States ‘have spent millions on inefficient communication’

States ‘have spent millions on inefficient communication’

It describes a silo mentality characterised by duplication and inefficiency in which departments operate differently and in isolation with no over-arching strategy or adherence to ‘the States of Jersey brand’.

Communication across multiple States websites and social media accounts was found to ‘fragment messaging and audiences’ and communications officers were being paid different salaries in different departments for doing very similar jobs.

The review found that the use of marketing agencies was costing up to £3.5 million a year, with no co-ordinated approach to buying in services from private-sector agencies resulting in a scatter-gun approach with inadequate controls and accountability.

By contrast, the States paid the JEP £80,000 a year to publish central government Gazette public notices before the States changed the law to scrap the requirement for such notices to be published in the newspaper.

The report added: ‘There is no States-wide media monitoring and dissemination, leading both to duplication by multiple staff checking the same media and omissions, since there is no central accountability for media monitoring.

‘There is little formal evaluation of communications against outcomes-based objectives or assessment of return on investment for paid-for marketing, so it is impossible to determine the effectiveness and value for money of communications activities.’

And it said: ‘Current communications resource is spread too thinly across the breadth of government, and is therefore inefficient, duplicative and unable to provide the full range of communications to the States, departments, functions, projects and campaigns.’

The report added: ‘Given the size of the States of Jersey, it is the dominant source of news for the media. However, there is no co-ordinated government-wide strategy for managing the government’s relationship with the media, so media engagement is largely tactical, reactive, legislation/policy-driven, and very duplicative, as every department engages independently with the media on its own agenda, to its own timetable, and with minimal cross-government planning or co-ordination.

‘As a result, the media might be given too many stories on one day, and too few on other days, leading to departments competing for media space sometimes, and wasting opportunities to fill space at others.

‘It also means that big announcements might not get the coverage they deserve, and small issues might get too much coverage, if they land in a vacuum.

‘This serves the interests neither of the media, nor of the government. In addition, under the current structure, the media have to deal with a dozen communications officers, most of whom have media handling as only a part of their jobs, rather than with a professional press office which is dedicated to media management.

‘The current structure and ways of working also mean that stretched communications officers can often only deal with the urgent priorities – which are usually legislation/policy-driven and reactive – and do not have the time to generate enough proactive and positive news about what the government is doing.’

The review was carried out in 2017 by a group of States employees led by States director of communications Stephen Hardwick.

As well as identifying failings in the system that he inherited as one of States chief executive Charlie Parker’s original change team, Mr Hardwick and his review team have published a 60-point action plan to address the issues identified.

That plan includes a more centralised approach to communication with the media, restricting who can speak to the media and creating an in-house marketing and design team which would remove the need for the outsourcing to agencies which has cost millions.

Asked how much this new marketing team would cost, and therefore what the saving might be, a States spokeswoman said that its size was not fixed, although approval had been given to recruit ‘up to 11 to cover marketing, design and digital, but we intend to start small and only expand in response to demand, as we bring more agency work in house’.

The aim, she added, would be to employ ‘as many people as possible at more junior grades’. However, she said until the candidates were appointed she could not give a cost.

In the past few months, the States have been running a recruitment drive to fill its communications posts, of which there were 37, working either part- or full-time, when the review was carried out last year.

Currently 15 are in post or have been recruited and a further five roles have still to be filled.

Most of the new recruits are due to start in the autumn.

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