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Senator John Le Fondré By email
8th April 2020
Dear Chief Minister,
Scrutiny Liaison Committee Government Communications re Covid-19
As independent States Members and in our Scrutiny roles, we are in constant communication with our constituents and stakeholders doing all we can to listen, assist, inform and alleviate concerns. It is becoming increasingly apparent from feedback and our own observations that, despite the enormous about of work being undertaken by the Government on its Covid-19 response and the effort being applied to communicate this to the Island, there are notable gaps in knowledge and information amongst the community that are proving counter- productive at such a critical time.
To assist, we would like to offer our observations and recommendations (not, I stress, criticisms) to help fine-tune the Government's approach to communications to the benefit of all concerned. These are:
• Engage openly and actively with Scrutiny Panels and States Members – we can help reach the community as outlined above
• Establish regular times for high profile updates of information to the public
• Ensure all platforms (ie both the traditional' and the more digital) are given due attention. Make access to information as direct and as simple as possible
• Messaging needs to be consistent and unambiguous (for example please see the recent confusion over driving to undertake exercise, and the 3 arguably conflicting text messages to Islanders about what Stay at Home' actually means)
• Write and speak in language accessible to the full range of Islanders – straightforward and non-technical. This should include significant efforts towards tailored approaches for those communities that do not have English as a first language.
• Be open with the community. Information should be withheld only in exceptional circumstances, such as for clearly established legal reasons.
I trust this is taken and used in the constructive spirit in which it is provided. Yours sincerely
Senator Kristina Moore
President, Scrutiny Liaison Committee
States Greffe: Scrutiny Liaison Committee | Morier House | St Helier | Jersey | JE1 1DD Tel: 01534 441080 | email: scrutiny@gov.je | web: www.statesassembly.gov.je