement &
Projects
Comments
This is being looked at from the
value for money perspective as
well as brand consistency
perspective.
Required Outcomes
Greater control regarding
suppliers.
Consistency of design within
corporate visual identity
guidelines.
Greater understanding of costs.
Identification of where efficiency
savings can be made.
10 Advertising Expenditure
W
W
One-off
TBC
To review all advertising
expenditure across the
Council and supplier setup with a view to reducing
the cost and obtaining
better control of our
expenditure.
11 Professional
Communication
Communications Report
To develop a reporting
mechanism for key
communications activities
throughout the year.
Epsom & Ewell Borough Council
There is the possibility of us
joining forces with Surrey
County Council and utilising
their supply contract with TMP.
This is already under
development.
Greater control regarding
suppliers.
Consistency of design within
corporate visual identity
guidelines.
Greater understanding of costs.
Identification of where efficiency
savings can be made.
W
W
One-off
End July
2006
Irene Clarke,
Director of HR &
Communication
They will communicate actions
clearly and expeditiously to
Service Heads and other
relevant parties.
Improve cordination
W
W
One-off
and
ongoing
End April
2007 and
ongoing
(annual)
Irene Clarke,
Director of HR &
Communication
This report will contain high level
communications activity
information, and will include
details of communications
expenditure (dependent on
action number 13).
Improved communications.
To develop an appropriate
structure to support
communications within the
organisation.
12
Andrew Forzani,
Procurement &
Projects
More openness and
transparency.
Centralised recording of activity.
5
Communications Strategy
Actions
Resource Implications
Time
13
Cost
Target Date
Resource
Communications
Expenditure
 To collate information
on all communicationsrelated expenditure
across the organisation.
 To produce, as part of
the communication
report, details of this
expenditure.
14 Training
Irene Clarke,
Director of HR &
Communication
W
W
Ongoing
To appoint a Councillor as
a Communications
Champion.
Epsom & Ewell Borough Council
A system needs to be
established to record this
information across the Council.
From
September
2006
Required Outcomes
Greater understanding of
communications expenditure
across the Council through
centralised recording.
More openness and
transparency regarding
communications expenditure.
W
One-off
From End
and
April 2007
ongoing
onwards
W
W
One-off From April
and
2007
ongoing
Irene Clarke,
Director of HR &
Communication
This will be funded from the
Council’s Corporate Training
budget.
Employees knowing what’s
expected from them.
One-off
Irene Clarke,
Director of HR &
Communication
The aim of this campaign is to
help businesses improve the
clarity of their communications.
The Crystal Mark is their seal of
approval for the clarity of a
document and is an
internationally recognised
symbol of clarity.
External endorsement of Council
documents.
The Council has a recognised
champion for consultation
(Chairman of S&R Committee)
and all Chairmen act as
spokesmen for their own policy
areas.
Improved Member input into the
Council’s communications
activities.
W
W
To explore the feasibility of
obtaining Plain English
Campaign accreditation for
the main Council
documents.
16 Communications
Champion
Comments
W
To develop and implement
a communications training
programme to commence
in April 2007 as part of the
Council’s corporate
training programme
15 Clear Communication
EEBC
Responsible
Officer
L
W
One-off
End June
2007
End July
2006
Identification of where efficiency
savings can be made.
Irene Clarke,
Director of HR &
Communication
Improved communication.
Improved communication.
Improved perception of the
Council.
6
Communications Strategy
Actions
Resource Implications
Time
Cost
Target Date
Resource
17 Communications Audits
 To undertake
departmental
communications audits
to identify existing
resources, look at
methods and
techniques used,
develop improved
systems and processes.
 To develop and
implement a rolling
programme of
communication audits.
W
W
W
W
One-off
One-off
and
ongoing
March to
June 2007
EEBC
Responsible
Officer
Comments
Required Outcomes
Corporate
Communications
Group
A mini communications audit
was undertaken to inform the
development of the
Communications Strategy. It
would be beneficial to undertake
an organisation-wide
communications audit, to identify
where effort needs to be made
to ensure consistency etc.
Greater understanding of how
resources are used for
communication.
The Employee Satisfaction
Survey undertaken in October
2005 has indicated that
improvements may need to be
made to communicate what the
Council’s Key Priorities are.
Improved consistency of
messages.
Good practice shared.
End July and
ongoing
PUBLIC RELATIONS
18 Key Messages
 To use the Key
Priorities to
communicate the
Council’s key messages
in all activities, internal
and external.
W
 To develop and
implement a process to
ensure that staff and
Councillors involved in
events and activities
know the relevant key
messages.
W
Epsom & Ewell Borough Council
W
W
Ongoing
One-off
and
ongoing
Ongoing
Irene Clarke,
Director of HR &
Communication
A communications plan will be
developed to communicate the
Corporate Plan 2007 to 2011.
Reinforced the Key Priorities.
Improved communication.
Better informed staff and
Councillors.
7
Communications Strategy
Actions
Resource Implications
Time
Cost
