Committee: Policy and Resources Date: 2 May 2013

Subject: Public Relations Office Activities Report, Public January – March 2013

Report of: Director of Public Relations For Information

Summary This report updates Members on Public Relations Office activities since the report submitted to your Committee in January 2013.

Activities in this report relate to the Communications Strategy 2012- 2015 and Public Relations Office Business Plan 2012- 2015 and covers the period January to March 2013.

Recommendations The Committee is recommended to receive this report on Public Relations Office activities during the period January to March 2013.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 This report highlights the activities undertaken by the Public Relations Office, in the period January - March 2013 in support of the organisation’s medium-term communications objectives, as detailed in the Communications Strategy and the Public Relations Office Business Plan respectively, and new or enhanced areas of work not necessarily covered by the Strategy/Plan.

1.2 Work on new/social media During this quarter, the Public Relations Office has begun to pilot a project around videos, each about two minutes long, which mainly feature front-line staff. The project is to build up in-house video skills and experience, open a number of ‘windows’ on the work of the City of Corporation, and grow our understanding of new media platforms. Twenty mini-videos have been produced so far and they can be seen on http://www.youtube.com/user/CityofLondonvideos. This work springs from the remit to keep adapting the City Corporation’s communications channels and skills to stay in step with the plethora of new media channels.

Monitoring issues online is also part of this new skillset that PRO (and its Media Team) is helping departments acquire. Currently PRO often takes the lead on monitoring a particularly acute issue, working with individual departments to develop their own skills and ‘handing back’ an issue once a corporate response is formulated and a way ahead seen. An example of this is the recent focus on the London Living Wage, and the Barbican cleaning contract. PRO has also worked closely with Business Continuity, and the Deputy Town Clerk recently to run an exercise that tested the effect of new media on our ability to respond in an emergency.

1.3 Media coverage Throughout the quarter, January – March 2013, there were 962 City Corporation stories in the UK print media. 349 (36%) of these stories were related to financial services, with the remaining 613 (64%) related to City Corporation services.

1.4 Political Contact Programme The first quarter of 2013 has seen considerable activity on the political contact programme. We have engaged with relevant politicians on issues including financial services, business visas, the UK’s relationship with European Union, London government, arts and culture, social investment and deregulation.

The Policy Chairman has had meetings, or hosted roundtable discussions, with , Mayor of London; Sir Eddie Lister, Chief of Staff to the Mayor; Rachel Reeves MP, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury; MP, PPS to the Chancellor of the Exchequer; Nick Hurd MP, Minister for the Civil Society; Sir George Young MP, the Chief Whip; and Chris Leslie MP, Shadow City Minister.

Separately, the Policy Chairman also met Sir Andrew Green of MigrationWatchUK to discuss our concerns about visas for business visitors to the UK.

A lot of activity has taken place on the EU agenda, which has included our hosting a speech by the French Finance Minister, Pierre Moscovici, and a meeting with Sylvie Goulard MEP, group coordinator of the ALDE group in the European Parliament.

1.5 Election communication To promote voter turnout on the day of the election itself, PRO undertook a number of activities as part of an overall elections communication programme:  In late November a page of the centrespread of all the ward newsletters produced alerted readers to the March elections.  The cover and a two page spread in the December/January issue of Cityview was devoted to the elections and sent to voters as part of the regular Cityview distribution.  A flyer was sent to voters in February to remind them of the date of the elections and the importance of voting.  The February eshot (sent to 12,000 subscribers) included a news item and a link to the dedicated CityVote2013 web pages. This was the latest in a line of Cityvote2013-branded material to encourage voter turnout. This included using the corporate Facebook page and dedicated CityVote Twitter feed (with retweets on the corporate feed as necessary).  A press release was issued at the beginning of March highlighting the fact that 21 out of the 25 wards were being contested, offering 92% of voters a choice of candidates.  A wraparound cover was produced in association with City AM two weeks in advance of the elections that included an interview with the Town Clerk explaining the significance of the elections, especially for City workers (the target audience for the newspaper).  A leaflet was sent to all voters in contested wards at the start of the week of the elections reminding them of the details of the elections and why voting was important.  On the evening itself, a bespoke table within the CityVote2013 pages of the website was created and this was updated as the results from each of the contested wards arrived. In addition, live tweeting of the results was sent through the CityVote Twitter account which was well received, with selected retweets on the corporate channel, alerting subscribers that the web page had been updated with the latest results. Three pages in the March Cityview Online were dedicated to the election results.

