Public Affairs Consultancy

The objective of our Public Affairs work is to promote Stonewater to external stakeholders and enhance our reputation to:

• build strategic relationships; • influence policy and decision-making; • raise awareness of the contribution of the housing association sector across a number of areas including planning, health and wellbeing, welfare reform, domestic abuse and the environment; • Build our position as a thought leader on a number of important issues related to the future direction of the business.

We have been working closely with a public affairs consultancy since 2015, which has seen a significant increase in our exposure to public affairs and influence:

Previous activities conducted by our retained agency have included, for example:

• Providing senior counsel to the Executive Director Group and corporate communications teams. • Meetings with Ministers, civil servants and industry bodies to raise issues and highlight policy implications. • Engagement with local MPs and councils regarding local matters. • Coordination of site and scheme visits, including virtual visits during the pandemic. • Responses to Select Committee inquiries and Government consultations. • Risk analysis reports and scenario planning. • Reports on the history of social housing and future of housing. • Party conference contact programme and events support. • Support for webinars and events. • Securing speaking opportunities. • Support for, and project management of, thought leadership and strategic research projects. • Targeted media activity (working with our PR agency) and opinion pieces. • Video production. • Social media collateral. • Providing a regular 'insight and impact' report to the Stonewater board on key policies and their implications. • Working closely with our retained PR and media monitoring agency • Political and sector monitoring to identify issues and opportunities

Additional information: The tender can be viewed and responded to through Stonewater's e-tendering portal Delta eSourcing, using the access code 84ZBKA87N3.