HAVE YOUR SAY 2011/12
Your Money – Have your Say
Budget Consultation 2011-12 -
Feedback
Response to Questions raised on Budget Survey - July 2011
Feedback on Car Parking in Melton arrangements
– November 2011
What you said & how we used your views
…
First of all, thank you for your participation
and interest in this survey and we hope you find the feedback and
results of the Your Money – Have your Say budget consultation
survey of interest.
1. Introduction
Recent changes both at central and local
government have put increasing pressures on public services both in
terms of performance and on budgets. There is a higher
expectation to deliver more for less. With difficult
decisions needing to be made around budgets it is important that
the public are both made aware of these difficulties and also given
an opportunity to voice their opinions. Budgets are being
rapidly reduced and this will mean major changes to the way
services are delivered, a public consultation raises awareness and
gives the public a chance to feed into the budget setting
process.
A public consultation exercise was held to
receive the public’s views on how the Council should distribute its
budget in 2011/12.
2. Methodology
Online Survey
An online survey was developed. The
questions were developed by Senior Councillors and Officers a
lot of thought went into that process until the final version was
approved. The focus of the questions was to encourage
constructive views on where the Council could make reductions in
spending on specific areas. No options were given to increase
spending in any area due to the reduction in government grant and
the necessity for budgets to be reduced and not
increased.
It was felt important to seek views on the
public perception of whether the Council gave value for money and
this question was asked at the start and at the end of the
survey to assess whether there was a change in view after
completing the survey. Postcodes were requested as the
only source of identification so that it could be assessed as to
whether the survey results were representative of the demographic
population of the Borough.
The survey was launched on 26 October 2010 and
closed on 31 December 2010.
Promotion of the Survey.
The survey was strongly featured on the
Homepage of the Council’s website for the duration of the
survey. The Melton Times mentioned the survey a few times and
gave the website link in each case. However the survey was
featured on the front page of this newspaper on 11 November
2010. This was a prominent article which was headed :- Your
Money, Your Council And Your Say.
There was an article in the Council’s
newsletter, the Melton Mail, in December, which promoted the survey
and encouraged people of the Borough to ensure they had had their
say. This publication is circulated to all homes in the
Borough. Councillors also made people aware of the
survey and helped them fill in the questionnaire on their monthly
Market Stall. The survey was circulated to the Melton
Community Partnership and the Town Centre Partnership as well as to
other user groups.
The survey was promoted in the rural areas on
the Leicestershire Villages website and the Borough’s Parish
Councils were encouraged to assist in the promotion of the survey
in their areas.
To ensure full accessibility of the survey to
all people in the Borough, in addition to the existing online
survey, a Plain English version was created in early December which
was made available in hard copy to Council tenants, at the
Children’s Centres, Library and by calling the Customer Service
Centre.
3. Survey Response
453 entries were made to the survey.
This figure includes the 64 hard copies of the survey returned, 14
being the Plain English version. The hard copy returns
were manually inputted into the survey software and the results are
included within the total figure.
Many comments were received relating to the
Car Parking question and the last question which requested the
public’s views ie. ‘Consultation Approach – Your Views’. Many
of these responses will help inform the budget survey for 2012/13
as well as help inform other Council initiatives and consultation
projects.
4. Budget Setting Process
The survey responses were circulated to
Councillors at several meetings including part way through the
consultation period at the Policy, Finance and Administration
Committee on 8 December 2010.
The final responses were first considered at
the Budget Away Day held on 11 January 2011. This budget
meeting was an opportunity for Councillors and Senior Officers to
consider the responses in the context of other essential factors in
preparing the Council’s budget for 2011/12.
Following this meeting where the survey
responses were considered along with other factors on budget
setting, a report was presented to the Policy, Finance and
Administration Committee on 26 January 2011 which set out proposals
for the 2011/12 budget.
The above Committee’s recommendations were
referred to the Meeting of the Council on 2 February 2011 along
with the Revenue Budget 2011/12 report. This meeting formally sets
the budget which in term feeds into the level of council tax
set.
The decisions of that Council Meeting are set
out at the bottom of the page at the same link.
5. Council Tax 2011/12
During the budget setting process, Councillors
were insistent that the residents of the Borough did not incur a
rise in Council Tax in 2011/12 as directed by the Government. It
was confirmed at the Council Meeting on 2 February 2011, that there
would be no increase in the overall level of Council Tax in
2011/12.
