Scrutiny provides recommendations to improve government communication
9 April 2020
The President of the Scrutiny Liaison Committee, Senator Kristina Moore, has written to the Chief Minister to provide a series of observations and recommendations to help fine-tune the Government’s approach to public communications during the outbreak of COVID-19 (Coronavirus).
The letter was sent after feedback provided to Members of the States Assembly from Islanders and stakeholders outlined concerns that there are gaps in the knowledge and information amongst the Island’s community regarding COVID-19 and the Government of Jersey’s response to it, some of which is believed to be counter-productive.
The observations and recommendations provided by Scrutiny to the Government of Jersey are as follows:
Engage openly and actively with Scrutiny Panels and States Members to help reach the community;
Establish regular times for high profile updates of information to the public;
Ensure that all platforms (both digital and traditional) are given due attention, with access information being as simple as possible;
Ensuring that messaging is consistent and unambiguous to reduce confusion;
Write and speak in language accessible to the full range of Islands, whilst making significant efforts towards tailored approaches to communities that do not have English as a first language; and
Be open with the community by withholding information only in exceptional circumstances, such as for clearly established legal reasons.
Senator Moore stresses that these are not criticisms of the Government, but are instead designed to fine-tune the Government’s communications. The letter is available to read in full here.
