Public Sector Crisis Communications

We pride ourselves on our public sector PR experience at Viva. We know crises or major incidents requiring a public response occur much more frequently in the public sector, so a crisis communications plan should be included in the business continuity strategy.

Failing to plan for this and then mishandling communications when an incident occurs can have serious, and sometimes dangerous, ramifications. Taking the time to prepare ahead of a potential incident occurring can ensure an effective and precise response.

We’re going to look at four main areas of public sector crisis communications in this blog:

1. How important are crisis communications in the public sector?
2. How are crisis communications handled differently in the public sector?
3. The Civil Contingencies Act
4. What happens when communications are handled badly?

If you want to read ahead and get to grips with your own crisis communications plan, download our free eBook here!

1. How important are crisis communications in the public sector?

Every company or organisation would benefit from having business continuity plans, but for public sector organisations it is vital – a strategy for crisis communications should be a key part of this.

Many public sector organisations provide essential services, so staff need to be informed about what they should do if there is a disruption to normal service. They also have a legal duty to the public to respond to anything that may put their citizens at risk.

Staff will need to be communicated to quickly if there is a potential disruption to service. They will need to know what action to take to continue to provide essential services to the public and the public will need to be informed of how they continue to access the services they need.

Jennifer worked for a Local Authority and explains how all members of staff were aware of the procedure for internal crisis communications.

“We had a cascade system to send messages through WhatsApp which would inform staff if there was a major incident or any other reason why we wouldn’t be able to access the workplace as normal. This began with the Chief Executive who would message the senior leadership team, who would message their direct reports and so on.”

Staff whose work was essential could already access their systems remotely to continue to provide the level of services required and all other staff knew to wait for further instruction.

Jennifer continued: “It was really reassuring for staff to know the business continuity plans were in place and effective as they were tested regularly. The cascade system avoided any unnecessary worrying as staff were immediately informed of what action needed to be taken for essential services to continue.”

It was really reassuring for staff to know the business continuity plans were in place and effective as they were tested regularly. The cascade system avoided any unnecessary worrying as staff were immediately informed of what action needed to be taken for essential services to continue.

Jennifer, Local Authority Worker

And it’s not just internally where these steps need to be in place – many people rely on public sector services or look to them for reassurance or instruction when something goes wrong. Failing to communicate effectively can result in, at best, loss of faith from the public or, at worst, put citizens at risk.

2. How are crisis communications handled differently in the public sector?

As well as having a duty to respond to incidents, due to the nature of their work, public sector organisations are likely to have to invoke crisis communications much more frequently than those in the private sector.

Because of this, they are more likely to dedicate the time needed to really plan a strategy, test it, and rely on it when needed. Private organisations that have not needed to manage a crisis previously may not realise its importance until it’s too late. They are also under no obligation to respond, although failing to address the crisis is likely to lead to reputational damage.

A misstep can not only damage reputation, but lead directly to loss of life, so it has to be right. Again, they practice constantly, and communications is rightly seen as a core plank of any business resilience plan. There is a lot which other sectors can learn from the public sector in this respect.

Nick Moon, Managing Director of Applied Resilience

Nick Moon, Managing Director of Applied Resilience, which supports the public and private sector on resilience planning and response, says: “The public sector is generally very good at crisis communications these days, not least because it has legal duties to respond to major incidents and emergencies.

“The other challenge is the number of agencies and partners to coordinate with, at pace. A misstep can not only damage reputation, but lead directly to loss of life, so it must be right. Again, they practice constantly, and communications is rightly seen as a core plank of any business resilience plan. There is a lot which other sectors can learn from the public sector in this respect.”

Crisis Communications - Woman on phone and Computer

3. The Civil Contingencies Act

The Civil Contingencies Act was introduced in 2004. It was brought in following catastrophic events such as 9/11, to strengthen the UK’s ability to cope with large scale emergencies. It is this act that requires public bodies to develop and maintain contingency plans that prepare for major incidents posing a risk to public safety.

The Civil Contingencies Act details seven civil protection duties of Category 1 Responders (which includes Emergency services, Local Authorities, Health bodies and Government agencies).

The seven duties are:

Risk assess
Business continuity management
Emergency planning
Warn, inform, and advise the public
Promote business continuity plan
Co-operate
Share information

Crisis communications clearly play a role in the duty to warn, inform and advise the public and the duty to share information. Failing to do so during a major incident could leave the organisation in breach of this act and put public safety at risk.

4. What happens when communications are handled badly?

The severity of the damage of mishandling crisis communications will likely depend on the incident in question, how bad it was and in what way it was mishandled.

Nick says: “Crisis communication is critical to any incident. You can deliver a Rolls Royce response, but if there is not an effective supporting communications strategy, then much of the benefits are lost. With every major disruption, tolerance for a lack of preparedness is reduced.”

Failing to communicate is often worse than not communicating at all, but rushing out communications can lead to messaging that is confusing which can make the situation worse.

Although you have organised all the other emergency planning operations to the nth degree, if public information, media relations and internal communications planning is not on a par, then at best your handling of the entire crisis will be brought into question; at worst, your corporate reputation will take a knock from which it may never recover.

Ann Fleming, ‘Public Relations: The Added Value in an Emergency’

For public sector organisations it’s important to collaborate as much as possible, which is why crisis communication plans should always include co-operation with partner organisations and the media.

During a major incident it is vital that those informing the public are giving the same, clear messages. Failing to do so could lead to confusion or risk to the public.

In ‘Public Relations: The Added Value in an Emergency’, Ann Fleming says: “The best laid plans can and will go wrong if you do not communicate them effectively. Although you have organised all the other emergency planning operations to the nth degree, if public information, media relations and internal communications planning is not on a par, then at best your handling of the entire crisis will be brought into question; at worst, your corporate reputation will take a knock from which it may never recover.”

Ensuring that crisis communications are included in business continuity plans is essential for public sector organisations. This ensures that major incidents are handled effectively, and that public safety remains a top priority.

Read the other crisis communications blogs in our series: