Agenda item

[To consider the recommendations from the scrutiny review group and the Cabinet’s response thereto]

[NOTE – The Chair of the scrutiny review group has been invited]

The Cabinet received a report on the findings and recommendations of the scrutiny review on ‘First Impressions of the City’.

Cllr Phil Bateman, Chair of the scrutiny review group was in attendance for this item.  He paid tribute to the employees who had supported the work of the review and to the members of the review group for their enthusiasm in approaching the work. He informed Cabinet that the review covered a wide area and there was scope for further reviews into some of the areas the review touched upon.  He asked that Cabinet consider instigating a more refined look of these areas.  He also reported that he wanted the review report and recommendations to be used to improve the three offers of the city (i.e. the visit, business and shopping offers) and to sculpture a city and services all could be proud of.

Councillor Peter Bilson thanked Cllr Bateman and the review group for their enthusiastic consideration of what was a wide topic.  He referred to the executive response to the review group recommendations attached as an appendix to the report.  He also reported that a lot of work had been done to improve the city’s offer since the review report had been produced. The Council was in negotiations with business/property owners to refurbish/improve their properties; the Council was investing in Block 10, the office and retail block next to the bus and railway stations at the Interchange; and recent external validation had stated that there are now fewer empty shops in the city since 2010.  The Council was in a position to improve and was creating the conditions to make it happen.  He assured Cllr Bateman that the review report would be used and the Executive would look to improve the offer and have an effective communications strategy to accompany it.

Resolved:

a.    That the report of the First Impressions of the City Scrutiny Reviewbe received and the following recommendations from the review be noted:

            Developing a joint marketing strategy and communication strategy for Wolverhampton

1.    The Review Group support the proposed principles for the City Marketing Strategy and would welcome an early response from Cabinet Member for Economic Regeneration and Prosperity about how these will now be developed into a marketing strategy and plan that will be delivered by the council together with its partners.

2.    The Review Group was concerned about achieving a joined up approach to marketing and communication. The Strategic Director for Education and Enterprise should provide a report and presentation within three months on how this will be achieved.

3.    The Strategic Director of Education and Enterprise supported by the Head of Corporate Communications to produce a city marketing strategy and plan, including the identification and use of the main resources available across the Council to support its delivery.  The plan should also include identifying any the key gaps in resource which will form the basis of discussions with partners, stakeholders and external funders.

4.    A report detailing progress in the delivery of the plan to be presented to Cabinet every six months thereafter.

5.    The Strategic Director of Education and Enterprise should incorporate activities being undertaken by key partners involved in either improving the "visit offer", "business offer" and the "shopping offer" and or Marketing Wolverhampton, in a further iteration of the plan. This should include a review on whether current resources are sufficient to support any planned future marketing initiatives, events and campaigns developed from the strategy.

          Improving the Wolverhampton ‘offer’

1.     The Strategic Director of Education and Enterprise to be invited to include within the progress report at the start of each municipal year an analysis of any business and resident perception surveys, together with any other relevant information, together with any recommendations for improving the Wolverhampton offer and how they will be taken forward.

2.     The Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Prosperity, in collaboration with other Cabinet Members as appropriate, to be invited to update Cabinet six monthly, on progress to address agreed actions to improve the Wolverhampton Offer, based on the business and resident perception surveys and other evidence provided by the Strategic Director for Education and Enterprise.

3.     Consideration should be given to tasking the City Centre Regeneration Advisory Group to scrutinise current work being done to improve the city centre `offer' and follow up issues highlighted during the review evidence sessions and report their findings to the appropriate scrutiny panel.

4.     The City Centre Member Advisory Group  should review and report on progress in delivering specific regeneration projects against an agreed timetable; particularly those projects where delays are likely to impact negatively on the reputation of the City as a destination of choice.

5.     The importance of the City’s cultural ‘offer’ to the City and the wider Black Country has been highlighted in the Black Country Strategic Economic Plan and also the draft Greater Birmingham Visitor Economy.

6.     The Strategic Director of Education and Enterprise to keep Cabinet updated on a quarterly basis on progress in securing external investments and the findings from the review.

          Managing and improving the reputation of Wolverhampton

1.     The Head of Policy and Head of Communication to be invited to present a report to Cabinet on the feasibility of Wolverhampton Council adopting the Building Trust: Action developed by the Local Government Association. The results should be published either six monthly or annually. The information should be used to inform the development of the any future communication and marketing plans for the City.

2.     The Head of Policy and Head of Communication to be invited to consider revising Wolverhampton Residents' Opinion Survey to include specific questions about what people overall think about the City and views about the current ‘offer’.

3.     The Head of Policy to review the findings of the relevant public survey responses should be reviewed and used to inform future plans aimed at improving the current 'offer'. For example, the Express and Star – Your say survey and The National Student Survey findings from Wolverhampton University.

4.     The Head of Policy to present a summary of the findings annually to Scrutiny Board. The results should be separated into "visit offer", "business offer" and "shopping offer" and include details of specific action taken to improve the ‘offer’.

5.     Head of Customer Services to be consulted on marketing and communication plans for the City to ensure that they are built around improving the current customer experience. Head of Customer Services to lead on development of work flow and rules for business and civic events in the public domain

6.     To develop an information report to include intelligence relating to customer contact for these services. The report to be presented to the City Centre Project Board on a three monthly basis to inform their work.

          Harnessing the value of social media for Councillors

1.     Head of Communication to be tasked to either arrange appropriate social media training for Councillors or share published guidance on the subject. Priority should be given to supporting those Councillors who regularly use Facebook and Twitter as part of efforts to engage with the public or have a keen interest in building their social media presence. The group should be invited to set out proposals for encouraging all Councillors to register on Wolverhampton Twitter and Facebook for email information alerts.

2.     The Head of Communication to prepare a revised current social networking guide. The guide to be shared with all Councillors and appropriate support offered.

3.     The Head of Communication to be invited to advise how the success of initiative in meeting its objectives can be assessed. The findings to be shared with the Councillor Development and Information Technology Advisory Group.

4.     The Head of Communication to set up a community discussion forum similar to that developed by Dudley Council. The aim of the forum would be to provide a space to discuss local issues or future plans relating to the regeneration of the City or improving the current ‘offer’:

b.    That the Executive response to the review recommendations be approved.

c.    That the response be referred to to Scrutiny Board for them to monitor the implementation of the agreed recommendations.