East Dunbartonshire Council is calling
for residents and young people to share their views on the
future of public services to help develop local priorities and
shape the Council’s budget for 2012-13 and
beyond.
Following last year's successful budget consultation
through the Council's Stakeholder Engagement Programme, the Council
is this year focusing on working together with Community Planning
Partners to use resources more effectively. Led by the Council,
with a range of partners contributing, a series of themed working
groups have now taken place and the Council has also carried out a
number of employee engagement events.
To test the outcomes of these sessions across the wider community,
a householder survey is now being distributed to 10,000 households
across the area and the Council is encouraging everyone to have a
say. Copies of the survey will also be available from Friday
in hard copy format in a number of Council and public buildings.
The
householder survey can also be accessed online
by selecting the link here. A
young people’s
survey has also been developed and can be accessed online
here.
Council Leader Rhondda Geekie said, "This year our Stakeholder
Engagement Programme aims to reach a wider audience than before and
we hope that by making the survey available in a range of formats,
we'll get views from a good cross section of local people and
groups. Everyone is welcome to share their views and the more we
know about what's important to local people, the more we can shape
our priorities in line with local needs. This year, we're really
focusing on how we can work more closely with partners to deliver
services in a more joined up and efficient way. Looking at
delivering services in a different way will help us to protect
front line services as far as possible."
Representatives from a wide range of organisations and from the
Citizen’s Panel attended themed Working Groups throughout September
discussing areas such as education, community care, accessing
Council services as well as a range of other service-based topics.
Participants at the themed workshops were provided with information
on the levels of service currently delivered by the Council and
what this costs, along with a series of savings options for
consideration.
You can access more information from the themed workshops by
selecting the link here.
Councillor Geekie continued, “The priorities identified in the
themed working groups have formed the basis of the budget
questionnaire and this will help us to gauge the wider community’s
views. Each element of our comprehensive Stakeholder Engagement
Programme will help us to shape the Council’s budget and identify
where the estimated £6.5 million savings required for 2012-13 could
be found. So if there’s something you feel passionately about, make
sure you to let us know.”
The consultation will now be open until 21 November
2011.
Date: Monday 17 October 2011