Statutory guidance

Chapter 9: marketing and communications

Updated 25 January 2024

Introduction

1. The purpose of this section is to provide a general guide to marketing and communications for participants. It also aims to help you understand the minimum expectations for communicating your service standards to participants as part of the provision you have been contracted to deliver.

2. There are references and links to other sites containing more detailed information about marketing for government funded services. This guidance sits alongside that information, highlighting the main issues to be considered in any draft marketing products or media activity.

Planning your marketing, communications and public relations (PR) activity

3. As a contracted supplier of Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) we would encourage you to share your own marketing and PR activity with Jobcentre Plus. This is to achieve:

• complementary timing of activities
• consistency of message
• an understanding with all audiences how the activity you are delivering for DWP fits into our wider picture

4. This will ensure that both DWP and providers are able to maximise the value of their communications.

5. You may be required to share and agree your communication/marketing and publicity plans with the relevant Jobcentre Plus or DWP contact. However, for the purposes of European Social Fund (ESF) and ESF match funded provision (England only) you must ensure that your marketing plans and products comply with ESF publicity requirements. You must clear these with your Jobcentre Plus group ESF team. (Generic Guidance Chapter 11 – ESF Requirements).

6. As you are best placed to know the demographics of your local area, it is up to you to decide the best way to promote and describe your services in relation to the relevant DWP Programme.

7. It is up to you to decide what types of products, activities and channels you want to use to market or communicate your services to prospective participants. However, you must, as a minimum, provide your organisation name, address, contact details, Jobcentre Plus logo and appropriate relationship endorsement wording. Information on how to apply the Jobcentre Plus logo and endorsement can be found in the Communication Standards for DWP Providers. Please visit ‘Our Brands’ to register with the DWP Communication Centre and view the Communication Standards document.

8. All the marketing products you produce must adhere to the standards, as written in your contract, and within this guidance. These standards are in place in order to protect the integrity of DWP programmes and the reputation of DWP and Jobcentre Plus.

9. In addition, providers delivering services funded by the ESF or match must also follow ESF specific marketing and publicity requirements. Further information can be found on the European Social Fund publicity toolkit and the Generic Guidance Chapter 11 ESF Requirements.

10. These standards apply to all information sharing, press activity and marketing products or activities that you undertake.

11. There may be times when you will need to change aspects of your marketing plans. For example, you would need to be flexible on timing, if there is a clash which could lead to confusion for the target audience. Or you might need to incorporate ministerial involvement in PR activity. However, establishing close working relationships with your Jobcentre Plus or DWP contact should minimise any negative impacts.

Content

12. Any material you produce specifically for marketing DWP programmes must make reference to the specific DWP programme you are delivering and clearly show that it is a government programme.

13. You should introduce what participants on the programme may receive, and include wording to describe what the programme will deliver.

14. If you are delivering an ESF funded programme or matched, you will need to ensure your products also meet the ESF Requirements.

Key Issues

15. Some key issues you must consider for the content of your marketing, communications and press activity are:

• reputational risk – materials you produce must not adversely affect the reputation of the service being provided by the government, DWP or Jobcentre Plus, for example risks that could lead to adverse media attention, or messages that could be misunderstood or misinterpreted
• Disability Equality Duty/Equality Act 2010 – you must ensure that all our participants can access our information by:
  • providing a variety of alternative formats (for example, large print, audio format, Braille) on request
  • ensuring that people can still access our information when their chosen alternative format is not available

More information about delivering inclusive communications is available from the Office for Disability Issues.

Communication standards

16. Please visit ‘Our Brands’ to register with the DWP Communication Centre and view the Communication Standards document.

Basic conventions

17. In producing your marketing material, you must be aware that there are propriety conventions that you will have to follow. Adhering to these conventions ensures that the government Department, Ministers, Civil Servants and those delivering on their behalf act properly and are seen to be acting properly.

18. These basic conventions require that communications activities:

• should be relevant to the service you are providing
• should be factual, clear, objective and explanatory
• should not be, or be liable to misrepresentation as being, party political
• should be conducted in an economic and appropriate way, having regard to the need to be able to justify the costs as expenditure of public funds

19. Your Jobcentre Plus or DWP contact can provide you with help and guidance around content.

DWP information products and leaflets

20. If you would like to order any DWP leaflets, a full list can be found on DWP leaflets and how to order them.

21. DWP leaflets and how to order them provides guidance on how to order them.

National media handling

22. DWP has a national press office that is responsible for dealing with the national media (newspapers, news agencies, internet news, television, radio and specialist publications and magazines), providing media advice to Ministers and co-ordinating all visits with media involvement across the department.

23. You may be required to liaise with national press office on major announcements. However, you will have most day-to-day PR contact with the Jobcentre Plus or DWP contact.

24. You are expected to:

• alert your Jobcentre Plus or DWP contact to all negative stories and provide sufficient information for DWP to prepare and provide a statement to be used in response to media enquiries
• inform your Jobcentre Plus or DWP contact of media activity being planned around DWP provision

25. Ministers may want to be involved in publicity from time to time. You should in particular share plans around significant milestones (for example 100th person helped into work) and participant case studies and liaise with DWP national press office.

26. Please visit Our Brands to register with the DWP Communication Centre and view the Communication Standards for Providers.