This consultation was undertaken as part of our review of priorities and funding for services in 2006/07. Our objectives for this consultation were to:
- find out the views of more residents than in previous years
- consult with a wide range of stakeholders about our priorities and spending plans
- increase understanding across the county about our difficult budget situation and the tough choices that must be made if we are to keep council tax increases down
- increase public awareness of what we are doing to be more efficient and make savings
- use the information gathered during the consultation in our decision-making.
There were two phases to the consultation:
- Phase 1 – three community workshops and a follow-up postal survey
- Phase 2 – follow-up community workshop (with a focus on the Council's budget pressures).
October 2005
We held community workshops in Bexhill, Eastbourne and Uckfield. Each workshop covered a specific topic area that was seen as being key to our service plans for 2006/07. In total 59 people attended the workshops. A summary of the feedback from the workshops is available to download below.
November and December 2005
A postal survey was sent to the East Sussex residents' panel, our e-Citizens panel, made available on our website and on request following an article in Your County. The survey asked residents for their views about our priorities, the services we provide and followed up a number of themes from the community workshops. In total 960 responses were received. The survey results are available to download below.
January 2006
A follow-up workshop was held in Eastbourne. For this session residents were asked to put themselves in the Cabinet's shoes to discuss the allocation of the County Council's limited resources. This workshop was attended by 22 of the residents who had attended a workshop in October. A summary of the feedback from this workshop is available to download below.
Results
The results from the community workshops were presented to our Cabinet meeting on 14 December 2005 and the results of the survey and follow-up workshop were presented on 31 January 2006. A summary of the consultation is available to download below.
Actions that have been taken as a result of the feedback we received from our residents include:
- keeping council tax levels low
- supporting more older and vulnerable people in their own homes
- looking at different ways of doing things
- the role of volunteering in our communities
- making less use of external consultants
- using consultation and research more effectively.
A summary of the outcomes from this consultation is available to download below.
East Sussex County Council