Government Technology

Recognising excellence in public sector communications

Government communicators from across the country came together for the 2008 Good Communication Awards, sponsored by O2 Winner: Bradford MDC, Mixed Media campaign The Awards, presented by world renowned BBC newscaster Peter Sissons and held at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium, were even more hotly contested this year, with the London Borough of Hillingdon winning the main 'Local Authority of the Year' Award due to its successes in the Telecoms category (Contact Centre of the Year, Contact Centre Training Award) and in the Public Relations section (Local Authority PR Team of the Year).      In all, 22 awards went to local and central government departments for their communications expertise. In the IT category, Local Authority Website of the Year went to Slough Council for slough.gov.uk , with the IT Project Innovation award going to Hull City Council's STREAM Project, which gives vulnerable older people access to personalised and relevant public services through their television.      Brighton & Hove Council scooped the Telecoms Innovation award for its Talking Bus Stops project, which provides blind and visually impaired people with audible alerts that tell them when the next bus is due.      Nigel Dutton, Head of Tactical Marketing at O2, said: “This extremely well-organised event is vital in recognising the hard work that goes into government communications, and the technology successes that assist in the delivery of key local and central government campaigns”. PUBLIC RELATIONS: LOCAL AUTHORITY PR TEAM OF THE YEAR Winner: London Borough of Hillingdon The Hillingdon Improvement Programme has played a crucial role in helping the council to make much needed changes, and the council's reputation has grown as a result of more positive media coverage. The PR Team has driven this message of change through to its population clearly and cost-effectively, with dramatic results.      Judges comments: “The Hillingdon team deserve great credit for demonstrating that in good communications less is more. By increasing focus and clarity, they have produced a far greater impact at better value for money.”      Commended: Darlington BC; Westminster CC; Stockport MBC; Rotherham MBC. INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS AWARD Winner: Westminster Council - CPA awareness campaign Westminster Council used the task of preparing for inspection as an opportunity to increase staff understanding of the councils objectives in an engaging way. A new website was created to engage staff. Launched by e-mail and the intranet, this included a CPA comic-strip story, trivia quiz and acronym generator.      Judges comments: "A high degree of razzmatazz around the Council premises to ensure everyone was aware and excited by the campaign.” Commended: Harrow Council - innov8 campaign; Rushcliffe BC - Great in 08 campaign; St Edmundsbury BC - Excellence and beyond; Dorset CC - Being Part of the Pride. GOVERNMENT TO CITIZEN COMMUNICATION Winner: Coventry City Council - Changing the face of the city campaign The way people have bought into the vision for a new city centre is playing a key role in changing the perceptions of the city. A wider pride campaign will be based on the regeneration of the city centre. This campaign has ensured there is a real buzz in Coventry, and that people are keen for work to start.       Judges comments: “A well orchestrated and thorough campaign handled what could have been a controversial story and engaged the media and the public very effectively."      Commended: Islington Council - Climate Change referendum; Norwich CC - Alternate weekly refuse collection campaign; Westminster CC - Some things you only do when you're drunk campaign; London Borough of Hillingdon - 'Say No' Airport Campaign. MIXED MEDIA CAMPAIGN Winner: Bradford MDC - Tomorrow’s Climate Today's Challenge campaign Bradford’s Climate Change Awareness campaign was integrated into the Council's existing media work, linked to issues such as recycling and sustainable travel. To increase impact it was decided to avoid stereotypical climate change imagery such as wind turbines, polar bears etc. and relate instead to a concept that residents could easily relate to when thinking about climate change – the weather.      Judges comments: "The seasonal communications device was imaginative and the campaign has a fresh and different feel to it. The mix of techniques lead to awareness raising with clear calls to action".      Commended: Cheshire CC - A56 Bridge Closure campaign; Stockport MBC - Clear the Air campaign; Islington Council - Climate Change referendum; Salford Council - BIG Events in Salford campaign. PRINT: COUNCIL PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR sponsored by PMA Media Training Winner: Stoke-on-Trent City Council - Our City Our City is published and led by Stoke-on-Trent City Council along with Staffordshire Police, Stoke-on-Trent Primary Care Trust and Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service. The 16- page magazine is produced in five editions corresponding to Stoke-on-Trent’s neighbourhood management areas. Each has five change pages, including the cover and four pages of local news, with contacts for councillors, policing teams and health centres.      Judges comments: "A great deal is demanded of the journalists for each issue, with so many editions, but it pays off in spades. Surely good enough to justify monthly publication".       