A SENIOR York councillor has denied a report on managing the city council's reputation suggests "spin doctoring or news management."

A report titled Reputational Risk has been presented to City of York Council's corporate and financial strategy scrutiny board.

It discusses the need and value of a good reputation for both York as a city and the council that runs it.

Peter Vaughan, the board's chairman and a former Lord Mayor of York, agreed the report looked like the introduction of spin and news management into the council's work. But he insisted it was aimed at ensuring correct council responses were made, and made public, during events that could affect York, its people or its economy.

He said: "The floods are an excellent recent example. There is a very real concern that we should not be seen to be into excessive spinning or extreme news management.

"But also we should be thinking about the things that can affect the council and the city, making sure there is a Plan B in place.

"Just last autumn one of the committee members was abroad and opened a newspaper to find an enormous picture of a flooded King's Staith.

"The message that put out was that York was badly flooded and possibly closed for business, which of course wasn't the case at all."

One concerned York resident, Ken Beavan, of Albemarle Road, said the report rang "alarm bells."

He said: "The first half of the paper deals with the council's reputation and how it can be managed, creating for itself an image for public consumption by the selective presentation of information designed to show it in its best possible light.

"The common word for that is spin, with all its disreputable connotations."

But Coun Vaughan said: "Yes, it is capable of being seen that way. But the board's view is that reputational risk is an issue that has to be taken on board in a professional manner."

Updated: 09:40 Wednesday, January 22, 2003