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Awarded to the Local Authority that is judged to have delivered the most successful all round communications strategy, incorporating Print, Public Relations, IT and Telecommunications.  Points are awarded based on the overall judgement of entry statements in all award categories.

2011 Winner: Derbyshire County Council
This year, Derbyshire has demonstrated all round communications excellence. Shortlisted in four categories (Council Publication of the Year, Print Innovation, Contact Centre of the Year and Contact Centre Training), the Authority strives to provide residents with high quality contact points and accurate timely information on its services.  Derbyshire’s PR campaigns have been used as examples of excellence in the wider public sector.

Commended: Essex County Council
In September 2009 Essex centralised its communications function and the team now delivers all of the county council’s communications through an agency model with the different directorates within the council as clients. The team reports into the Assistant Chief Executive and all campaigns are signed off by a leadership board chaired by the council Leader. This year, Essex was shortlisted in the Strategic Communications and Mixed Media categories, but its council publication ‘Essex Works’ narrowly missed out for Council Publication of the Year.

Commended: Stockport City Council
Stockport’s no-nonsense communications strategy is reaping benefits for the region, particularly the Boost Stockport campaign which looked at ways to tackle the recession, providing businesses and residents with advice and support on how to cope during the year ahead. The authority was shortlisted for Government Website of the Year and Local Authority PR Team of the Year. Head of Communications Ian Ratcliffe was also nominated for Local Government Communicator of the Year

Commended: Wokingham Borough Council
An impressive performance from Wokingham in this year’s Awards. Shortlisted in four categories (Council Publication Design, Government Website of the Year, Contact centre of the Year and Contact Centre Training), in 2010 the Communications team was responsible for developing a comprehensive toolkit covering media relations, marketing, website and e-communications, internal communications and monitoring and evaluation.

Commended: Stoke-on-Trent City Council
Stoke-on-Trent was shortlisted for Local Authority PR Team of the Year, Mixed Media Campaign, Council Publication Journalism and Council Publication of the Year.  Its already recognised ‘Our City’ magazine has embraced change. After 21 issues, the publication continues to draw positive reader feedback, attracts high levels of response to competitions and consultations, and generates good responses for the organisations and initiatives it features.