Council / Negative social media comments undermine SIC staff morale, chief executive says
Maggie Sandison appeals for restraint and call on people to write to the SIC if they want to complain or voice concern
THE COUNCIL’s chief executive has vowed she will reflect on how the local authority can improve communicating unpopular decisions and take the community with them, even in tricky and sometime controversial circumstances.
Speaking to Shetland News last week, Maggie Sandison was happy to go on the record discussing some of the rules and standards around council communication.
It comes as the SIC and its employees have come under intense (social) media fire over the controversy around the demolition of temporary buildings at Dunrossness Primary School.
The widespread sense of communication failure was then further heightened when, without any warning, Shetland Recreational Trust (SRT) announced that the Scalloway pool would close at the end of March.
While this was a decision by a trust tasked to run the local leisure centres – and not Shetland Islands Council – the difference between the two is often lost in the noise, and particularly difficult to explain when the SIC is the trust’s largest customer.
It has to be said that the local authority would legally never have been able to make such a decision without extensive consultation with employees as well as the community.
Shetland Recreational Trust, however, can do this the way it did, as trusts are governed by different legislation.
Any calls for either a delay of the closure, for more information on the rationale behind the decision or for trustees to engage with concerned communities have so far fallen on deaf ears.
Sandison said it was not for her to comment on decisions made by a different organisation but instead spoke about the council’s own limitations when communicating and, vitally, on the demoralising effects negative social media comments have on staff morale.
As an organisation the SIC is itself very active on social media – the council’s Facebook page has around 10,000 followers for instance – but this is largely used as a promoting tool rather than a platform to discuss controversial topics.
Referring to the dispute over the demolition of the Dunrossness school buildings, the council chief said the SIC could not discuss its decisions via social media, and council staff were unable not defend themselves when criticised or attacked in Facebook comments.
Some councillors, but by no means all, are however comfortable and quite prepared to engage in social media discussions. Councillors’ contact details can be found at this page.
But it simply was not true that the council did not communicate, Sandison continued, indeed quite the opposite. However, the SIC had to adhere to standards set by legislation.
Sandison acknowledged that there was an obvious mismatch between writing letters and sharing views and opinions via social media, and the SIC was in a losing position here.
“We can communicate better,” she said, adding that at times it was the case that “people don’t want to hear what we communicate”.
“But we can always communicate better,” Sandison insisted, “and I am happy to reflect on that (…) in terms of the issues that we have seen over the last month.”
Referring to the complaints the SIC received in relation to the Dunrossness school demolition, Sandison said the council had to respect the privacy of the individuals who complained.
“We very rarely turn around and give a public statement in response to a complaint, because we respect the right of that individual to have that conversation with us privately,” she said.
“We only communicate with people who write to us,” Sandison added.
And speaking about the negative impact social media comments can have on council workers, the chief executive added: “It can be really hard when my staff read social media comments saying the council never does anything for us.
“These are the care workers, the men on the gritters, the essy kert drivers.
“I can tell you that my staff are working incredibly hard for the community, and without them doing the work and going above and beyond to continue to maintain services, the life of people in Shetland would be very different.”
She added: “I entirely accept that people will not always agree with what the council does.
“If people have a legitimate concern about a council service they should write to the council, and we can respond to their concerns.”
In the first instance, the SIC can be contacted via this page.
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