Target Date
Resource
19 Media Training
 To develop and
implement a media
training programme for
key Officers.
M
M
Ongoing October 2006
onwards
EEBC
Responsible
Officer
Susan Bush,
Public Relations
Manager
Comments
A number of staff have received
media training but this needs to
be rolled out on a systematic
basis to all relevant staff.
The forthcoming Member
Development Programme can
be utilised to facilitate training
for Councillors.
October 2006
One-off
onwards
and
ongoing
Required Outcomes
Improved skills for dealing with
the media.
More effective media
communications.
Improved media coverage.
 To develop and
implement a media
training programme for
Councillors.
W
W
 To review the success
of the above
programmes.
W
W
20 Media Coverage Service
W
W
Ongoing
From July
2006 and
ongoing
Susan Bush,
Public Relations
Manager
To ensure that all Councillors
Increased knowledge of media
and staff have access to all
coverage we receive.
articles relating to the Council as
Improved communication.
well as press releases.
W
W
Ongoing
From
September
2006 and
ongoing
Susan Bush,
Public Relations
Manager
This ‘index’ can be set up inhouse, once the media coverage
service has been established.
Reporting against this can be
incorporated into the Council’s
performance management
framework.
One-off October 2006
onwards
To provide a media
coverage service by
sharing press releases and
press coverage the
Council has achieved.
21 Media Coverage Index
To develop a media
coverage index showing %
positive, negative and
neutral and % related to
Key Priorities and report
on a monthly basis.
Epsom & Ewell Borough Council
Improved public perception
through better media coverage.
Better understanding of types of
press coverage received.
Being able to track types of press
coverage over time.
8
Communications Strategy
Actions
22 Meetings with Managers
Resource Implications
Time
Cost
Resource
W
W
W
To establish regular
communication meetings
with service managers and
share the information
obtained with the
organisation.
23 Views of Local Media
W
W
One-off
To establish what, if
anything, we can do better
regarding media relations
with the local press.
24 Media Guidance
To prepare media
strategies for all major
Council’s issues e.g. CPA,
Corporate Plan 2007 to
2011, Council Tax / budget
announcement, elections
etc.
Epsom & Ewell Borough Council
End Sept
2006
onwards
End Sept
2007
EEBC
Responsible
Officer
Irene Clarke,
Director of HR &
Communication
Irene Clarke,
Director of HR &
Communication
Comments
Required Outcomes
Establishing regular meetings
with service managers will
ensure that information
regarding future events and
activities that could be of interest
to the media is obtained. This
will enable proactive media
coverage to be sought, in a
timely manner.
Improved communications.
Establishing what else we can
be doing will enable relevant
actions to be developed to
improve media relations.
Greater understand of the needs
and requirements of the local
press.
Greater knowledge of what is
happening / what will be
happening in the Council.
More proactive media relations.
Increased media coverage.
Better internal communications.
Improved media relations.
Improved media coverage.
W
W
To produce media
guidance for Officers as
part of the
Communications
Handbook.
25 Media Strategies
Target Date
One-off
and
ongoing
End July
2006
Susan Bush,
Public Relations
Manager
First line contact with the media
is always through the PR
Manager but other officers need
guidance in publicity, press
releases etc.
Greater understanding of what
makes a good news story.
More proactive media
campaigns.
Staff being more involved in the
process.
W
W
Ongoing
Ongoing
Susan Bush,
Public Relations
Manager
Communications strategies also
need to be part of any service
planning activity. Work will need
to be undertaken with service
managers to ensure this
happens.
Effective planning of media
activity.
Increased press coverage
through proactive activity.
More favourable press coverage.
9
Communications Strategy
Actions
Resource Implications
Target Date
EEBC
Responsible
Officer
Comments
Required Outcomes
Time
Cost
Resource
W
W
Ongoing
Ongoing
Susan Bush,
Public Relations
Manager
There are various Community
Awards schemes in place such
as the Active Citizens’ Award,
Voluntary Services Award,
Youth Awards, Community
Safety Awards.
Improved perception of the
Council.
W
W
One-off
and
ongoing
End Dec
2007
Susan Bush,
Public Relations
Manager
At present, there is not a
formalised editorial policy for
Borough Insight publication,
editorial control being exercised
by the Chair of S&R and the
leaders of the political groups.
Better understanding of what this
publication can be used for.
EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
26 Community Awards
Schemes
To promote the existing
Community Awards
Schemes.
27 Editorial Policy
To develop and implement
an editorial policy for
Borough Insight.
Epsom & Ewell Borough Council
Formalisation of processes,
including copy and design
approval.
10
Communications Strategy
Actions
Resource Implications
Time
Cost
Target Date
Resource
28 Website
 To investigate and
implement further ways
of presenting
information in ways that
are easy to understand.
 To investigate and
implement ways to
enable residents to
engage with the Council
in more interactive
ways.
 To further develop
electronic forms on the
website to provide a
more structured
approach to collecting
data, enabling residents
to communicate with the
Council quickly and