6. Survey Results & How we used your Views
The survey questions and percentage responses
are listed below together with a brief summary of how the Council
used that information :-
1. Postcodes
2. Value for Money
This question has been moved to end of this
document for easy comparison with the same question when asked at
the end of the survey.
3. Street Cleaning
The Council spends £353,000 per year keeping the streets
and public land free from litter and other mess. Compared with
other Councils, Melton has low levels of litter but if the service
was to be reduced standards would decrease. Would it be better to
...
· Reduce
the frequency of the
service
32.6%
· Keep
things as they
are
65.7%
Don’t
know
2.0%
Although the
public’s majority view indicated to ‘keep things as they are’,
Councillors considered that there was scope to make a service
efficiency of around £15,000 by :
- reducing the number of lesser - used
waste bins in the town centre
- replacing smaller bins with fewer,
larger, ones in residential areas
- reducing the frequency of cleansing
in villages form 4 to 3 times a year
- reducing the cleansing of school
routes to a term-time service
- eliminating town centre cleansing
from days when it is least required
4. Car Parking
Charges
The Council has different charges
for its long and short stay car parks and these are available on
the Council's website and displayed at the car parks. The income of
£500,000 is used to help pay for our services. Do you consider the
charges should ..
· Stay
the
same
46.0%
· Be
increased
18.0%
· Be
reduced – recognising this could lead to
other services being reduced
22.3%
·
Include a 24 hour/night time
charge
13.3%
· Don’t
know
1.0%
The Council agreed
with the public’s majority view and opted to ‘stay the
same’
However, many
comments were received on car parking arrangements and these views
are to be taken into consideration and fed into discussions on how
we run this service in the future
5. Christmas Lighting
The Council spends £30,000 towards Christmas Lighting
(£26,000 of this provides the infrastructure of Christmas Lighting
& decorations for the town for the 6 week period). Traders and
businesses also contribute to the lighting scheme and the Switch On
Event. The benefits are as follows :
• The Christmas Lights are the foundation for the Town
Centre Christmas Campaign which attracts increased visitors and
retail spend to the town through Christmas themed events, markets,
promotions, direct mail and other initiatives
• £4,000 is spent on providing the Switch On event. The
event attracts over 6,000 visitors and receives regional and local
media coverage. Do you consider the Council should spend
...
· The
same
39.7%
· Less
57.8%
· Don’t
know
2.5%
The Council agreed
with the public’s majority view and opted to reduce Christmas
lighting by £10,000.
6. Community Safety
The Council spends £12,000, which is part of a
partnership Community Safety Budget of £60,000, on providing
diversionary initiatives in order to prevent crime and anti-social
behaviour (ASB). Do you consider the Council should
spend ...
· The
same
67.8%
· Less
28.9%
· Don’t
know
3.3%
The Council agreed
with the public’s majority view and has mainstreamed £15,000 into the Community Safety
budget, which includes supporting initiatives to tackle Anti-Social
Behaviour.
7. Arts
The Council currently spends £20,000 on Arts initiatives
and staff; the projects are mainly focused on our priority
neighbourhoods and young people. Do you consider the
Council should spend ...
· The
same
34.4%
· Less
62.6%
· Don’t
know
3.0%
The Council agreed
with the public’s majority view and opted to make a reduction in
the staffing structure in this area.
8. Sports and Leisure
The Council spends £40,000 on Sports and Leisure, mainly
on increasing physical activity for all ages, supporting sporting
events/clubs and commissioning activities for young people. Do you
consider the Council should spend ...
· The
same
61.2%
· Less
35.8%
Don’t
know
3.0%
The Council agreed
with the public’s majority view and opted to stay ‘the
same’
9. Waterfield Leisure Pool
The Council spends £234,000 on the Waterfield Leisure
Pool in supporting the services provided at the facility and the
running costs. Do you consider the Council should spend
...
· The
same
47.3%
· Less
46.6%
· Don’t
know
6.1%
The Council agreed
with the public’s majority view and opted to stay ‘the same’ for
the time being. However, the Council is currently in the
process of tendering for a long-term management contract, with a
clear focus on efficiencies, service improvements and demonstrating
value for money.
10. Conservation
The Council provides a Conservation Service on which it
spends £59,000 per year. This achieves the following :
•Attracts external grant funding for improvements to
town centre properties and environmental enhancement (over £450,000
worth of work in last 3 years)
•Provides specialist advice for owners who wish to undertake works
to historic (listed) buildings
•Offers advice to developers and planners for schemes
affecting the historic environment
Do you consider the Council should ...