Commended: Nottinghamshire County Council - Nottinghamshire County News; East Riding of Yorkshire Council - East Riding News; Wigan Council - Borough Life; Westminster CC - Westminster Reporter. COUNCIL PUBLICATION - JOURNALISM sponsored by Moonraker Media Winner: East Riding of Yorkshire Council - East Riding News The newspaper is self-funded thanks to the efforts of an in-house advertising sales team. Members of the communication team’s press office write the entire editorial, using a journalistic style which gives the paper credibility and helps dampen down accusations of spin. Potential stories are assessed on newsworthiness as well as their link to a set of themes – value for money; quality of life; living safely; caring; and listening.      Judges comments: “Breaks the mould of what a council publication should be, and it proves what can be achieved with the right mix."      Commended: St Helen's Council - St. Helen's First; Haringey Council - Haringey People; Selby DC - Citizenlink; Lewisham Council - Lewisham Life. COUNCIL PUBLICATION - DESIGN sponsored by Océ Winner: Brent Council - The Brent Magazine The magazine is designed to give its readers clear, easy to understand information in regular sections and lively features with familiar, easy to follow signposting, allowing straightforward navigation around the publication.      Commended: Ealing Council - Around Ealing Salford City Council - 'On'; Essex CC - Essex Works; Stockport Council - The Reporter. PRINT INNOVATION AWARD sponsored by OKI Printing Solutions Winner: Salford City Council - Trick or Treat Posters The strategy was to educate and advise on the right way to approach these seasonal activities, rather than taking a killjoyʼapproach. Print items included a window card either wishing people a Happy HalloweenʼorʻSorry I’m busy, no trick or treaters, and a cut-out mask for children with some rules about behaving over Halloween.      Commended: Harlow Council - 'Love our waste' Booklet; Westminster CC - Oyster Card Holders; Aylesbury Vale District Council - Bucks County Show Coffee Cups; Maritime & Coastguard Agency - Seasmart Beach Activity Pack. IT & E-GOVERNMENT: LOCAL AUTHORITY WEBSITE OF THE YEAR sponsored by Auros Winner: Slough Borough Council - www.slough.gov.uk Slough BC, last years winner of the Website Accessibility category, continues to raise the standard of its online presence in a number of ways. A clear and consistent style helps visitors find their way around, and the local government navigational list is always followed. Plain English is used whenever possible without losing the context and meaning of the message.      Commended: Borough of Poole - www.boroughofpoole.com ; Lincolnshire CC - www.lincolnshire.gov.uk ; Islington Council - www.islington.gov.uk ; Belfast CC - www.belfastcity.gov.uk CENTRAL GOVERNMENT WEBSITE OF THE YEAR sponsored by CJV Digital Winner: DfT/Defra - actonco2.direct.gov.uk & www.dft.gov.uk/actonco2 The ACT ON CO2 cross-government brand was developed jointly by Defra and the Department for Transport, aimed at giving the public useful information on how to reduce their individual carbon footprint. The calculator, developed by Defra and the Energy Saving Trust and launched last summer, lets people calculate their carbon footprint from home energy, appliances and transport. The DfT strand at www.dft.gov.uk/actonc02 features a CO2 car ranking system developed with WhatCar?      Commended: Child Exploitation & Online Protection Centre - www.ceop.gov.uk ; National Archives - Your Archives - www.nationalarchives.gov.uk . IT PARTNERSHIP AWARD sponsored by OITUK Winner: Mid Sussex District Council - Shared Customer Services System Mid Sussex has led an innovative shared services project that provides a mobile working solution to three tiers of local authority for enforcement of the Clean Neighbourhood and Environment Act. A core group of local authority workers are equipped with smart phones. The information captured includes photographs, GPS data and supporting evidence which can be directly sent to the appropriate customer service team.      Commended: Fife Council - Fife Child Protection Register; Derbyshire CC - e-recruitment project IT PROJECT INNOVATION AWARD sponsored by PTC Software Winner: Hull City Council - STREAM Independent Living Project STREAM Independent Living uses IP Television to provide residents with information about local services available to them, a what’s on calendar of local events, communication tools and the ability to book services from the comfort of their homes. As part of the scheme, each resident receives a free broadband-enabled set top box that gives them access to the free to air digital channels and local video-rich public services.      Commended: Hampshire CC - Green IT Project; Welsh Assembly Government - The Herian Project. WEBSITE ACCESSIBILITY AWARD sponsored by RNIB Winner: Salford City Council - www.salford.gov.uk Any new or edited content is thoroughly audited for accessibility and usability using both manual and automated testing, and, wherever possible, third party applications, such as secure online payments, are integrated into the standard accessible template.      