Transcript Slide 1

Local Councils Briefing
Leicestershire’s Future: Consultation
Results
November 2013
Nicole Rickard
Policy and Partnerships Team Leader
[email protected]
Current Position
• Over the last three years we’ve saved £64m
• Government funding consultation over the summer – local
government seems to be low priority
• National deficit until at least 2018
• Over the next five years, including this one, LCC needs to
save £110m
• Difficult to forecast income given economic uncertainty
• Huge risks and uncertainty…implications of Dilnot report on
ASC funding system, health and social care integration etc.
• Firm proposals for 2014-15/2015-16, outline proposals for
next 2 years
• Cross-party Transformation Board established
• Specific proposals in development and to be agreed at
February Cabinet
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Methodology and Responses
• Stakeholder consultation event
• Stakeholder feedback survey – 48 responses
• Survey for residents
- Online – 2,134 responses
- Special edition of Leicestershire Matters – 3,575 responses
• Three resident focus groups - 73 residents
- Charnwood/Melton
- NWL/Hinckley & Bosworth
- Blaby/Oadby/ Harborough
- Plus a Staff Survey (results available on-line, 1391 responses)
Total responses = 7,147
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Residents
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Q1 & Q2 - Residents
£31.5m
+50%
Midpoint
5
Base = 5,650
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Q5 Council Tax
What annual Council Tax increase would you be prepared to pay over the next few years?
69%
19%
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Residents – ‘Any other comments’
Top 10 codes (accounting for 47% of all comments)
Base = 6,000 points of view
In descending order:
1. Fewer councillors
2. Join up services/unitary authority
3. Reduce transport subsidies
4. Reduce street-lighting and grass cutting
5. Less bureaucracy/inefficiency/waste
6. Protect vulnerable people
7. Reduce number and salary of LCC employees
8. Reduce number and salary of managers
9. Wiser procurement/don’t privatise
10. Issues with survey/concept/questions
(510)
(338)
(302)
(300)
(282)
(274)
(231)
(207)
(206)
(186)
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Stakeholders
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Q1 & 2 - Stakeholders
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Stakeholder – comments
Most important outcomes for service users
Universal outcomes
Health and wellbeing, maintaining highways, culture and heritage, education and
learning
Targeted outcomes
Protecting vulnerable people from harm, reduced isolation, independence, choice,
positive transitions into adulthood
What doesn’t work well
Bureaucracy
Red tape, too many meetings, top-heavy, over bureaucratic, too much paperwork,
inefficiencies
How can we work differently
Joint working and pooling resources
Combine tourist offices and libraries, community hubs, share HR & payroll, more
effective procurement processes
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Stakeholder – comments (continued…)
How can we help local people help their communities
Support volunteers
Professional support, not replacing staff, funding and training, difficult to recruit
volunteers, fear of liability
Promote responsibility
Encouraging community spirit, teaching responsibility, offering opportunities to
young people
Reducing demand for services
Cannot reduce demand
If there is need there then demand cannot be reduced
Early Intervention and prevention
Teaching responsibility, working with communities, floating support
Introducing charging / Raising eligibility criteria
Increase prices, how commercial businesses manage peaks
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Residents’ Workshops
We have a distorted view of our population…
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…and about the range and complexity of Leicestershire County
Council’s services
Current budget: £717m gross, £356m net
Just one is six thought it was over £10m
Almost half thought it was no more than £1m
So ... why bother to consult with the public?
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1. Prioritising Services
Resident Focus Groups – Headline results
Post discussion
Budget decrease
Most willing to contemplate cuts
Museums
Libraries
Street lighting
Grass cutting
Bus passes for older or disabled people
Trading standards
Youth services and working with young people to prevent (re -)offending
Budget increase
-63
-55
-49
-47
-43
-32
-22
Opinions more balanced
Support to voluntary organisations and businesses
Transport to schools and social care
Country parks
Grants to help communities and community groups
Public bus services
Local tips/household recycling sites
Children’s centres and early years’ childcare
-18
-16
-15
-15
-10
-7
5
Least willing to contemplate cuts
Services for people with physical disabilities
Supporting older people to live independently in the community
Residential and nursing homes for older people
Adults with learning difficulties /mental health problems
Winter road gritting
Children’s social care services and child protection
Maintaining roads and pavements
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21
24
25
28
36
40
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
20
40
60
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2. How and why residents change their minds
– and where residents are most cautious
Residents change their mind in the light of more information
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3. Attitudes to council tax/the Council generally
Understanding
of vocational
Post-Discussion most participants
wanted anqualifications
increase in
–council
general
public
tax
Q:
When LCC sets the level of council tax next year, which of the following would you
prefer it to aim for?
Increase council tax
to maintain more
public services
Keep council tax
unchanged for a
smaller reduction in
services
Lower council
tax and reduce
services
No response
Post-discussion
4% 7%
Participants now feel differently about the Council…
Changing views at start and end of discussion
Feel informed
about
Council services
Feel that Council
exceeds their
expectations
Feel informed about how
Council makes spending
decisions
Satisfied
with
Council
After
After
After
After
Before
Before
Before
Before
Not informed about
Council services
Council falls below
expectations
Not informed about
Council spending
Dissatisfied
with Council
Service Delivery: Underlying themes
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 Services are more important than who provides them
 Geographical boundaries not important
 Bring services, providers and buildings together
 Scope for community or trust-based services
 Potentially greater role for individuals
 Remove barriers
But clear caveats apply to each of these
Illustrating the communications challenge currently
facing councils
‘It was very helpful – perhaps yearly this same talk and info
should be given through the media e.g. radio etc, not just [as it
usually is] in boring graph form.’
‘We have had the benefit tonight of understanding the issues.
The challenge is getting that out to everyone. The way it was
presented to us has made me think completely differently.
Before tonight I would say: “Stuff the Council”. But I don’t feel
that way now. You have got to get the information out there.’
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