Agenda item

Report of the Executive Director of Corporate Communications and External Affairs.

Members received a report of the Executive Director of Corporate Communications and External Affairs regarding an update on the Department’s work.

Members acknowledged there was a lot of work to do in this area to draw together the various facets of the City as a complex, historic, organisation, and expressed support for the new Executive Director in considering a new strategy.

It was felt that some areas of engagement had not yet been mastered (e.g. with the residential community) and that campaigns such as the City Belonging could be a good vehicle for improvement.

Whilst helpful to have a report that reflected actions taken, it was requested that future iterations have a more detailed ‘forward look’.

The success of the Mansion House Compact was noted, and thanks given to all those involved in its development.

There was some concern expressed over the use of the Advertising Value Equivalent metric and consequently a question was raised over the right mechanism for the City Corporation to better evaluate the success of any Communications Strategy. It was speculated that this would likely require greater staffing resource, but that co-ordinating the pockets of communications teams/officers across the organisation and its institutions, may help.

The Sub-Committee requested to see a copy of the proposed work plan of the Executive Director, ahead of its next meeting.

RESOLVED, that the report be noted.