OPCC highly commended for clear and simple communications

Wiltshire and Swindon's Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner has been "highly commended" nationally for the clarity of information on its website. 

PCC Angus Macpherson's office has been awarded the CoPaCC Open and Transparent Quality Mark for 2021.  It's the first time Wiltshire and Swindon's OPCC has taken part in the assessment involving all OPCCs in England and Wales.  

The criteria for the annual award are strict and rigorous with judges from CoPaCC using Home Office guidelines which outline what a PCC should publish, including how their money is spent, their policing and crime priorities and their decision making processes.  

CoPaCC also added a further criterion to the judging process - how easy the website is to use and navigate. 

A total of 39 out of 40 OPCCs received the Open and Transparent Quality Mark; however Angus's office was only one of three in the country, which was new to the process, to receive the "highly commended" benchmark stamp.

Bernard Rix, Chief Executive Officer of CoPaCC, said: "For my part, these OPCCs have all demonstrated that they are transparent in what they do, meeting relevant legal requirements.

"It’s no longer acceptable to ‘tick the box’ of technical and legal compliance but then hide the required disclosures through unclear jargon and complex navigation; clear, non-technical language and simple navigation should be the aim to ensure true public transparency.

"These OPCCs present key information in an accessible format on their websites.  I was particularly gratified to see, after seven years of assessments and awards, such high standards delivered by almost all OPCCs."

Angus said:  "This is very welcomed news and this national award reflects the amount of work my office and Communications Department have done over the past few years to improve our website, making it easily accessible to all.  

"The good work my office and Wiltshire Police do daily needs to be publicised well and a website that is not only easy to access but easy to read and understand too is vital in this day and age where communication is not only king but essential for any organisation.

"The public deserve to be kept informed and furnished with details so they can hold me and anyone in this public office to account -the only way to do that is through clear, concise and easily accessible communication."