easily.
 [For the e-Government
group] to review site
statistics and develop
the site according to
residents’ needs and
changes in service
delivery.
Epsom & Ewell Borough Council
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
End Aug
2006
End Dec
2006
EEBC
Responsible
Officer
Mark Lumley,
Head of IT
Comments
Examples may include more
graphical and map-based
presentation of information.
Examples may include enabling
residents to sign up for monthly
email / text ‘newsletters’
informing them of events and
items of interest for that month.
Required Outcomes
Increased ways in which
residents receive information
from the Council.
Improved perception of the
Council.
Improved communications.
Improved customer experience.
End March
2007
Ongoing
11
Communications Strategy
Actions
Resource Implications
Time
Cost
Target Date
Resource
29 Mobile Communications
Unit
 To purchase a mobile
communications unit.
W
H
One-off
 To develop a system for
using the mobile
communications unit.
W
W
One-off
W
W
Ongoing
 To take the mobile
communications unit out
and about in the
Borough to support
initiatives / events.
 To evaluate the success
of the mobile
communications unit.
Epsom & Ewell Borough Council
W
W
Ongoing
Mid-June
2006
End July
2006
End July
2006
onwards
EEBC
Responsible
Officer
Director of HR &
Communication in
conjunction with
Head of
Operational
Services
Comments
Purchasing a mobile
communications unit will enable
the Council to get out and about
in the Borough. This mobile
communications unit will be
funded from existing resources,
and will be stored at The Depot.
A nominal charge will be paid by
hirers from within the Council to
put towards longer-term
maintenance costs. A
comprehensive booking policy
will be developed before the unit
can be hired.
Required Outcomes
Getting out into the community
more.
Increased community
engagement.
Improved communications.
Improved perception of the
Council.
Increased awareness of the
Council’s activities.
Improved communications.
Improved customer experience.
End each
November
12
Communications Strategy
Actions
Resource Implications
Time
Cost
Target Date
Resource
EEBC
Responsible
Officer
Comments
Required Outcomes
INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
30 Core Brief
 To develop a format
and guidelines for Core
Brief for use by all
teams within the
organisation.
 To implement Core
Brief.
 To review the success
of Core Brief.
W
W
One-off
July 2006
W
W
Ongoing
Monthly
W
W
One-off
End Dec
2006
 To make amendments
required following
research findings.
End Dec
2006
 To increase the use of
pictures and graphics
on the Intranet to make
it more fun and inviting
for staff to seek
Epsom & Ewell Borough Council
This document will enable
Improved communication.
consistent messages to be
Improved two-way
communicated across the
communications between staff
organisation, via team meetings.
and Directors team.
This will be written in Directors
Improved staff morale.
on the second Tuesday of each
month. It will be distributed to
managers on the same day, for
dissemination within 5 working
days. The form will include a
return section to state that the
meeting has taken place, and
list staff members who have not
received it due to absence.
Success will be reviewed by
asking questions in the
Employee Satisfaction Survey
(October 2006).
31 Intranet
 To produce a
suggestion box form for
the Intranet to enable
staff to mail any
suggestions that they
have, and further exploit
other e-forms for other
purposes such as
mileage claim forms.
Irene Clarke,
Director of HR &
Communication
W
W
One-off End August
2006
Mark Lumley,
Head of IT
Will need to ensure that owners
are identified to ensure that
information is maintained.
Improved communications.
Better informed staff and
Councillors.
Meeting the e-Government
agenda.
Improved staff morale.
Information is easy to find and
post on IRIS.
W
W
Ongoing
End October
2006
13
Communications Strategy
Actions
Resource Implications
Time
Cost
W
W
W
W
Target Date
Resource
EEBC
Responsible
Officer
Comments
Required Outcomes
information.
 To review the structure
of the web elements of
the Intranet to ensure
that staff are able to find
information that is
relevant to them quickly
and easily.
 To develop a process
for ensuring all
newsworthy items of
staff interest
(celebrating success
stories, press releases,
time specific items e.g.
traffic alerts etc.) are
posted onto the Intranet
in a central location.
 To investigate
upgrading the software
currently being used for
the Intranet, developing
links to the website, as
well as to improve
efficiency.
Epsom & Ewell Borough Council
W
H
One-off End October
2006
End
One-off
December
and
2006
ongoing
One-off
Developing links to the website
ensures that information is
managed in a better way and
will improve communication.
This will be aided by removing
the @All Staff email address to
ensure that staff are not
overloaded with irrelevant
information and ensuring
communications is focused.
End
December
2007
14
Communications Strategy
Actions
Resource Implications
Time
Cost
Target Date
Resource
EEBC
Responsible
Officer
32 Staff Awards Scheme
 To develop a staff
awards scheme for the
Council.
W
W
 To implement the
awards scheme.
W
L
 To review the success
of the rewards scheme.
W
W
End July
2006
From Sept
2006
onwards
Every 6
months
33 Staff Suggestion Scheme
 To review (and relaunch) the staff
suggestions scheme.
W
W
One-off End October
2006
 To implement the new
scheme.
W
L
Ongoing
 To regularly review the
