Priorities and budget consultation 2007/08
This consultation formed part of our review of council priorities and funding for services in 2007/08. Our objectives were to:
- consult a wide range of stakeholders about our priorities and spending plans
- inform our decision making
- inform our work on customer focus, efficiency and productivity.
We have summarised the results and actions taken below, but for full details please download the documents listed at the foot of this page.
Who took part
We held two workshops, and sent survey forms to our Residents Panel.
- October 2006 – workshop with partner organisations
The discussions centred upon council efficiency and customer focus – specific topic areas that are key to our service plans for 2007/08. 16 people participated.
- November 2006 – workshop for residents
We discussed the needs and expectations of the local community, and how we can meet and manage them with the limited funds we have available. 25 people took part in these workshops, which were held in Eastbourne.
- January 2007 – postal survey of the Residents’ Panel
Our questionnaire asked about the services they use and who they think provides them. You can download a copy of the questionnaire as part of our results document, below. 644 responses were received.
Results
We recommend you click on the links below to read detailed analyses of each event.
In summary
- A large number of residents know that major services such as Adult Social Care and education are provided by the County Council. However Residents are not aware of the extent of County Council services they are using on a regular basis.
- Over two thirds of survey respondents and workshop attendees felt that people do take a pride in where they live, the things that stop them taking a pride are that people are too busy or not interested.
- Respondents and workshop attendees feel that the attitude of today’s society, education and upbringing might stop people from being nice neighbours.
- Over half of respondents were interested in having access to information about the Council’s priorities and vision, Budget and Council Tax information, and how the Council is performing.
Actions taken
- Volunteering – we are co-ordinating our approach to voluntary and community services in a more strategic way. The new Chairman of the County Council has agreed to continue to support this approach for another year.
- Consultation process – we are developing systems and software to help us to manage our consultation activities in a more coordinated and strategic way.
- Your County magazine – we have been making some changes to the design and content of Your County, our residents’ magazine. Some of these changes can be seen in the June edition of the magazine.
- Combining these results with other work – the results of this consultation have been compared with the results of the BVPI customer satisfaction survey that was undertaken by every local authority in the UK in Autumn 2006. The results from this survey will also be used to inform our work on the new East Sussex Strategic partnership, our work on volunteering and our review of the East Sussex Compact.
For full details please read the documents below.