·
Provide a reduced service: Grants
Only
27.8%
·
Provide a reduced service: Advice
Only
39.4%
· Stop
providing this
service
15.7%
· Keep
things as they
are
24.7%
· Don’t
know
4.5%
The Council agreed
with the public’s majority view and opted to make a reduction in
the staffing structure in this area. The staff resource dedicated
to Conservation is to be reduced by 50% and MBC funded grants
eliminated, resulting in a saving of approximately
£30,000.
11. Food safety
The Council provides a commercial Food Safety Inspection
Service through the Environmental Health Team on which it spends
£59,000 per year, mainly in staff time. This is intended to ensure
the food we eat is properly handled, stored and prepared.
Which of the following options do you consider is acceptable for
the Council to do in order to reduce the cost of this service
...
· Stop
providing training courses for food
handlers
22.1%
·
Provide a reduced service: Stop inspecting
low risk food
premises
38.9%
·
Provide a reduced service: Reduce food
sampling
programme
22.1%
· Not a
service from which savings should be
made
43.8%
The Council agreed
with the public’s majority view that this is a service from which
savings should not be made.
12. Disposal of assets – Generating capital
Should the Council be selling properties such as unused
land and vacant buildings in the current economic climate to
generate capital for Council priorities ...
·
Yes
73.9%
·
No
20.0%
· Don’t
know
6.3%
The Council agreed
with the public’s majority view and is already committed to selling
selected Council house garages to help meet other
priorities.
13. Borough and town events
The Council spends £4,000 on supporting events in the
Town Centre eg. Food and Drink Festival, Country Fair, Melton By
the Sea and the Victorian Fayre. These events achieve
:
Increase in footfall to the town centre and
Borough
• Increase in retail spend to local
businesses
• Increase in awareness of Melton Mowbray
• Help to create a vibrant and attractive Town
Centre
Do you consider the Council should spend
...
· The
same
59.3%
· Less
35.9%
· Don’t
know
5.1%
The Council has
overall reduced the monies it spends on grants with a view to
coordinating support for events linked to our brand image of food
and drink through the Tourism Service.
14. Tourism
The Council spends £31,000 on Tourism which includes
promoting the area at national events, visitor information points,
production of guides, leaflets, signage, other promotional
materials and working with key tourism partners. This achieves
:
·
Increase in visitor numbers to the Town Centre and
Borough
·
Targeted marketing to the Group Travel Industry
·
Promotion and support of local attractions, accommodation providers
and local producers
·
Increase in awareness of Melton Mowbray
·
Development of the town as the Rural Capital of Food and
Drink
Do you consider the Council should spend
...
· The
same
45.0%
· Less
50.1%
· Don’t
know
4.8%
The Council agreed
with the public’s majority view and opted to spend less on tourism
and community grants for events have been reduced by £3,500.
Tourism will be examined in 2011/12 to consider its impact of
current arrangements.
15. Open spaces
The Council spends £373,000 maintaining open spaces
within the town by cutting grass, tending to shrubs, hedges,
looking after play areas and football pitches and ensuring that
some open spaces are 'wildlife friendly'. Which of the
following options do you consider are acceptable for the Council to
do in order to reduce the cost of this service ...
· Stay
the
same
29.6%
· Less
frequent grass cuts (will save
£10,000)
56.5%
· Reduce
other services such as shrub bed
tidying and tree work (will save
£10,000)
43.7%
· Don’t
know
2.5%
The Council agreed
with the public’s majority view and opted to save £20,000 by doing
less frequent grass cuts, reduced shrub bed tidying and tree
work.
16. Waste Management
The Council provides a weekly service for the collection
of a number of recyclable materials (cans, glass, paper, plastic
bottles) and a fortnightly service for garden waste and household
waste (in wheeled bins) at a cost of £1.8 million (this net cost is
after the deduction of income annually of £800,000 for the sale and
diversion away from landfill of recyclable materials and green
waste). The net cost of the service to each household is
approximately £65.00.
Which of the following options would you support in
order to either reduce the cost of the service or improve the
quality (which may mean extra costs) ...
· Keep
the service as it
is
60.8%
· Stop
collecting green waste (will save
£237,000)
31.9%
·
Collect all types of plastics from the roadside
(will cost an extra
£105,000)
7.3%
·
Collect food waste separately (will cost an
extra
£250,000)
1.0%
·
Collect household waste weekly (will cost and
extra
£400,000)
8.4%
The Council agreed with the public’s
majority view and opted to ‘keep the service as it is’ and the
service will be reviewed next year to establish whether recycling
services can be maintained at a lower cost by different collection
methods.
