Parking charges can go up but no cuts to arts grants, say public
Wednesday, 26th October 2011.
The public are happy to pay more for car parking in Haverhill, but will not accept cuts to voluntary, arts or community sector grants.
These are the results of the recent survey carried out by St Edmundsbury Borough Council in the run-up to its budget-setting process for the next year.
More than 900 people of all ages took the time send in their views on a range of possible cost-cutting or income-generating budget proposals put forward as suggestions by the council.
Council leader Cllr John Griffiths said:
“We will have £3.5 million less to spend on services over the next two years so we need to make some really challenging decisions.
"We wanted to find out what people felt about some possible ways forward, and I would like to thank all of you who put a lot of thought and effort into taking part in our consultation, either through the questionnaire or through attending one of the focus groups.
"Your views have already made a difference to our budget proposals and we will continue to listen and respond throughout the coming months as we put together a budget that protects frontline services while freezing council tax.”
In summary, the consultation showed that the public supported:
• CCTV monitoring;
• increased parking charges in Haverhill;
• parking charges for Nowton Park;
• parking charges for blue badge holders (consultation with disability groups; will be reported to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee);
• sharing services;
• more web-based services;
• transferring ownership of community centres to local communities;
• keeping the current park ranger service;
• continuing to run a Tourist Information Centre (TIC);
• closing the TIC for one day a week;
• moving the TIC to Moyse’s Hall;
• reducing Moyse’s Hall opening hours.
The public did not support:
• 20 per cent cut over four years in voluntary arts and community grants;
• charging for extra help to make applications;
• cutting community-based work, such as safety advice for children, community events and attending residents’ associations;
• reduced levels of planting, floral displays, tree replacement and grass cutting.
And there were mixed views on:
• increasing car park charges in Bury St Edmunds (50/50 split);
• charging for Abbey Gardens toilets (46 per cent yes, 52 per cent no).
A report to the performance and audit scrutiny committee (which makes recommendations to the cabinet) says that as a result of the consultation there are some budget areas that should be rejected.
These include:
• cuts to voluntary, arts and community sector grants. Instead, the suggestion is to freeze the existing grant pot and looking at each case individually;
• community work reduction – but review the service to see if there are any areas where savings can be made;
• cut floral displays, tree replacement and so on – look for more sponsorship instead;
• major reduction of park ranger service – although there should be some savings, and a greater emphasis on generating income;
• close the Tourist Information Centre – but definitely look at the benefits of moving it to Moyse’s Hall.
Councillors and staff will now work on the other suggestions to identify exactly how much can be saved, or income increased.
This work will continue over the next month and a further report, outlining all our proposals for the 2012/13 budget, will be considered by the performance and audit scrutiny committee on November 28. St Edmundsbury’s full council will take the final decision – setting the level of council tax – in February 2012.
The full results of the consultation are available on www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk/consultation and the report to the performance and audit scrutiny committee is available on: http://www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk/sebc/live/documents/reports/C196%20-%20Delivering%20a%20Sustainable%20Budget%202012-2013.pdf
These are the results of the recent survey carried out by St Edmundsbury Borough Council in the run-up to its budget-setting process for the next year.
More than 900 people of all ages took the time send in their views on a range of possible cost-cutting or income-generating budget proposals put forward as suggestions by the council.
Council leader Cllr John Griffiths said:
“We will have £3.5 million less to spend on services over the next two years so we need to make some really challenging decisions.
"We wanted to find out what people felt about some possible ways forward, and I would like to thank all of you who put a lot of thought and effort into taking part in our consultation, either through the questionnaire or through attending one of the focus groups.
"Your views have already made a difference to our budget proposals and we will continue to listen and respond throughout the coming months as we put together a budget that protects frontline services while freezing council tax.”
In summary, the consultation showed that the public supported:
• CCTV monitoring;
• increased parking charges in Haverhill;
• parking charges for Nowton Park;
• parking charges for blue badge holders (consultation with disability groups; will be reported to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee);
• sharing services;
• more web-based services;
• transferring ownership of community centres to local communities;
• keeping the current park ranger service;
• continuing to run a Tourist Information Centre (TIC);
• closing the TIC for one day a week;
• moving the TIC to Moyse’s Hall;
• reducing Moyse’s Hall opening hours.
The public did not support:
• 20 per cent cut over four years in voluntary arts and community grants;
• charging for extra help to make applications;
• cutting community-based work, such as safety advice for children, community events and attending residents’ associations;
• reduced levels of planting, floral displays, tree replacement and grass cutting.
And there were mixed views on:
• increasing car park charges in Bury St Edmunds (50/50 split);
• charging for Abbey Gardens toilets (46 per cent yes, 52 per cent no).
A report to the performance and audit scrutiny committee (which makes recommendations to the cabinet) says that as a result of the consultation there are some budget areas that should be rejected.
These include:
• cuts to voluntary, arts and community sector grants. Instead, the suggestion is to freeze the existing grant pot and looking at each case individually;
• community work reduction – but review the service to see if there are any areas where savings can be made;
• cut floral displays, tree replacement and so on – look for more sponsorship instead;
• major reduction of park ranger service – although there should be some savings, and a greater emphasis on generating income;
• close the Tourist Information Centre – but definitely look at the benefits of moving it to Moyse’s Hall.
Councillors and staff will now work on the other suggestions to identify exactly how much can be saved, or income increased.
This work will continue over the next month and a further report, outlining all our proposals for the 2012/13 budget, will be considered by the performance and audit scrutiny committee on November 28. St Edmundsbury’s full council will take the final decision – setting the level of council tax – in February 2012.
The full results of the consultation are available on www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk/consultation and the report to the performance and audit scrutiny committee is available on: http://www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk/sebc/live/documents/reports/C196%20-%20Delivering%20a%20Sustainable%20Budget%202012-2013.pdf
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