Joint working: Your guide to surviving a media crisis

It's a council's worst nightmare. Something awful happens - the death of a child known to social services, for example - and the media pounces. Recent high-profile cases will have acted as a warning for local authorities up and down the country. Haringey Council faced the full glare of the media spotlight when the Baby P case broke almost a year ago. The authority should have been prepared - its reputation was still recovering following the inquiry into Victoria Climbie's death in 2000.

Haringey spent £19,000 on media consultants after the Baby P scandal broke, trying to restrict the damage - arguably with limited success. Other councils at the centre of a media storm in recent months include Kirklees Council, which was criticised over the Shannon Matthews case when it emerged that the girl had previously been on the child protection register before she was kidnapped by her mother.

Most recently, Birmingham City Council was the subject of a damning report into its services, after the death of eight children known to social services in recent years.

While having the policies and procedures in place to prevent such tragedies occurring in the first place is the best way to avoid the full glare of the media, there are some steps councils should take when a crisis occurs. Here we ask a range of experts for their advice on what to do before and after disaster strikes.

- Be prepared for the worst

"The reality is that no matter what procedures you put in place, it's difficult to say that nothing will ever go wrong. It's an awful prospect but it is impossible to say never," says Harvey Gallagher, executive director at Care Matters Partnership, which is setting up media management training for children's services executives and directors.

Councils need to face up to this message and be prepared to deal with a crisis, says Gallagher. "The first port of call is to be ready for this in advance," he says. "They have to have a crisis plan. It's about having people who are skilled, confident and prepared to talk to journalists."

This might mean having a press officer to deal with enquires, and at least one senior member of staff and a councillor who are trained and prepared to speak to the media.

"If something awful happens and a child is hurt it's important that the local authority has senior people who can comment," says Gallagher. "It's their responsibility to deal with these things.

"Equally, because a lot of the work is about skilled frontline practitioners it's important to have someone from that background to talk as well. There are a number of different messages to get out."

James Simpson, head of media at communications agency Kindred, agrees. "Make sure people are trained and are able to speak to the media confidently," he stresses. "There's nothing worse than having your procedures in place and then putting someone before the media who just crumbles."

- Don't run away from the media - be proactive

Alex Aiken, director of communications and strategy at Westminster City Council, says: "The big problem is that children's services don't build up credit that they can use against the crisis when it comes.

"There's a lack of consistent and proactive communication of what children's services do every day to save lives and build lives. That means that coverage tends to be worse when a crisis hits."

He says authorities need to feed the media as many stories as possible using real case studies. It can be difficult to set this up, he says, but these case studies are worth their weight in gold.

Gallagher agrees that too often authorities are scared of the media. But they would be much better off if they did positively engage with journalists, he says.

"There are lots of myths out there about children's social work," says Gallagher. "On the whole the general public don't really understand how children's social work works."

Alex Woolfall, head of issues and crisis management at PR agency Bell Pottinger, says councils particularly need to feed stories to their local and regional media.

"What's written locally will shape what's written nationally," he says.

Then when crisis strikes, it's important to try to explain the situation fully to the media.

"They need to engage positively with journalists to try to explain to them why things are the way they are," says Gallagher.

However, a word of warning. Simpson says it's important not to get too carried away: "Don't over-promise and never speculate," he says.

- Apologise if something has gone wrong

First of all, you need to find out what went on and be honest. "For example, the social worker has to explain the full story in terms of how bad this really was," says Aiken. "How badly did you screw up?"

Westminster had to deal with a case where a baby girl was badly beaten by her parents and social workers had failed to pick up on the problems until it was almost too late.

The council apologised, put the director of children's services up for numerous interviews, and reassured the public that it was a one-off case. "Saying sorry repeatedly is a very powerful weapon," says Aiken.

Woolfall says it's important to remember that people have extremely strong emotional responses to stories about children. "People tend to be shocked, enraged or repelled," he says. "Sometimes there's a real disconnect between that emotional response and a very cold, clinical, legal response from organisations.

"Often the council's lawyers are on board and you end up with a set of words which people have pored over for hours, which just sounds cold-hearted."

He says it is crucial to acknowledge the horror or tragedy of the incident which has occurred. It's also better to have someone saying sorry in person rather than putting out cold, clinical statements.

"There's a good case for putting a human face up there, putting someone up for interview on radio and TV," says Woolfall. "They have to be very well prepared and also be honest and say 'I don't know the answer to that' if they don't."

- Say what you are doing to prevent future tragedies

This is what people really want to know. How will you stop this from happening to another child? Woolfall says: "The single most important thing is what have you done to stop this happening again? You have to demonstrate you've learned from this and you've put procedures in place to stop this happening again."

Aiken agrees: "If the public understands there has been a tragedy and see someone is doing something about it, they're prepared to give you the benefit of the doubt."

When that message has hit home, the service can then start to rebuild its reputation by stressing all the positive outcomes. "You can talk about the other side of these stories - the hundreds of children that councils have helped," says Woolfall.

While the authority is in the eye of the storm, it still needs to make sure children's services are running smoothly.

Catherine Fitt, strategic director for children's services at the National College for Leadership of Schools and Children's Services, says: "You need to get the crisis in perspective, remembering this is only one incident against the thousands of children who are being successfully looked after and supported. Don't panic - have a measured approach."

Fitt says staff need to be kept motivated. "Your staff must be reassured that they are valued and that they are doing their best," she says.

Then the authority needs to move on - while learning lessons from what has happened.

"You need to make sure changes are made and people aren't hiding their heads in the sand," she says.

"The important thing is to end up with a culture of trust so that in the future, people do tell you when things are going wrong or have gone wrong, that they don't hide it."

- Consider outside help

Some councils will need help in dealing with a crisis, and this needs to be part of the planning process.

As a result of the Baby P case, Westminster City Council has set up a crisis communications group with three other authorities to help councils in trouble.

Aiken says asking for help at the right time could be the difference between disaster and survival. "If Haringey had reached out to others they could have avoided some of the problems they faced," he says.

Gallagher says it's a judgment call for each council but many may need some form of assistance. "Because a really intense period of media scrutiny can be a drain on resources, there's certainly an argument for bringing in additional capacity," he says.

Senior council officers also need to listen to the advice being given to them, whether it's by their own press officers or by PR consultants, says Woolfall.

"Councils should be aware of the fact that they operate in a 24-hour news environment," he says. "The speed with which an issue can turn into an incident and then into a crisis is now a mouse-click away. There is a need for them to up their game."