17. Green Waste
Included within the Waste Management contract above, the
Council spends £491,000 on a green waste collection service and it
receives an income from the County Council of £255,000 which is
offset against the cost. Therefore the net cost of the service to
each household is approximately £11.00. If Green Waste
was to be an optional self-funding service which customers signed
up for, how much would you be prepared to pay for this service
...
· £10
per
year
58.3%
· £20
per
year
29.2%
· £30
per
year
7.1%
· £50
per
year
5.8%
The Council is
considering this option and whether it is feasible to provide this
service at £10 per year as favoured by the survey.
18. Overall service reduction
The above questions give options of where specific
services may be reduced, however if there was a set percentage
reduction in all services. What would be your view to such an
overall approach ...
- Agree
35.5%
- Disagree
52.4%
- Don't
know
12.0%
The Council agreed
with this majority view and will not be applying an overall service
reduction.
19. Access to services
The Council is moving towards developing its website and
making more information available electronically to enable greater
accessibility for the community and this will also save the Council
money. What is your view on this Council initiative
...
- Agree
82.8%
- Disagree
10.7%
- Don't
know
6.5%
The Council agreed with this majority
view and is progressing its work on electronic delivery of
services.
2. Value for Money
To provide a full range of services
costs around £7.2 million per year. After government funding of
£3.9 million has been taken into account the council tax payer
contributes approximately £3.3 million. The average yearly council
tax for services provided by Melton Borough Council is £178.61 or
£3.43 per week, per household. 1% of council tax brings in £32,000.
For the range of services provided do you agree or disagree that
Melton Borough Council provides value for money ...
-
Agree
44.6%
- Disagree
29.9%
- Don't
know
26.4%
20. Value for money – Reconsider previous response at Start of
Survey
After completing the survey, has your view changed on
the Council giving value for money? Please could you consider this
question again below.
To provide a full range of services costs around £7.2
million per year. After government funding of £3.9 million has been
taken into account the council tax payer contributes approximately
£3.3 million. The average yearly council tax for services provided
by Melton Borough Council is £178.61 or £3.43 per week, per
household. 1% of council tax brings in £32,000.
For the range of services provided do you agree or
disagree that Melton Borough Council provides value for money
...
· Agree
53.9%
·
Disagree
31.1%
· Don't
know
15.0%
On value for money, we appreciate the
increase in perception from the public’s view at the beginning to
the end of the survey and the Council takes this as meaning that
the public value being involved in Council finances and had a
better understanding of the difficult decisions involved in
balancing the Council’s budget after completing the
questionnaire.
21. Consultation Approach – Your Views
This survey builds on the consultation exercises we have
carried out previously through the Melton Mail. As well as
this online survey, we will be consulting with our user groups,
providing copies at libraries and seeking views from a market stall
on some Saturdays. We would welcome your feedback on this
survey and our approach to help us improve it in future years
…
Many comments were
received on the actual survey and its approach. Some were
very positive in that you were pleased to be consulted on the
budget in this way, some have given us helpful feedback as to how
to improve the survey format in the future. There was some
negativity in that it was felt the Council would ask for views and
then not use that information and it is hoped that this feedback
will show that the majority view received in each case has been
actioned in accordance with the public’s
wishes.
The Council
received significant interest in the staffing arrangements at the
Council and we can advise that there has been a 2 stage restructure
of the Council’s workforce during this financial year. This
has resulted in halving the number of heads of service posts from 8
to 4 as well as a cascade to the rest of the staff making a saving
of about £219,000 in the next financial year and more in a full
year. This restructuring also incorporates reductions in the
areas of conservation and arts – this is in accordance with the
survey results.
Another area of
significant interest was the building of the new Council Offices in
relation to location and cost. The Council carefully
considered the available options before deciding on a
location. This process took into account the wider
regeneration opportunities that a different location might offer as
well as that of freeing up land for disposal which could fund other
projects such as the Waterfield Leisure Pool
refurbishment.
The new location
has many advantages being a central location that will increase
footfall to the Town Centre and ensure development of a derelict
site.
The majority of the
building and development costs (including a new improved junction)
are being funded by the Council’s insurers. The balance is
funded from partner contributions the most significant of which is
the County Council and other approved budgets. The insurance
settlement itself will total over £10 million and cannot be spent
on other projects, nor would it have been payable if the Council
had not rebuilt its offices.
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