How public sector comms teams can adapt in times of political transition

As part of last year’s BIG Social, I hosted a panel discussion exploring the shifting landscape of public sector comms teams in response to political transitions. With a new UK Government in place just over 100 days before the event; an ongoing cost of living crisis; long-standing issues within the NHS and a tough Autumn statement, our sector is facing a myriad of challenges. Our panel of experts explored the real-time impact for public sector comms professionals operating in this evolving environment, while they continue to deliver high quality services.

The panel included Helena Hornby (Head of Comms, Staffordshire County Council); Sophie Kelly (Senior Customer Success Manager, Orlo) Julian Pike (Executive Director – Housing, Support & Communities, United Welsh) and Emma Robertson (Head of Comms, HM Prison and Probation Service). The group shared a myriad of actionable takeaways in terms of how attendees could shape their comms strategy in line with leaders’ priorities:

This has always been vital, but during a period of transition it’s absolutely critical. For many organisations, recent political changes have resulted in a shift in relationships between the decision makers in government and the people who lead our organisations – and this has had a knock on effect on comms teams. As Emma noted, new leaders want to deliver quickly but can be limited by the practical challenges of entering a new role – and this dynamic can mean that comms may not be top of mind.

Our panel agreed that, although change is unsettling, it’s important to view it as an opportunity to work even more closely with leadership – firmly securing that comms seat at the table. Helena explained that her team has matched their delivery plan directly with Staffordshire County Council Executive Team’s strategic goals. All comms work and performance is clearly structured and measured based on priorities set by Directors, with a small contingency for unexpected urgent work such as crisis comms.

The panel also emphasised the importance of agreeing tangible comms metrics for regular reporting, in order to demonstrate the impact of the team’s work and to secure leadership support. Julian sits on the Executive Team at United Welsh, and stressed that while they don’t need detailed metrics such as numbers of likes or followers, they must have a mechanism for following the progress of their comms strategy at a high level.

During the Q&A session at the end of the event, an attendee posed a question about a misalignment between their Executive Team and front line comms colleagues, in terms of where to focus their efforts and resources. In short, while comms teams know that their communities care about a specific topic, such as bin collections, senior team members would rather focus elsewhere. The panel stressed the value of real insights from communities in arming leaders with the data they need to drive their decisions.

Although our panel discussion took place before the Autumn Statement 2024, the stark financial reality within the UK and entire public sector has been apparent for some time. Two thirds of respondents to a Local Government Association survey reported that they would need to make cuts to local neighbourhood services in 2024/25, due to a lack of funding. Budgets are tight across the board. 

Teams are therefore grappling with how public sector organisations can tackle additional demands resulting from political changes, while ensuring that the delivery of services remains high quality. Helena explained that her team at Staffordshire County Council has needed to hire in more lobbying and public relations skills, at added cost to her departmental budget. However, Helena also shared a creative way to generate income by ‘selling’ internal comms services to teams looking to achieve objectives that are not deemed by leadership as high priority. 

The panel also explored the importance of saving and sharing resources wherever possible, and of undertaking a multi-agency approach to problem-solving. For example, Emma shared her hopes for the new government’s mission-based policymaking in which she expects to work more closely with policing colleagues on Labour’s Safer Streets agenda. Julian echoed these statements when discussing the challenges faced by housing, including soaring homelessness levels; a lack of temporary housing and significant social care issues. When other services fall away, Julian mentioned that housing is often left to pick up the pieces. In his words, housing associations alone will not be able to solve the crises of our times, the solution will require many services working together.

The panel explored the question of whether leaders, local councillors or commissioners are the best people to front a public message or initiative. While there are some instances in which senior leadership would be the most appropriate choice for commenting on a situation, for example in the case of a high-profile scandal or serious crime, the panel encouraged comms professionals to lean on community members wherever possible. Just like any other organisation, digital campaigns within the public sector are competing with brands from the commercial world and beyond. Attention is hard-won on social media, and so the panel agreed that campaigns should focus on what communities care about most – the stories of real people.

Emma advocated for including so-called ‘hidden heroes’, such as prison officers, in the development of campaigns. In involving frontline colleagues, these individuals become advocates as well as effective content creators. Julian shared that United Welsh’s comms teams also work with internal advocates, local volunteers and residents to create social media content which the comms team are able to leverage to great effect.

Orlo’s Sophie Kelly also mentioned that while working with multiple police forces across the UK, she has seen great results when the force’s badge is removed from social media content. By allowing communities to take centre stage, rather than the organisation itself, audiences engage with content on a deeper, more emotional level. Badge-less content also enables it to be easily shared by partner organisations, further maximising reach and budget. Bringing a human element to a campaign or message has therefore proven more effective in communicating information, or changing behaviour.

During the event’s Q&A, an attendee posed the panel a question around how children are taught to write in school, and whether our education system should place more emphasis on simple, clear comms. Helena replied that, while she felt that we didn’t need to overhaul how we teach English, students should be taught how to adjust their language and communication styles for different audiences. Helena also stressed the need to remove jargon and corporate language from our comms, while respecting the organisation’s tone of voice. 

Sophie echoed this sentiment and noted that in her experience the public sector faces more challenges with senior members of staff, rather than with new graduates. For example, data shows that the majority (66.9%) of local authority employees are aged between 40 and 66.9%. These individuals may have worked in the public sector for decades, and may therefore default to creating press releases and corporate statements instead of adapting the format and language to their target audience.

The panel discussed the importance of knowing your communities inside out, and targeting them where you know they spend time. Helena illustrated this with an example from a recent successful Staffordshire County Council campaign, which aimed to improve primary school attendance. Helena’s team spent time gaining an understanding of their target audience through focus groups, and built the campaign and targeting around the insights gathered. Helena explained that her team is now re-shaping the campaign for a high school audience and will repeat the process of gathering feedback to inform this new focus.

From a policing perspective, Sophie advised comms professionals to set a strategy that accurately reflects the current needs of communities rather than a ‘spray and pray’ approach. She encouraged comms teams to leverage social listening to identify the unique nuances of each platform’s audience, and then target specific communities with relevant content rather than ‘scattergunning’ across all platforms.

In 2025, the UK’s public sector will face a myriad of challenges, notably the full impact of the new government’s missions cascading down to public sector organisations. In housing, Julian anticipates planning reforms and initiatives around renters’ rights. Sophie’s colleagues in policing are eagerly awaiting the details of the Crime and Policing Bill expected to deliver on Labour’s promise of ‘taking back our streets’. In the meantime, public sector organisations must maintain service levels and all BAU operations.

However, there are just as many opportunities as challenges. As comms departments, Emma highlighted our privileged position within our organisations. We’re engaging with our communities every day, witnessing the real-time themes and trends coming through. Comms also covers all departments and so our teams have singular insight into the internal dynamics of our organisations. We’re therefore in an ideal position to champion our own communities, influence our organisations, play a key role in delivering on strategic objectives and take our seat at the top table. As Emma said, “these are exciting times”.