2.0 Supporting and promoting the City as the world leader in international finance and business services 2.1 PRO has been liaising with CPAT on a new, high quality publication aimed at encouraging businesses to locate or stay in the City.

Initial discussions have begun on updating the An Indispensable Industry – the very well received guide on the importance of financial services to the UK – for publication in the summer.

2.2 The Corporate Twitter feed continues to promote our work in this area. Research reports have proved very popular, generating new followers and re-tweets (eg the aviation report). The rate of new followers continues to accelerate and this should hit 5,000 followers in the coming month.

2.3 A number of videos have been uploaded to the corporate YouTube channel and tweeted to appropriate channels, depending on the subject matter and end users eg local businesses and Dragon Awards film.

2.4 Economic Development has been assisted in setting up a blog for research issues on the City Corporation website.

2.5 Media coverage of the Lord Mayor included major profile interviews in the Sunday Express (31 March), Sky News (7 March), FT Weekend (2 February) and Sky News. The London Government Dinner (7 January) generated coverage in the FT, Evening Standard and City AM, while the Trade & Industry Dinner (7 March) was also widely covered. The visits to Turkey and the Gulf both secured very strong coverage, while the Evening Standard ran a large piece on new research highlighting the value of the City arts and culture cluster (24 January).

2.6 Media coverage of the Policy Chairman included widespread coverage of the City of London Corporation’s response to the Prime Minister’s speech on Europe (23 January) and the Budget (20 March). He was also interviewed by the FT, BBC Radio 4’s World at One, BBC London, and the Evening Standard on the EU bonus cap and London’s position as a leading global financial centre. He was also widely quoted on the issue of reform during the City election period.

3.0 Promoting the City of London Corporation as the provider of modern, efficient and high quality local and policing services within the Square Mile for residents, workers, businesses and visitors 3.1 The latest edition of Cityview online went live at the end of March (later than usual due to the inclusion of the City election results) and included a story on the new Artizan Street Library and Community Centre.

The next print edition of Cityview is due in June and is likely to include a major article on the City Corporation’s new health responsibilities.

3.2 The next issue of City Resident is due in June.

3.3 The next editions of the ward newsletters are also due in June. Editors have been sent the production schedule and Aldermen in two wards contacted with regard to finding replacements for their former editors, who are no longer Members following the March City elections.

3.4 A concerted campaign by taxi drivers to reverse changes to Stonecutter Row was addressed through the corporate and @squarehighways Twitter feeds. Feeds for recycling, drug use and health and safety in the workplace tips and ‘myth-busting’ have now been launched and will be reviewed later this year (along with all other Twitter feeds) to see what is working, what is not and how these feeds can be improved. The corporate Facebook page is being managed by the Contact Centre and covers more resident/consumer-related issues.

