2011-2012 Budget Consultation

The Forest of Dean District Council, like all public sector organisations, has some tough decisions to make. We are expecting to have to reduce our budget by around £2.3 million if, as seems likely, our support from Central Government is cut by 25% over the next four years. We value your feedback and would like to know which services you would choose to keep, which you’d like to reduce and which you think could be stopped. Let us know your priorities and how you want to see your council tax spent. To take part please put up to 10 ticks in each of the columns to show us which services you really value (Protect), which you think need reducing (Reduce) and which you think could be cut (Stop).  The services that the law requires us to provide have been identified in light blue; we cannot stop providing these services, that is why there is no ‘Stop’ option.

Please note the cost figure includes overheads such as IT, HR and financial support.  Some services generate income, the cost column shows the cost of providing the service including income received.

Your opinions will shape our budget, so please take the opportunity to have your say. Once we have your feedback we will make proposals on how to achieve the savings we need to make. In November we will be asking for your views on those proposals. We are of course looking internally to see how we can do things differently and make savings without having to cut services - but the scope for this is reducing as we have already made big savings of £1.7 million over the last two years, mainly from cutting management and running costs. Thank you in advance for your feedback. Councillor Brian Robinson Efficient Council Portfolio holder September 2010

Communities
	COST £	Protect		Reduce		Stop
CCTV / Town Centre Safety Installation and running costs	£44,860
Crime and Disorder Community safety partnership	£99,740
Street Wardens Dealing with the removal of untaxed vehicles, fly-tipping, litter, graffiti and providing a dog warden service	£199,570
Leisure Centres Five centres across the district with pools, gyms and other sport facilities	£780,890
Other Sports, Play and Healthy Lifestyle School holiday activities, sports development and healthy lifestyle initiatives	£30,070
Licensing Issue and administration of licenses for taxis, street trading, entertainment	Zero (income covers costs)
Food Safety Inspection and assurance that food outlets comply with food safety standards for the protection of customers	Zero (income covers costs)
Environmental Health and Health & Safety Pollution control, pest control, air quality,  water sampling, contaminated land, animal welfare inspection and  compliance with the Health and Safety Authority for protection of employees	£420,550
Housing Standards and Grants Housing grants and support in providing decent housing	£370,610
Housing Allocations and Homelessness Prevention work, temporary provision and housing allocation	£158,850
Affordable Housing Helping to provide affordable housing	£117,310
Community Alarms Forest Linkline service providing alarms for the elderly and vulnerable	£115,790
Community Development Small community grants, grants to festivals, youth groups, art events and community development work	£136,560
Voluntary Sector Support Grants to groups paid under a funding / service agreement	£171,860

Environment
	COST £	Protect		Reduce		Stop
Garden Collections Household collection of garden waste	£629,880
Refuse Collection Household refuse collection	£1,192,600
Recycling, Collection Schemes and Recycling Banks Household collection of recyclable items and provision of facilities including banks for disposal of recyclable items	£874,410
Cleaning and Maintaining our Local Environment Street cleaning	£454,780
Public Conveniences Cleaning and maintenance of public conveniences	£110,120
Cemeteries Provision of service	£50,460
Planning Strategic planning, development control and site development	£848,090
Building Control Deal with building regulation and associated applications and enforcement	£101,710
Land Charges Property searches service	£1,000
Civil Emergency Planning Planning for local civil emergencies	£74,600
Concessionary Travel Concessionary travel tokens for elderly and disabled people who choose not to take up bus passes	£329,620
Free Parking In car parks owned by the District Council	£78,570

Democracy
	COST £	Protect		Reduce		Stop
Members Allowances Paid to the 48 District Councillors for carrying out elected duties	£406,260
Democratic Process Council committee meetings - Council, cabinet, overview & scrutiny meetings	£650,980
District Elections and Electoral Registration Local elections, producing and maintaining electoral roll annually	£162,540
Civic Expenditure This figure is the overall cost including support. Actual cost of civic duties, civic service, reception and freedom events is £7,000	£26,100

Economy
		Protect		Reduce		Stop
Business, Economic and Sustainable Development Helping small businesses, local economy and town centre improvements	£590,660
Tourism Marketing Promoting tourism in the Forest of Dean and supporting tourist businesses	£264,230

Corporate Costs
		Protect		Reduce		Stop
Cost of collecting Business Rates, Council Tax and payment of Housing and Council Tax Benefits	£615,530
Corporate Management	£978,130
Other Corporate Running Costs	£319,850

Monitoring questions The following questions are optional but will help us to ensure we are taking into account the needs of all residents. The information you provide will be treated anonymously.

Please enter your post code here:

Age
Under 25		25 - 44		45 - 59		60 - 74		75 and over

Gender
Male		Female

Ethnicity
White (British)		Asian (Pakistani)		Black (other)
Mixed heritage (White & Caribbean)		White (Other)		Chinese
Asian (Indian)		Mixed heritage (White & Asian)		Black (African)
White (Irish)		Asian (Bangladeshi)		Prefer not to say
Mixed heritage (White & Black African)		Black (Caribbean)		Other (please specify)     __________________

Do you consider yourself to have a disability?
Yes		No		Prefer not to say

Thank you for taking the time to complete the survey