scheme.
W
W
Ongoing
 To develop an action
plan to address
findings.
 To repeat the survey
(timing TBC).
Epsom & Ewell Borough Council
W
W
W
One-off
W
W
One-off
Required Outcomes
At present, the Council does not
have an internal awards scheme
to recognise achievements by
employees. Developing such a
scheme can have a positive
impact on morale.
Improved staff morale.
The Council has, in the past,
had a Staff Suggestion Scheme.
This needs to be resurrected to
ensure employees have a
mechanism for making
suggestions.
Improved staff morale.
Undertaking such a survey will
enable changes to be made in
time for the newly-elected
Councillors in May 2007.
Greater understanding of
Councillors’ needs.
Acknowledgement of staff
achievements.
Improved communication.
Corporate
Communications
Group
Corporate
Communications
Group
Better communication from staff
to Directors / senior management
team.
Listening (and acting upon) to
staff ideas.
Every 6
months
One-off End Oct 2006
W
Directors
From 1st
January 2007
34 Councillor Survey
 To undertake a
Councillor
Communications
Survey.
Corporate
Communications
Group
Comments
End Feb
2007
Sara Childs,
Service
Improvement
Manager
Improved communication.
The findings from this survey will
feed into the Member
Development Programme as
well as the implementation of
the Communications Strategy.
From March
2007
15
Communications Strategy
Actions
Resource Implications
Time
Cost
Target Date
Resource
35 Corporate Staff
Newsletter
 To re-launch the
corporate newsletter as
an ezine.
 To review the success
of the newsletter on a
regular basis.
W
W
Ongoing End March
2007
W
W
Ongoing
EEBC
Responsible
Officer
Sara Childs,
Service
Improvement
Manager
Every 6
months
Comments
Previously there was a staff
newsletter ‘People &
Performance’ detailing corporate
communications, including
information on performance and
CPA etc. This should be relaunched, and sent to all staff
via email. Hard copies will be
made available to staff without
access to email.
Required Outcomes
Improved corporate
communication to staff and
Councillors.
Improved corporate knowledge.
Better understanding of what the
Council is doing and is trying to
achieve.
It is important to re-launch this
newsletter prior to the Corporate
Plan 2007 to 2011 being
developed, as this newsletter
will facilitate communication
regarding the Council’s new Key
Priorities.
The Employee Satisfaction
Survey can be used to establish
the success of this newsletter as
a communication mechanism.
This is separate to Grapevine.
36 Notice Boards
 To develop a process
whereby notice boards
at all sites can be
updated in a timely
manner.
 To implement this new
system.
W
W
One-off
End Sept
2006
W
W
Ongoing
From Oct
2006
W
W
Ongoing
Ongoing
Corporate
Communications
Group
An audit of notice board
locations will need to be
undertaken as part of this
process.
Timeliness of information.
Up-to-date information available.
Improved communication.
 To review its success.
Epsom & Ewell Borough Council
16
Communications Strategy
Actions
Resource Implications
Time
Cost
Target Date
Resource
37 Managers’ Conference
 To develop a
communications theme
at the next managers
conference.
 To introduce frequent
lunchtime managers’
forums or infill sessions
(in between managers’
conferences.
 To have a standing
agenda item on
communication at each
managers’ conference.
W
W
One-off End Oct 2006
M
L
Ongoing
W
W
Ongoing
EEBC
Responsible
Officer
Irene Clarke,
Director of
Communication
and Directors
Comments
Over the past few years,
managers’ conferences have
been held twice a year (October
and March).
Required Outcomes
Buy-in from managers.
Input from managers into the
communications process.
More effective communication.
Suggestions as to the potential
programme for forums and infills Ownership of communications by
can be sought in the October
managers.
conference.
Improved staff morale.
From Nov
2006
From March
2007
MONITORING OF COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY
38 To monitor the progress
against actions on a
quarterly basis.
Epsom & Ewell Borough Council
W
W
Ongoing
From Q2
2005/06
onwards
Irene Clarke,
Director of HR &
Communication
and Sara Childs,
Service
Improvement
Manager
The action plan needs to be
monitored on at least a quarterly
basis, to ensure that the actions
are being achieved and the
outcomes realised.
Delivering Year 1 of the
Communications Strategy is a
Key Service Priority for S&R
Committee in 2006/07, and as
such, reporting of progress will
be incorporated into the
Council’s quarterly performance
management framework.
Ensuring actions are delivered to
the specified timescales.
Being able to highlight any
actions that are in danger of not
being achieved.
Improved communications.
17
Communications Strategy
Actions
39 To review the
Communications Strategy
on a half-yearly basis.
Resource Implications
Time
Cost
Resource
W
W
Ongoing
Target Date
End Dec
2006
End June
2007
End Dec
2007 etc.
EEBC
Responsible
Officer
Comments
Irene Clarke,
Director of HR &
Communication
The action plan needs to be
reviewed on a regular basis as it
is essentially a working
document. More regular
reviews can be established if
required.
Required Outcomes
Ensuring the action plan is a live
(working) document that evolves
and adapts to business needs
and change.
Please look at the next page for further communications activity being undertaken as part of other Improvement Plans.
Epsom & Ewell Borough Council
18
Communications Strategy
Consultation Strategy