3.5 Media coverage of City Corporation services has included:  The Guardian included (26 March) a letter from John Tomlinson, Chairman of the City’s Port Health and Environmental Services Committee, on air quality.  Interview in Third Sector (20 March) with Sandra Davidson, grants officer at the City of London Corporation’s charity City Bridge Trust.  The Sunday Times (18 February) ran a news story on puppy trafficking that referred to the Heathrow Animal Reception Centre.  Horticulture Week (15 February) covered a tree health conference hosted by the City Corporation at Guildhall.  Letter in The Daily Telegraph (13 February) from John Scott, Chairman of the Culture, Heritage and Libraries Committee, in response to a recent story on the statue of Baroness Thatcher. It refers to the Guildhall Art Gallery, where the statue is on display.  LBC Radio (18 January) interviewed Philip Everett, the City Corporation’s Director of the Built Environment, live on air, on what the City is doing to combat the snow and freezing conditions.  Estates Gazette reported that planning approval has been granted (15 January) to the ‘Scalpel’ tower on Lime Street, which refers to the City of London Corporation and quotes Policy Chairman Mark Boleat. Further coverage on BBC News, The AJ and CoStar.  The appointment (7 January) of Ade Adetosoye as the new director of Community and Children’s Services was reported by The Municipal Journal.

4.0 Communications priority: Supporting London’s communities

4.1 The City Corporation’s website also provides links to Facebook sites set up by departments to help them communicate better with their individual communities. Work will continue on this in the coming months to focus on better joined-up working between those creating content for the website and those doing the same through social media. This will also involve PRO offering advice on a communications strategy for each of the website’s ‘clusters’.

4.2 March’s Cityview online included an article on the City Corporation’s support and promotion of social investment and a feature to encourage applications for this year’s Dragon Awards.

4.2 Media coverage for this area of work has included:  Coverage of a social investment tax research report published (6 March) by the City of London Corporation and Big Society in The Times, Guardian blog, Third Sector and Civil Society.  Widespread coverage of the Sustainable City Awards in City AM, Vogue, Retail Gazette, Drapers, Fashion United, Fibre2Fashion.

5.0 Communications priority: Helping to look after London’s heritage and green spaces

5.1 Research is being planned to examine the benefits of green spaces to communities, and to London in particular. Following publication of the proposed research, suitable communications will be able to be built around the results.

5.2 Support and advice has been given to Open Spaces in developing their overall social media offering including practical training, assistance in devising strategy and embedding social media in their web pages.

5.3 Media coverage for this area of work has included:  Horticulture Week (15 February) covered a tree health conference hosted by the City Corporation at Guildhall.  The Evening Standard ran a large piece on new research highlighting the value of the City arts and culture cluster (24 January).

6.0 Other PRO activities/updates 6.1 Online A working group has been established to standardise statistical reporting of social media across the organisation to give a ‘snapshot’ of topline figures and highlights. This will give managers an appreciation of the scale of work being done already and trends. Monitoring continues apace and is proving successful in spotting and managing events and minor incidents. As part of ongoing work on the website, the Publishing Team regularly updates the home page with updated and new information that covers the whole organisation. The home page also allows for activity that needs an extra ‘push’ to be highlighted – such as the CityVote 2013 campaign.

An editorial ‘exchange’ (a forum for discussing management issues) is meeting on a monthly basis to discuss issues, share experiences and offer suggestions on how the site can improve. Google Analytics has been set up for the site and rolled out to composers allowing them to monitor their own areas, and improve content as a result. Site Morse, an external body that checks websites for functionality and accessibility amongst other criteria, has given training sessions to composers who will then have access to their email alerts which will also contribute to their ability to improve content.

The Shaw Trust, an independent accessibility body, will be carrying out an audit of the entire website in April and will issue a report, with recommendations on how to improve in this area.

March’s Eshot was sent to more than 12,000 subscribers. Tenders have been sent to the existing and two other service providers as part of a review of the email distribution and hosting provision.

A contract has been signed with Social Bakers for a six month trial of social media analytics. This will provide extremely detailed matrices on all individual Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channels.

