Agenda item

To consider a progress report on individual risks identified in the Council’s Strategic Risk Register.

The Committee considered a progress report in relation to the individual risks identified on the Strategic Risk Register, specifically in relation to risks regarding ‘Reputational Damage’. The Committee discussed plans to control and mitigate the risks with the risk owners, Mr Jack, Chief Executive and Mr Cavill, Director of Place.

Mr Jack began by explaining that overall, the Council was now seeking to be much more pro-active in dealing with media and reputational issues, rather than simply responding to requests for information. Additionally, work was being carried out with the Blackpool Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and the Blackpool Teaching Hospital Trust in terms of a more coordinated approach to press and media releases. Going forward, a shared communications service with those agencies was being looked at, similar to what was already in place for legal services and emergency planning, between the Trust and the Council.

Mr Jack went on to explain that different and more effective methods of engaging with the community were currently being examined, particularly in relation to the Fairness Commission. The intention was for all of the different elements of the town to be brought together. A detailed plan was being coordinated by Dr Arif Rajpura, Director of Public Health and the essence of the plan was an intention to be more supportive towards the community.

In terms of new initiatives going forward, Mr Jack spoke about the opportunities afforded by the potential new conference centre and the new Blackpool Museum in order to attract both additional and different types of visitors to the town.

Mr Cavill spoke about the success of the ‘Blackpool has it all’ media campaign in terms of promoting the town and the fact that over 100 positive press articles had appeared nationally, as a result of active media management. The Committee was informed of the initiatives to bring together public relations from across the business economy in an attempt to manage media commentaries in a joined up way, leading to a lower volume of unilateral press releases.

Mr Jack responded to a number of questions from the Committee. In connection with the risk of negative TV documentaries, regardless of the level of cooperation given by the Council, or other agencies, he explained that the level of cooperation would be decided upon on an individual basis when an approach was made. He quoted the example of the ‘999 what’s your emergency?’ TV programme, which gave a very negative view of Blackpool, despite full cooperation being given by the police. Mr Cavill added that the intention was not to turn down all requests and pointed out that the Council had developed a good relationship with TV AM, which had resulted in some very positive morning TV slots being aired.

The Committee asked for additional details to be provided about the corporate branding and the engagement toolkit, as detailed against risk 6b in the register. Mr Jack explained that the corporate branding approach was designed to make it clear who was doing a piece of work or providing a service. In terms of community engagement, this was concerned with initiatives to align arrangements with other public service agencies, with a view to achieving a more joined up approach and to ensure that people were not being overwhelmed with surveys and consultations.

The Committee discussed the various engagement methods used by the Council since the demise of the area forums, including the Council Couch. Views were expressed which included a request for more information on engagement activities and also for more information to be provided to promote the benefits of the proposed new conference centre to the public. Mr Jack explained that attempts were underway to reach out to a wider network of people in the town, in ways that were constructive. He reminded the Committee that the engagement initiatives were a part of the joined up work being undertaken in partnership with the health agencies. In terms of the conference centre, he explained that the final funding arrangements had not yet been agreed, although was hopeful of this happening in the very near future. As such, communications to date had centred around the planning application. He was confident that conference centre publicity would increase significantly upon agreement of funding arrangements.

The Committee asked about the availability of different marketing methodologies for the culture and heritage areas of the Tourism and Marketing Strategy. Mr Cavill explained that (subject to funding) the Blackpool Museum would have a separate marketing budget and that the museum would try to attract people who would not normally visit Blackpool. He added that the museum would offer a much more interactive experience to that available at traditional museums.

The Committee asked about the use of less than positive images that were in the public domain and used to promote Blackpool. Examples quoted were photographs of the Tower whilst still covered in scaffolding, used by Booking.Com. Mr Cavill explained that every effort was made to use updated images as far as possible. He added however, that experience had shown that Booking.Com was considered to be a particularly difficult organisation to deal with in relation to such changes.

The Committee pointed out that the target dates for the risks within the register were all listed as ‘ongoing’ and asked when it was anticipated that things would start to improve. Mr Jack explained that the challenges would always be there, although he anticipated that arrangements in terms of a more joined up media approach would be in place within six months. With regards to community engagement and its links with the NHS Vanguard service, the changes were anticipated within three months. A new programme was currently in place for marketing Blackpool and it was hoped that improved results would be available around Easter 2017. Methods of undertaking visitor surveys had been reviewed with a view to achieving a far more solid evidence base as to the reasons for people visiting Blackpool.

In connection with the joined up communications approach with the health service, the Committee raised concerns about the possibility of relationships becoming compromised as a result. Mr Jack explained his belief that the intention would result in representatives of the organisations having difficult conversations with each other that would lead to better outcomes for residents. The driver behind the scheme was to persuade the organisations to do the right thing for residents and patients, rather than the right thing for the organisations themselves. As such, robust challenge would take place across each of the partners involved. Mr Towers, Director of Governance and Partnerships added that defined responsibilities around governance arrangements were set out within the relevant legal documentation, in such shared services.

The Committee agreed:

1.      To note the report.

2.      To request the attendance of Dr. Arif Rajpura at the next meeting of the Committee to provide further details of the new community engagement plans.

Background papers:  None.