Your views are important to us and directly influence the decisions and policies that we make. Here are a few examples.
We will update this page every six months – the next update will be in summer 2012.
Community transport
We asked…
…about public transport in your local area in various surveys and focus groups.
You said…
…that the lack of regular public transport is a real issue in rural areas.
What we did
We've set up a community transport programme to find sustainable solutions to tackle these issues. For example, in April 2011 we gave a grant of £1,210 to kick start a new voluntary car scheme in Forest Row to help local people attend their medical appointments.
The government has given us an extra £171,450 to help people set up community transport services in their local area.
We will be working with voluntary organisations across the county to drive forward more schemes that will make it easier for people to travel.
More information
Short breaks respite care for children
We asked…
…parents of disabled children how we could improve our short breaks respite care service
You told us…
…where the gaps were in the services we provide, such as a lack of services for children under eight and for children with complex health needs. You also told us that you wanted to be more involved in making decisions about these services.
What we did
We've revised our contracts to cover the service gaps identified, and also asked parents to join the decision-making panel when awarding new break contracts to service providers.
Future opportunities for parents to join in the decision-making process will be advertised in our Parent Voice newsletter.
More information
Community care budget
We asked….
…for your views on proposed changes to our community care budget (which sets out what social care services we provide, to whom) in light of expected funding cuts and changes to how we work out people's disability-related expenditure.
You told us…
…that the majority of you either agreed with the proposal to simplify how disability-related expenditure is calculated or didn't have a view either way (40% agreed, 24% neither agreed nor disagreed, 12% didn't know and 24% disagreed).
You also said that you disagreed with our proposal to reset the eligibility criteria to include only those people classed with ‘critical' needs, as opposed to those with ‘substantial' or ‘critical' needs (55% disagreed).
What we did
From April 2011 we simplified the way we calculate and distribute disability-related expenditure.
We didn't reset the eligibility criteria. As central government confirmed a ‘better than expected' adult social care budget (due to an extra £6.9 million from the Department for Health), we still cover both ‘substantial' and ‘critical' needs.
More information
Your views are important to us
Your feedback is really important and plays a key part in shaping our policies and services. By involving our residents, we can concentrate on the services that are important to you and provide real value for money.
We are committed to giving you the chance to influence what we do, and it is very important to us that we understand your needs and respond to them. Your views are fully considered before changes are made to our services and plans.
If you don't hear immediately about a consultation's outcome, don't think your views aren't being taken into account. It can take a while for all the relevant information to be collated and analysed before the results of a consultation are published.
East Sussex County Council