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Media and Publicity Policy
North Hertfordshire District Council adheres to the national Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity 2001.
The council strives to be open and accessible to the media at all times. It uses external communication with the media for a number of purposes:
- To promote the strategic objectives of the Council as set out in its Corporate Plan
- To broaden and strengthen local democracy through a well informed public
- To raise awareness of the Council’s policies, services and functions
- To publicise meetings and decisions of the Council, the Cabinet, and other decision making committees
- To promote the Council’s role as a community leader
- To publicise the Council’s role in partnership initiative with other bodies
- To enable local people to have an effective, well informed dialogue with the Council about services and policies and the needs of individuals and communities
- In an emergency, to highlight public safety messages and keep people informed.
Elected Members will be spokesmen for the Council on appropriate issues, normally:
- The Leader for Cabinet matters
- Portfolio Holders for their own areas of responsibility
- Chairmen of Scrutiny and Performance, Audit and Review Committee (PARC) for their committees
- Chairs of Area Committees for matters affecting local areas.
Officers will not normally act as spokesmen for the Council except where delegated by a Member, or in pre-election periods, when Members will only act as spokesmen in emergency. Officers will however give background briefing to media where appropriate in liaison with the Communications Team.
All NHDC’s publicity is intended to be objective and balanced, and will be designed not to affect public support for any particular political party. Controversy on some issues is inevitable – indeed it is a healthy part of the democratic process. In these circumstances the Council’s policies may need defending in a manner which may be robust but which must still be reasonable.
The Council’s Communications team (tel 01462 474552) is responsible for issuing all press releases and for dealing with enquiries from the press in an efficient and timely manner. This team will also pro-actively seek opportunities to promote the council’s objectives through external media. It is also responsible for the maintenance of professional standards in media relations among Members and officers.
The Communications Team also produces a quarterly residents’ magazine, Outlook, which provides a useful means of informing residents of the Council’s services and its activities.