Communications Policy
Approved: March 2024
Next Review: March 2026
Contents
1. Communications Method
2. Communication Channels
a) Parish Council Website
b) Parish Council email
c) SMS (texting) and messaging apps
d) Video Conferencing
e) Social Media
3. Internal communication and access to information within the Council
4. Correspondence Protocols
a) Agenda Items for Council, Committees, Sub-Committees and Working Parties
b) Communications with the Press and Public
c) Councillor Correspondence to external parties
d) Communications with Parish Council Staff
E-mails:
Meetings with the Clerk or other officers:
5. Council Use of Social Media
a) Principles
b) Approved Council Social Media
c) Users of Council Social Media
d) Guidance for Council Officers on the use of Council Social Media
e) Third party Social Media and Individual Councillor Usage
1. Communications Method
The use of digital and social media and electronic communication enables Fulbeck Parish Council (the Council) to interact in a way that improves the communications both within the Council and between the Council and the people, the community, businesses, and agencies it works with and serves.
The Council will maintain a website and Facebook page and uses email to communicate. The Council will always try to use the most effective channel for its communications. Over time the Council may add to the channels of communication that it uses as it seeks to improve and expand the services it delivers. When these changes occur, this Policy will be updated from time to time to reflect the new arrangements. This policy will apply to new methods of communication as they develop.
The Council Facebook page intends to provide information and updates regarding activities and opportunities within our Parish and promote our community positively. Councillors should avoid the making of any commitments on behalf of the Council through social media channels.
Communications from the Council will meet the following criteria:
• Be civil, tasteful, and relevant,
Not contain content that is knowingly unlawful, libellous, harassing, defamatory, abusive, threatening, harmful, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, or racially offensive,
• Not contain content knowingly copied from elsewhere, for which we do not own the copyright,
• Not contain any personal information,
• Official Council business and the account will be administered by the Clerk to the Parish Council,
• Social media will not be used for the dissemination of any political advertising.
To ensure that all discussions on the Council page are productive, respectful, and consistent with the Council’s aims and objectives, we ask that they follow these guidelines:
• Be considerate and respectful of others. Vulgarity, threats, or abuse of language will not be tolerated,
• Differing opinions and discussion of diverse ideas are encouraged, but personal attacks on anyone, including the Council members or staff, will not be permitted,
• Share freely and be generous with official Council posts, but be aware of copyright laws; be accurate and give credit where credit is due,
• Stay on topic,
• Refrain from using the Council’s Facebook page for commercial purposes or to advertise market or sell products.
The site is not monitored 24/7 and we will not always be able to reply individually to all messages or comments received. However, we will endeavour to ensure that any emerging themes or helpful suggestions are passed to the relevant people or authorities. Please do not include personal/private information in your social media posts to us.
Sending a message/post via Facebook, Messenger, or X (formerly Twitter) will not be considered as contacting the Council for official purposes and we will not be obliged to monitor or respond to requests for information or services through these channels. Instead, please make direct contact with the Council’s Clerk and/or members of the Council by email. The official email address is clerkffpc@gmail.com
We retain the right to remove comments or content that includes:
• Obscene or racist content,
• Personal attacks, insults, or threatening language,
• Potentially libellous statements,
• Plagiarised material; any material in violation of any laws, including copyright,
• Private, personal information published without consent,
• Information or links unrelated to the content of the forum,
• Commercial promotions or spam,
• Alleges a breach of a Council’s policy or the law.
The Council’s response to any communication received, not meeting the above criteria, will be to either ignore, inform the sender of our policy, or send a brief response as appropriate. This will be at the Council’s discretion based on the message received, given our limited resources available. The Parish Council delegates the day-to-day administration to the Clerk to the Parish Council - Note: this allows day to day administration to take place in accordance with S.101 Local Government Act 1972 without having to call a parish Council meeting. Any information posted on the Facebook page not in line with the above criteria will be removed as quickly as practically possible.
Repeat offenders will be blocked from the Facebook page. The Council may post a statement that ‘A post breaching the Council’s Social Media Policy has been removed’. If the post alleges a breach of a Council’s policy or the law the person who posted it will be asked to submit a formal complaint to the Council or report the matter to the Police or the external auditor for the matter to be properly investigated.
2. Communication Channels
a) Parish Council Website
Where necessary, we may direct those contacting us to our website to see the required information, or we may forward their question to one of our Councillors for consideration and response. We do not respond to every comment made or received and there is no obligation to do so. The Council will maintain the website to provide transparency regarding its decisions and will comply with its Publications Scheme.
The Council may, at its discretion, allow approved local groups to have a link to their own website or source of information on the Council’s website. The Council reserves the right to remove any or all of a local group’s information from the website if it feels that the content does not meet the Council’s standards to be on its website.
