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Stroud District Council Budget Consultation 2010

Stroud District Council Budget Consultation 2010. Summary of Findings November 2010. Background. Stroud District Council again commissioned research primarily designed to inform the authority’s decisions on Council Tax and budget priority setting for the forthcoming year

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Stroud District Council Budget Consultation 2010

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  1. Stroud District CouncilBudget Consultation 2010 Summary of Findings November 2010

  2. Background • Stroud District Council again commissioned research primarily designed to inform the authority’s decisions on Council Tax and budget priority setting for the forthcoming year • this year, with residents and businesses • The research was carried out by means of a telephone survey • with a random selection of 300 residents • and with a random selection of 200 local businesses • The telephone interview contained questions about • perceived performance of the Council and its services • policy priorities • budget priorities } • Council Tax options } only with residents • recycling • environmental health } only with businesses

  3. RESIDENT SURVEY

  4. Perceived performance

  5. General attitudes 1 • The majority of residents continue to feel satisfied with the way SDC runs things and believe that the Council is business-like and efficient

  6. General attitudes 2 • Although not universal, there have been some very slight improvements this year

  7. Mandatory services 1 • All mandatory services are perceived to perform reasonably well …

  8. Mandatory services 2 • … with improvements in seven of these 12 services

  9. Discretionary services 1 • The top-performing discretionary services perform really well …

  10. Discretionary services 2 • … and there are some real signs of improvement in some areas

  11. Discretionary services 3 • Those services at the bottom of the scale are not well-perceived at all …

  12. Discretionary services 4 • … although there are some improved perceptions here too

  13. Budget priorities

  14. Spending cuts – mandatory services 1 • Despite the publicity about the Government’s finances, there is no great appetite to see cuts amongst most mandatory services …

  15. Spending cuts – mandatory services 2 • … although the degree of acceptance of cuts is far higher than it was last year

  16. Spending cuts – discretionary services 1 • Amongst discretionary services, very few people want any of the services to cease …

  17. Spending cuts – discretionary services 2 • … and the appetite to accept spending cuts is quite low too …

  18. Spending cuts – discretionary services 3 • … although it is far higher than in 2009

  19. Other value-for-money areas • Where do they believe the Council can deliver improvements with less money? • examples included greater efficiencies internally and generating greater use of facilities • but a lot of people just wanted more spending (in their favourite area) With regards to the Dursley Swimming Pool, I think the Council has at its disposal an excellent facility, but they do not use it as much as they could. They could offer lessons in there, for which they could charge and get the money The council can get rid of departments within the council that are not needed, as this wastes money which is already limited within the council. If the council don't have any money then they should keep all the money that they have got instead of spending it on improvements Recycling - cardboard doesn't get collected and it means people have to travel to get rid of it. This is the same with garden waste. Lots of people can't manage this, so it should be recycled at the door.

  20. Council Tax and Corporate priorities

  21. I believe there should be a reduction in council tax. I took a 20% pay cut two years ago and since then council tax has not got any less Council Tax options • Given the findings that relate to services, it’s not surprising to see a majority in favour of a small increase in Council Tax Last year, 11% wanted a freeze in CT A large increase in council tax, I would prefer to pay more for services in order to keep them going

  22. CDP 2010-14 • Of the four CDP priorities, providing value for money is the most important by far 70% in 2009

  23. Other priorities For the town to attract people to visit there should be adequate car parking, which there is not at this moment in time They should really focus on road maintenance and mending • When asked what other priorities the Council should be focusing on, the answers were varied and often unhelpful More promotion of the use of solar panels I think the Council should make sure that the canal is finished and well maintained, and also try and promote the image of the town in connection with it In the case of single young people that are trying to settle down and rent a small property, maybe a flat or a bedsit, I think the Council could try and help them with the Council Tax. I do not think it is fair to expect them to pay the full of amount The rubbish collection isn't very good at all. Plus her streetlights go on and off during the course of the night Yes the council should stop wasting money as they have recently spent a lot of money on changing the refuse collection service so that it was more cost efficient. This did not happen in the end and it ended up costing more money to change the service back

  24. Recycling

  25. Recycling 1 • The clear majority of residents believe that they recycle everything they can

  26. Recycling 2 • If the Council were to extend its recycling service, the priorities are seen to be plastic (trays, tubs, yoghurt pots) and card – only food isn’t a priority for the majority

  27. Help to recycle more Provide a collection for cardboard and food waste • Ideas put forward included • bigger recycling bins • more doorstep collections (reduces their carbon footprint) • more, and better, information The Council should give directives to local supermarkets and not allow them to sell things packed in plastic, but in cardboard or paper. The issue should be tackled from the producers. The council should provide a more detailed list of what can and cannot be recycled as at the moment it is very vague. Yes, they should take the garden waste and use it for compost, not just for landfill. I used to put the garden waste in the green bag near the landfill waste, but I stopped doing that after I've seen that they put everything together. More to collected at the door instead of having to take stuff like cardboard into Stroud. Also they don't recycle the plastic trays that tomatoes come in.

  28. BUSINESS SURVEY

  29. Perceived performance

  30. General attitudes 1 • As in previous years, businesses are not very positive about SDC across the range of measures …

  31. General attitudes 2 • … but whilst there have been some very slight improvements since 2008 …

  32. General attitudes 3 • … it remains the case that businesses are far less positive about the Council than residents

  33. Mandatory services 1 • All mandatory services are perceived to perform reasonably well …

  34. Mandatory services 2 • … with some major perceived improvements in services since 2008 Note, excludes those who “don’t know”

  35. Discretionary services 1 • The top-performing discretionary services perform really well too …

  36. Discretionary services 2 • But those services at the bottom of the scale are not well-perceived at all

  37. Discretionary services 2 • But there are some real signs of improvement since 2008

  38. Corporate priorities

  39. CDP 2010-14 1 • Of the four CDP priorities, recessionary recovery is the most important by far … 66% in 2009

  40. CDP 2010-14 2 • … very much more so amongst businesses than amongst residents

  41. Economic recovery They could provide more information about what they do and what services they offer and how they might help us • The Council could help by • examining (reducing) business rates • information and advice • internal cost reduction • buying local, etc By keeping all their costs as low as possible. There should be strict controls for the amount of money that they spend on their staff. They should not be over-staffed just as we cannot be in industry. And I mean that right from the top to the bottom. I don't know if they can; Council staff and their offices have no idea what running a business is about, they don't look at medium sized businesses, they only have an awareness of small shops etc., they have no idea about industry. By keeping business rates to a minimum and not putting red tape in the way of businesses I know they linked up with Business Link a few years ago as a service and it provided valuable advice and consultation which was really helpful for me as a business. If I hadn't had got that advice I think I'd have probably gone bankrupt in this recession Look at the supply chain and make sure they're using local companies where possible

  42. Other findings

  43. Environmental health • One quarter of businesses (26%) have had some form of contact with SDC’s environmental health service • of these, almost everyone was treated fairly and found the staff helpful

  44. Waste & recycling 1 • There appear to be fewer businesses this year who are aware of their responsibilities and of local companies that recycle …

  45. Waste & recycling 2 • … but the number of businesses that do recycle their waste has increased … Not statistically significant

  46. Waste & recycling 3 • … and there is also greater recycling activity amongst all categories of waste Metal (10%), oil (5%) batteries (4%), Print cartridges (3%), wood (3%), etc

  47. www.researchbox.co.uk

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