Over five months Westminster will implement the recommendations of a recent review of the South-West London borough's comms.
Its contract runs to April 2007 and is worth £42,000.
Westminster head of media relations Robin Campbell will act as interim head of comms, reporting to Merton assistant chief executive Abdool Kara. Merton communications manager Sophie Poole will report to Campbell.
‘Merton came straight to us and we negotiated a cost-effective arrangement with clear targets,' Campbell told PRWeek.
Westminster will design a comms strategy for 2007/08, with the aim of improving Merton's relationship with residents and stakeholders, Campbell added.
Merton recently completed a residents' survey, in which value for money, crime, traffic congestion and education were highlighted as the greatest concerns of people in the borough.
Westminster also currently supplies PR services for the councils of Richmond and the Isle of Wight (PRWeek, 17 November). It has worked with the former borough for three years, and recently signed a three-year extension to its contract.
It was one of the first local authorities to offer its PR team to other councils.