The Clerk is tasked with maintaining key information on the website as part of best practice and regulatory requirements. This may be delegated to another member of staff as directed by the Clerk.
b) Parish Council email
The Clerk to the Council has their official Council work email address for most official communication with the Council. The email account is monitored and the aim to reply to all questions sent as soon as we can. The Council does not have formal office working hours. It is expected that a response to an email will occur at some point during the week that it is received. The Clerk is responsible for dealing with email received and passing on any relevant mail to members or external agencies for information and/or action. All communications on behalf of the Council will usually come from the Clerk, and/or otherwise will always be copied to the Clerk. All new emails requiring data to be passed on, will be followed up with seeking a data subject’s consent if the information is to be shared before action is taken with that correspondence.
Individual Councillors are at liberty to communicate directly with parishioners about Council business in relation to their own personal views, if appropriate, copy to the Clerk. Please note that any emails copied to the Clerk become official and will be subject to the Data Protection Act and The Freedom of Information Act. These procedures will ensure that a complete and proper record of all correspondence is kept.
Do not forward personal information on to other people or groups outside of the Council, this includes names, addresses, email, IP addresses and cookie identifiers.
Councillors must ensure that any email communications are carried out to and from a specific email account set up purely for Council activities. This will require each Councillor to set up an appropriately dedicated email service.
Councillors will receive Minutes, Agendas, general communications from the Clerk and other Councillors, by electronic means where possible and a hard copy of documents will be provided if members have no e-mail facility.
Resolutions of the Parish Council can only be made at meetings of a quorate Council, or quorate committee.
If an urgent decision is required between meetings, the Chair or, failing that, any two Councillors may call an Extraordinary Meeting through the Clerk. The Clerk also has certain emergency procedures to spend and some delegated authority.
ALL Council emails are confidential to the Council members and the Clerk. Emails are NOT to be copied to any third parties at any time, nor their contents revealed to any third party, without a resolution of the full Council or Council Committee, as appropriate. If you do not adhere to this guidance then you may become in breach of GDPR (UK) regulations.
Information distributed by e-mail should not be used by any member for their personal use and only for Council business as authorised by full Council.
E-mails (or their content) shall not be posted on any social media sites at any time nor released to the press without a resolution of full Council.
c) SMS (texting) and messaging apps
Members and the Clerk may use SMS and messaging apps as a convenient way to communicate at times. All are reminded that this policy also applies to such messages.
GDPR and associated Freedom of Information regulations apply to this channel of communication.
d) Video Conferencing
This policy also applies to the use of video conferencing.
e) Social Media
‘Social media’ is the term commonly given to websites and online tools which allow users to interact with each other in some way by sharing information, opinions, knowledge, and interests. This interaction may be through computers, mobile phones, and new generation technology such as tablets.
Examples of social media websites include:
• Social networking (e.g. Facebook)
• Video sharing (e.g. YouTube, Instagram, Tik-Tok)
• Blogs (e.g. london2012.com/blog)
• Micro-blogging (e.g. X / Twitter, SnapChat, WhatsApp)
• Message boards (e.g. www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbsn/home)
• Wikis (e.g. www.wikipedia.org)
• Social bookmarking (e.g. www.delicious.com)
3. Internal communication and access to information within the Council
The Council is continually looking at ways to improve its working and the use of social media and electronic communications is a major factor in delivering improvement. Councillors are expected to abide by the Code of Conduct, Standing Orders, and the Data Protection Act in all their work on behalf of the Council.
As more and more information become available at the press of a button, it is vital that all information is treated sensitively and securely. Councillors and staff are expected to maintain an awareness of the confidentiality of information that they have access to and not to share confidential information with anyone. Failure to properly observe confidentiality may be seen as a breach of the Council’s Code of Conduct and will be dealt with through its prescribed procedures (at the extreme it may also involve a criminal investigation).
Members should also be careful only to ‘cc’ essential recipients on emails i.e. to avoid use of the ‘Reply to All’ option if at all possible, but of course copying in all who need to know and ensuring that email trails have been removed.
4. Correspondence Protocols
The point of contact for the parish council is the Clerk, and it is to the Clerk that all correspondence for the parish council should be addressed.
The Clerk should deal with all correspondence following a meeting. Letters and emails sent to the Clerk should be acknowledged within 10 days of receipt.
No individual Councillor or Officer should be the sole custodian of any correspondence or information in the name of the parish council, a committee, sub-committee or working party. Councillors and Officers do not have a right to obtain confidential information / documentation unless they can demonstrate a ‘need to know’.
All official correspondence should be sent by the Clerk in the name of the council using council letter headed paper.
Where correspondence from the Clerk to a Councillor is copied to another person, the addressee should be made aware that a copy is being forwarded to that other person (e.g. copy to XX).
a) Agenda Items for Council, Committees, Sub-Committees and Working Parties
Agenda should be clear and concise. They should contain sufficient information to enable Councillors to make an informed decision, and for the public to understand what matters are being considered and what decisions are to be taken at a meeting.