6.2 Events The Corporate Affairs team organise a range of events as part of the political and business contact programme, and in support of wider corporate objectives. Major events in the last quarter included: a pre- Davos report launch seminar in partnership with Marsh and Zurich; an Economic Crime conference; a dinner for the Centre for London; the opening of the Artizan Street Community Centre; a conference on Indian Financial Infrastructure; a lecture and debate on the role of trust in financial services organised with the Association of Corporate Treasurers; the Clean City Awards; the Health & Wellbeing Open day; a seminar with the French Finance Minister; a roundtable for Heart of the City; International Women’s Day; Sustainable City Awards; the AIMA International Regulatory Conference; and the launch of the Crossrail Arts Programme.

6.3 Filming Guildhall (mainly the Yard and Art Gallery entrance) and Trinity Square were to be used for filming of the next Muppet Movie in April.

Discussions have begun regarding two large scale feature films currently looking to film at Bank Junction and Millennium Bridge during the summer.

The very popular TV series Sherlock is due to film outside Barts hospital in April.

6.4 Internal communications The regular programme of internal communications work continues and since the New Year has included improvements to the corporate intranet, the organisation of the senior managers’ forum, and additional support for departments as part of the on-going change programmes.

6.5 Database The Database Team has been working on the annual Ward Survey, as well as supporting the electoral services team in preparations for the Common Council elections.

6.6 Think tank engagement We have worked with think tanks on a range of events. We have hosted lectures organised in partnership with Politeia with the Rt Hon Vince Cable MP, the Business Secretary, and Gerard Lyons, the Mayor of London’s new economic adviser. The Business Secretary gave a speech on the Government’s policies to stimulate growth in the economy and reminded the audience of the extent of the damage caused to the UK banking industry during the financial crisis, and the length of time it will take to recover. Gerard Lyons spoke of the continuing strengths of London as an international business centre.

The Business Minister, Rt Hon Michael Fallon MP, gave a speech on the deregulatory agenda hosted by the Policy Chairman and organised in partnership with the Centre for Policy Studies. Later the same week, we hosted a round table discussion with Nick Hurd MP, Minister for the Civil Society on the development of Social Investment in the UK. This was organised in partnership with the think tank Reform and was attended by representatives of City businesses, the third sector and City Corporation officers who specialise in this area.

As part of our work to increase our engagement on the future of Europe, we hosted two events organised in partnership with Business for New Europe (BNE) and Policy Network. The first event with BNE was a debate between Rt Hon Liam Fox MP, former Defence Secretary, and Rt Hon David Miliband MP, former on Britain’s future relationship with Europe. The second event with Policy Network, was a conference on the future of the Eurozone and Britain’s relationship with Europe. Participants included President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy; Vice-President of the European Commission, Olli Rehn; Irish Deputy Prime Minister, Eamon Gilmore; and the Dutch Foreign Minister, Frans Timmermans.

7.0 PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICE WORKING ENVIRONMENT AND BUDGET 7.1 The financial year 2012/13 saw the full 12.5% budget reductions take effect. With more pressure on resources, the Public Relations Office continued to look for greater efficiencies and value for money to ensure the strategic priorities of the Office and organisation meet the need and expectations of key audiences/stakeholders. The Public Relations Office has been working closely with colleagues on the organisation wide PP2P project.

7.2 The Public Relations Office continues to work closely with the Economic Development Office, the Remembrancer’s Department and Mansion House, as well as other Departments across the organisation, to ensure successful improved coordination of work. In addition PRO are working closely with EDO and Remembrancer’s Department on political developments in the UK and EU and their impact on the City.

7.3 The table below shows a comparison of revenue budget for the Public Relations Office (Local Risk) with actual income and expenditure for the period January to March 2013.

Approved Budget Budget for Actual Variance Town Clerk 2012/13 (£) Period (£) (£) (£)

Total Net Income and £2,416,000 £604,000 £590,467.93 -£13,532.07 expenditure

Background Papers: Members will find it useful to refer to the ‘Communications Strategy 2012-2015’ and ‘Public Relations Office Business Plan 2012-2015’.

Contact: Tony Halmos Director of Public Relations [email protected] 020 7332 1450