Council’s ‘spin spend’ revealed
Wellington City Council employs more than 50 communications and engagement staff according to internal staff lists seen by The
Post, with an annual budget of more than $5 million.
The spending is revealed as the beleaguered institution launches a new ad campaign in a bid to “stop grumbling” by residents – and
The Post.
The list seen by The Post shows 54 in the comms team, though the council claims the number is 47.1.
Seven are managers and seven create “content”, including three producers and a photographer/videographer.
Four people are hired specifically to share the council’s messaging via social media, and there are seven graphic designers.
By way of comparison, 30 staff work on climate changes issues, three of which are communications staffers.
Stephen McArthur, chief strategy and governance officer, is responsible for the team (but is not included in The Post’s headcount), and said he was “comfortable” with its “size and scope”. Local government laws required consultation with residents, he said. “This requires significant staff resource.”
Last week, the council’s economic wellbeing manager Anna Calver announced a new billboard and t-shirt campaign, aping the 1990s Absolutely Positively Wellington promotion devised by Saatchi & Saatchi.
Calver – who does not appear on the comms and engagement staff list – said she and other staff designed the Positively Pōneke drive to “help keep people aware of all the good change under way” and bring “those absolutely positive vibes to a hoarding near you”.
In a Linkedin post, Calver said the campaign was about getting Wellingtonians “to stop grumbling about our brilliant city” and in response to “grumbling” from The Post.
The council was unable to supply the budget for the campaign.
Spending on communications and marketing budgets has come under scrutiny after government teams ballooned during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Last year, it was revealed the number of communications staff working in the core public service had increased by more than 50% since 2017, while in the corporate world advertising and marketing budgets are being cut as the economic downturn bites. The headcount in newsrooms has also declined.
McArthur said the communications team had been gradually growing to create online content.
But that’s likely to chafe with some residents, currently facing another rates hike, congestion charging and suburban parking fees, while services are being cut.
Earlier this week, The Post revealed the council wants to hand the cost and responsibility of shared paths on council-owned land to Wellington homeowners.
At an environment and infrastructure committee meeting earlier this month, councillors asked officials that a consultation process be “well publicised”.
However, the council is yet to issue a media release on the proposals, nor was there any mention on its social media platforms.
The overall budget for communications and engagement in the 2023/4 year is $5.3m, of which $4.2m is personnel costs. Overall the council employs approximately 2000 full-time staff.
“The City Council recognises the importance of maintaining a robust communication and engagement function,” McArthur said.
There were 33 consultation processes over the last 12 months, and social media staff dealt with 55,000 to 60,000 queries, complaints and comments each year, he said. The team also “contributes” to elections, community events, and emergency events, such as earthquakes.
“All members of the comms and engagement team are expected to create content – but our creative and brand team and our content/social-media staff produce most of the content including materials such as publications, campaigns, posters, billboards, brochures, advertisements, signage, photography, video, animation, and social media content, supporting various Council business units.
“In many other organisations the creative and brand function is outsourced, but in our case it is more cost effective at present to deliver this inside the organisation.”