The Parole Board. Working with others to protect the public.
News
29/04/2008
The new Parole Board website, which was launched in January 2008, has been short listed for an award in the prestigious Chartered Institute of Public Relations Excellence Awards for 2008 in the website or microsite category.
The website was completely re-designed, with the help of web design agency ECRU, to be made more accessible to those with sight or reading difficulties and is now targeted more directly at the main Parole Board audiences, which include victims of crime, prisoners and criminal justice practitioners.
The site features a new section aimed at victims of crime and their families, including advice on how to make a victim impact statement for consideration by the Parole Board and how to attend a Parole Board hearing to present that statement in person.
The site also features a re-designed section aimed at prisoners and their families, including for the first time advice for juvenile offenders and a quick guide to parole for prisoners with reading or learning difficulties.
The site includes multimedia features, with a podcast by Parole Board members talking about their work, a video clip from the BBC2 documentary series about the Parole Board Lock them up or let them out, and an interactive case simulator from the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies.
In its first month of its operation the new website increased the number of hits as compared to the old site by 49% from 171,806 to 255,837 and the number of page view by 127% from 19,621 to 44,678.
CIPR Director General Colin Farrington said: We received a record 853 entries across the 28 award categories this year a good sign that the public relations industry continues to thrive. This year, as the CIPR marks 60 years of leading an increasingly sophisticated profession, so 2008s Excellence Awards finalists should celebrate the fact they have faced the stiffest competition to date to rise to the top of their industry.
Parole Board Head of Communications Tim Morris said: Our short listing for this CIPR award recognises the hard work that has gone into making the new website more accessible and user friendly for our target audiences. It also recognises that this is a public sector IT project delivered on time, on budget and matching the highest standards of the private sector in terms of design and delivering results.
ECRU Managing Director Matt Williams said: The new Parole Board website has received exceptionally positive feedback from each group of users. Website usability testing guided the project throughout, and has revealed demonstrable improvements that I believe will increase the effectiveness of the Parole Board. This will have a positive benefit for the people who use their services, including victims and their families, prisoners and their families, stakeholders and legal professionals.
The new Parole Board website can be found at www.paroleboard.gov.uk
The ECRU website can be found at www.ecru.co.uk
The CIPR Awards website can be found at www.cipr.co.uk/excellence
The CIPR Excellence Awards recognise and reward best practice in public relations throughout the UK and acknowledge personal and team achievement at the highest professional level. Short listed entrants will be invited for interview in May by a panel of judges comprising senior PR practitioners and experts from the business, media, marketing and advertising communities. Winners will be announced on 15 September 2008 at the CIPR Excellence Awards Diamond Dinner, The London Hilton, Park Lane.
The Chartered Institute of Public Relations, the professional body for PR practitioners in the UK, celebrates 60 years of leading the industry in 2008. With over 9,500 members, involved in all aspects of the public relations industry, it is the largest body of its type in Europe. The CIPR advances the PR industry in the UK by making its members accountable through a code of conduct, developing policies for the PR industry, representing its members, and raising standards through education and training.
The Parole Board is an independent body that works with its criminal justice partners to protect the public by risk assessing prisoners to decide whether they can safely be released into the community.
For further information please call Tim Morris, Head of Communications for the Parole Board, on 020-7217 0564 during office hours, or on 07725-927954 out of hours, look on the Parole Board website at www.paroleboard.gov.uk , or e-mail tim.morris5@paroleboard.gsi.gov.uk
ENDS PR/04/2008
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