PAROLE BOARD FOR
ENGLAND AND WALES News Release (PR/08/2008) issued by COI News
Distribution Service. 17 September 2008
The recently
re-designed Parole Board website, which was launched in January
2008, has won the website or microsite of the year category in the
prestigious Chartered Institute of Public Relations Excellence
Awards for 2008. The award was announced on Monday (15 September)
at the CIPR Excellence Awards Dinner held at the London Hilton
Hotel on Park Lane.
The CIPR team of judges said: "This is a very clearly
designed site that succeeds in delivering expert advice for
victims of crime, offenders and industry professionals. The
language is clear and the signposting on the site is simple and
easy to follow. Difficult issues are handled sensitively and the
site is extremely informative, using a question and answer format
to deliver its messages in a style that is open and welcoming.
"The site is a tribute to open communications and has
received widespread praise from the industry as well as from its
victim and offender audiences. There is much to commend this site
- its meets all its objectives, it delivers no-nonsense
information and advice, and it is easy to use and follow."
The website was completely re-designed earlier this year, with
the help of web design agency ECRU, to be made more accessible to
those with sight or reading difficulties and is now targeted
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 six months after relaunch the website has increased
the average monthly number of page views by 101%, with over
275,000 in total from January to August 2008 and 115,000 visits
during the same period.
Parole Board Head of Communications Tim Morris said: "Our
aim in re-designing the website was to make it more accessible and
user friendly for our diverse target audiences. We adopted an open
and simple style for the site to meet the needs of our
stakeholders and the feedback we have received from them has been
very enthusiastic. The director of one victim group said
'Your website is the most victim-friendly within the CJS, I
think you should win an award'. Well, we did!"
ECRU Managing Director Matt Williams said: "I am thrilled
that the achievements of the new Parole Board website have been
recognised with this important award from CIPR. The judging panel
were comparing the best of the best in the Excellence Awards 2008
website or microsite category, and for us to come out on top is
extremely rewarding. The secret of our success is simple though -
we share the Parole Board's conviction that the criminal
justice system can be improved through clear, accessible and
usable communication, that the victims of crime can better achieve
justice, and through these steps we can improve the society in
which we live.
CIPR President Elisabeth Lewis-Jones said: "Only the cream
of the PR industry receives a CIPR Excellence Award, which
recognises the vital contribution PR makes to business and
society. With the quality of entries improving year-on-year, this
year's winning campaigns faced the stiffest competition
to-date to rise to the top. This is a fantastic achievement and
they are to be congratulated."
Notes to Editors
The Parole Board website can be found at http://www.paroleboard.gov.uk
The ECRU website can be found at http://www.ecru.co.uk
The CIPR Awards website can be found at http://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. The awards
this year received a record 856 entries across 27 categories. The
Chartered Institute of Public Relations, the professional body for
PR practitioners in the UK, has over 9,500 members, involved in
all aspects of the public relations industry and is the largest
body of its type in Europe.
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 look on the Parole Board website
at http://www.paroleboard.gov.uk
ENDS