Items for information should be kept to a minimum on an agenda.
Where the Clerk or a Councillor wishes fellow Councillors to receive matters for “information only”, this information will be circulated via the Clerk.
b) Communications with the Press and Public
The Clerk will clear all press reports, or comments to the media, with the Chair of the council or the Chair of the relevant committee.
Press reports from the council, its committees or working parties should be from the Clerk or an officer or via the reporter’s own attendance at a meeting.
Unless a Councillor has been authorised by the council to speak to the media on a particular issue, Councillors who are asked for comment by the press should make it clear that it is a personal view and ask that it be clearly reported as their personal view.
Unless a Councillor is absolutely certain that he/she is reporting the view of the council, they must make it clear to members of the public that they are expressing a personal view.
If Councillors receive a complaint from a member of the public, this should be dealt with under the Council’s adopted complaints procedure, or via a council agenda item.
c) Councillor Correspondence to external parties
As the Clerk should be sending most of the council’s correspondence from a Councillor to other bodies, it needs to be made clear that it is written in their official capacity and has been authorised by the parish council.
A copy of all outgoing correspondence relating to the council or a Councillor’s role within it, should be sent to the Clerk, and it be noted on the correspondence, e.g. “copy to the Clerk” so that the recipient is aware that the Clerk has been advised.
d) Communications with Parish Council Staff
Councillors must not give instructions to any member of staff, unless authorised to do so (for example, three or more Councillors sitting as a committee or sub-committee with appropriate delegated powers from the council).
No individual Councillor, regardless of whether or not they are the Chair of the council, the Chair of a committee or other meeting, or are styled “Leader” of the Council, may give instructions to the Clerk or to another employee which are inconsistent or conflict with council decisions or arrangements for delegated power.
Telephone calls should be appropriate to the work of the parish council.
E-mails:
• Instant replies should not be expected from the Clerk; reasons for urgency should be stated;
• Information to Councillors should normally be directed via the Clerk;
• E-mails from Councillors to external parties should be copied to the Clerk;
• Councillors should acknowledge their e-mails when requested to do so.
Meetings with the Clerk or other officers:
• Wherever possible an appointment should be made.
• Meetings should be relevant to the work of that particular officer.
• Councillors should be clear that the matter is legitimate council business and not matters driven by personal or political agendas.
5. Council Use of Social Media
a) Principles
• To publish information about the work of the Council to a wider audience.
• To avoid entering into online debates or arguments about the Council’s work. Social Media must NOT be used in the recruitment process for employees or new councillors - other than for the sole purpose of placing vacancy advertisements - as this could lead to potential discrimination and privacy actions, as well as breach of data protection issues.
b) Approved Council Social Media
• Facebook - Fulbeck Village Group
c) Users of Council Social Media
• The Clerk is the Council’s nominated Press Officer with the authority to issue official press releases. No other member of staff or Councillor has the authority to issue public statements on behalf of the Council.
d) Guidance for Council Officers on the use of Council Social Media
• Officers should be familiar with the terms of use on third party websites – e.g. Facebook - and adhere to these at all times.
• No information should be published that is not already known to be in the public domain – i.e. available on the Council’s website, contained in Minutes of meetings, stated in Council publicised Policies and Procedures, etc.
• Information that is published should be factual, fair, thorough, and transparent.
• Everyone must be mindful that information published in this way may stay in the public domain indefinitely, without the opportunity for retrieval/deletion.
• Copyright laws must be respected.
• Conversations or reports that are meant to be private or internal must not be published without permission.
• Other organisations should not be referenced without their approval – when referencing, link back to the original source wherever possible.
• Do not publish anything that would be regarded in the workplace as unacceptable.
• Staff must remember that they will be seen as ambassadors for the Council and should always act in a responsible and socially aware manner.
e) Third party Social Media and Individual Councillor Usage
Councillors need to think about whether they are acting in a private capacity, or whether any impression might be conveyed that they are acting for and on behalf of the Council. The Council has adopted a Code of Conduct which is binding on all members. If you use Social Media in your official capacity as a Councillor, you should always be mindful of the Code, and of the seven Nolan Principles applicable to holding public office – selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership.
Do:
• Set appropriate privacy settings for any blog or networking site,
• Watch out for defamatory or obscene posts from others on any blog or page and remove them as soon as possible to avoid any perception that you condone such views,
• Be aware that the higher your profile as a councillor, the more likely it is that you may be seen as acting in an official capacity when you blog or network,
• Ensure any Council facilities are used appropriate – if using a Council-provided blog site or social networking area, any posts that you make are extremely likely to be viewed as being made in your official capacity,
• Avoid publishing any information that you could only have accessed in your position as a councillor,
• Be careful if making ‘political’ points, and avoid being specific or personal about individuals.
Don’t:
• Blog in haste,
• Post comments that you would not be prepared to make in writing or in face-to-face contact,
• Use Council facilities for personal or political purposes.