Commended: Slough BC - www.slough.gov.uk ; Aylesbury Vale DC - www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk ; Mid Beds DC - www.midbeds.gov.uk ; Barking and Dagenham Council - www.barking-dagenham.gov.uk . TELECOMS CATEGORY: CONTACT CENTRE AWARD sponsored by Sytel Winner: London Borough of Hillingdon In the 2007/08 period, Hillingdon Contact Centre handled 898,366 contacts, which marks an 11 per cent increase over the same period last year, with no additional staff recruitment. Despite this, customer satisfaction ratings have increased. Hillingdon has demonstrated a clear understanding of the importance of frontline staff at the centre of the customer-focused strategy.      Commended: Canterbury CC; Borough of Poole. CONTACT CENTRE TECHNOLOGY AWARD sponsored by Central Telecom Winner: Nottinghamshire County Council A new Customer Service Centre in Hucknall, where residents can use a single number to contact the council regarding over 360 services, uses a Rostrvm solutions application suite, deployed in conjunction with Ericsson PBX technology to support call routing to the centre advisors, who then use the desktop application to answer and handle the call.      Commended: Waveney DC; Powys Council. CONTACT CENTRE TRAINING AWARD sponsored by Call Centre Consultants Winner: London Borough of Hillingdon The quality of training and staff support has not only helped to reduce absence and non productive time, but also allowed the authority to expand the range of service areas within the contact centre, and provide a quick, slick service. Customer surveys and Mystery Shopperʼ exercises provide vital information which is used to further improve service levels.      Commended: Borough of Poole, Canterbury CC. MOBILE TECHNOLOGY AWARD sponsored by Text Messaging Service Winner: Lambeth Council - Nemesis Project Delivery The Nemesis project forms part of Lambeth’s community safety campaign, which had previously raised awareness about the impact of violent crime in the borough using leafleting and billboard posters. The second stage involved sending a 60-second educational/anti gun film by Bluetooth, targeting specific estates with prominent posters that detailed the content on offer, identified the bluetooth casting zones and gave the user the opportunity to opt out.      Commended: Westminster CC - SatLav Project; North Lanarkshire Council - 'mySWIS' Mobile Assessment TELECOMS INNOVATION AWARD sponsored by Voicesage Winner: Brighton & Hove Council - Talking Bus Stops In August 2007 Brighton & Hove became the first area in the country to introduce talking bus stops for blind and visually impaired people. The RNIB React system links into the city’s Bus Real Time Information meaning they no longer need to rely on fellow passengers for help. Audible announcements are triggered by an electronic key fob as users approach a bus stop.      Commended: Cheshire CC- Cheshire Telecare Project; Lincolnshire CC - CLIPS Project. MAIN AWARDS CATEGORY: LOCAL AUTHORITY OF THE YEAR sponsored by O2 Winner: London Borough of Hillingdon Local Authority PR Team (Winner); Contact Centre of the Year (Winner) Contact Centre Training Award (Winner); Government to Citizen Communication Award (Runner up).      Judges Comment: Say No Campaign (Government to Citizen) - “...This campaign dramatically achieved its goal of mobilising local people, with 94 per cent of residents voting against the Governmentʼs plans to expand Heathrow Airport. Excellent use was made of striking design to bring home the threats to the community..”      Commended: Coventry CC; Haringey Council; Salford CC; Stockport MBC; ­­Wesminster CC. STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS CAMPAIGN sponsored by European Electronique Winner: National Patient Safety Agency - Clean Your Hands Year 3 The National Patient Safety Agency’s cleanyourhands campaign aims to improve the hand hygiene of healthcare workers and prevent healthcare associated infection. Since the campaign launch in September 2004, independent evaluation has already demonstrated its effectiveness in changing behaviour. Materials and experiences have been shared with other healthcare organisations and systems around the world.      Commended: Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety - Missing Matthew; Haringey Council - Better Haringey; Ealing Council - Priority Branding; Westminster CC - Reputation Tracker. LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATOR OF THE YEAR sponsored by Creative Lynx Winner: Nicky Mee, Rushcliffe Borough Council In the 2007 Best Value Ispos MORI survey, Rushcliffe was recognised as the best district council for customer satisfaction in the country, with 73 per cent customer satisfaction – up 10 per cent in four years. In 2008, Nicky has written all the material which has seen Rushcliffe move from 'good' to ʻexcellentʼ in the council's latest CPA.      Commended: Giles Roca, Essex CC; Steve Jones, Darlington BC; Peter Morris, Ealing Council; Natalie Williams, Safer Hastings Partnership; David Holdstock, Hillingdon Council. CENTRAL GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATOR OF THE YEAR Winner: Lisa Appleyard, HM Prison Service Lisa Appleyard, Head of HR Strategy Planning and Communications at HM Prison Service, has led a small communications team to deliver two extensive projects critical to embedding a new Prison Service HR strategy. This has engineered new ways of working and cultural change among the Prison Service’s 50,000 employees.      Commended: Katherine Wilson, National Patient Safety Agency; Paul Mylrea, Department for International Development