Refreshing the Council’s Citizens’ Panel (FEEDBACK) and ensuring the panel’s ongoing management.

Exploring the feasibility of Community Forums.

Developing a consultation database on the Council’s website.
The Consultation Strategy was approved by S&R Committee on 15th November 2005.
Community Safety Improvement Plan

Developing publicity / communications strategy directed at reassurance.
This Improvement Plan was approved by S&R Committee on 4th April 2006. Please refer to the Community Safety Improvement Plan for more detailed information.
Customer Contact Improvement Plan

Implementation of new customer service standards, and their communication.

Implementation of the new ‘Comments, Compliments and Complaints’ process, and its communication.

Piloting a one-stop-shop at Bourne Hall Reception area.

Providing better Councillor information on the website.

Developing a pilot centralised events calendar for Council-organised events.

Developing a pilot centralised calendar for Councillor meetings to which members of the public are invited.

Developing a Resource Pack which includes tips on serving people with disabilities and people from ethnic minority groups and communicating it.

Achieving ‘Louder than Words’ accreditation (Royal National Institute for the Deaf accreditation).

Reviewing the current welcome pack contents and process.

Utilising national Customer Service Week to increase internal and external awareness of customer service across the organisation.
This Improvement Plan was approved by S&R Committee on 4th April 2006. Please refer to the Customer Contact Improvement Plan for more detailed information.
Epsom & Ewell Borough Council
19