This is a copy of my weekly blog which I write for work and is published on the council's intranet.  The views I express in this log are my own, professional, views as the Head of Communications but do not necessarily reflect those of the authority itself.

First this week – an appeal for your help.

I’ve been tasked with compiling some stories of people who worked over and above their normal duties during the recent bad weather and snow.

We’re putting together a news release to talk about some of the positives of the last fortnight and to prove there’s more to the council during snow than just gritting.

We already know that many of our colleagues battled the conditions to get in, but others went even further to keep services running.

Clearly, the gritting teams deserve praise for working many hours to keep main roads clear, but perhaps you know of someone else who we could give a pat on the back.

I’d be really grateful if you could tip me off about them please.

Senior managers from each directorate are already doing some digging for me, but your help would be most appreciated.

Second this week – some thanks.

More than 400 of you have put your name down for our plain English workshops which is a response we couldn’t even have dreamed of – it’s amazing!

If your name is on the list, thank you for taking such an interest in trying to rid the council of complicated language and jargon.

The first of the workshops is tomorrow and we’ll be running them as regularly as people and resources allow.

I am very pleased that I can give such a positive update to councillors when I report to the central and corporate scrutiny board in a fortnight.

In other news, I attended a special public sector communications event in Westminster last week.  We were the biggest local authority to be represented and it was a gathering of senior communicators from across the sector.

The director of communications for the Met Police was there, so was the man in charge of communications at the department for communities and local government along with colleagues from the NHS, other police forces and the fire and rescue service.  The event was organised to talk about how we all could and should be working to improve the reputation of the public sector.

There was an interesting presentation covering the ‘mood of the nation’, which made predictions about what might happen at the general election.  It included evidence that suggested many people don’t understand (or care) who delivers the public services where they live – so long as they are delivered.

We spent time reflecting on what we could do quickly to build reputation.

One idea – from the man from the Met – was that councils should ‘get back to basics’.  ‘If you could just empty my bin and keep the streets clean, I’d be happy’ he said.  His idea was having a sweeper on every street corner.

OK, that sounds like a reasonable idea, but is it?

Perhaps not.

The point I made to the event was that if councils were expected to get back to basics, then perhaps the police should too, by putting a uniformed officer on each street corner.  That would surely conquer the problem of the fear of crime?

But, if you’ve got a road sweeper and a police officer on each street corner who’s reputation is likely to be boosted the most?  The police of course.

I think this shows how complicated the issue is – we’re not all ‘equal’.

Overall, the event was good and there was a clear acknowledgement that all public sector organisations need to work even more closely in future to co-ordinate activities, jointly deliver great services and boost our reputation.

I’m pleased to say that – in Leeds – we are already off the starting blocks on this, with new working relationships formed with the police and NHS.

Finally – it’s amazing what little facts you discover when you’re doing this job.

I now know that Leeds has 77 bowling greens which one journalist thinks is the highest figure in the country.  Edinburgh only has five apparently.

We were so excited about having discovered this fact, we forgot to ask the reporter why they wanted to know!

Oh, and yes, 77 sounded high to us, so had the figure double checked.

Until next week, goodbye!