Andreas Rex
Banned for smiling
Thought this may be of interest to those who won't have received it:
Welcome to the first People’s Panel Newsletter - and thank you to all those who completed the first questionnaire.
The response was tremendous.
In total we had 700 responses and your views are now being used to help the Council set its budget priorities for next year. Your feedback has indicated that Cleaner, Greener, Safer Communities should be our top priority. This was followed by Prosperity for All and Health and Wellbeing.
In this first Newsletter I just wanted to give you some of the headlines from your feedback - and a brief look at some of the ways we are addressing the issues. Joint top of the pile was using our powers to ‘reduce litter’ along with ‘identifying priority areas’ for tackling crime. Last year we started a high profile campaign to clamp down on litter-louts which had excellent overage in the local media. It may surprise you to learn that around 50 fixed penalty notices for littering offences have been issued and we have a Crown Court case involving flytipping in the pipeline. www.staffordbc.gov.uk/litter.
The Council is part of the ‘Stafford Borough Community Safety Partnership’ along with the police and other agencies. Together we have just opened a ‘Safer Stafford Shop’ in the Guildhall Shopping Centre - the first of its kind in the region. A similar pilot scheme last year reduced crime in the Town Centre by around 30%. www.saferstafford.org.uk.
‘Reducing the amount of waste we send to landfill’ and ‘increasing household recycling’ was another of your big concerns. Thanks to residents across this Borough, and the introduction of a new waste collection service, we have already increased recycling rates to between 50 - 55%. This is an amazing figure - and a huge jump from less than 30% previously - which has catapulted us to the top set of councils in the country for recycling.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Here is a brief look at some of the other things we are doing to tackle concerns you have raised.
Laws to curb disturbances relating to alcohol
In June the Council introduced a ‘designation order’ to ban alcohol in Wildwood Park.
Increase use of leisure facilities to beat childhood obesity
During school holidays children are able to swim for free in the new Stafford Leisure Centre www.staffordleisurecentre.co.uk
and also at Alleyne’s Sports Centre in Stone. www.staffordbc.gov.uk/leisure
Attract new businesses
The council has worked with developers to bring half a billion pounds of investment to Stafford through promoting the borough on a regional and national scale. www.staffordbc.gov.uk/staffordrenewed
Reduce number of houses in fuel poverty
In the last 12 months the Council has assisted 650 households to access grants for insulation and heating measures to combat fuel poverty.
Bringing empty homes back into use
Grants are available to improve long term empty properties to bring them back in to use. www.staffordbc.gov.uk/housing.
Helping residents claim benefit which they are entitled to
We are currently looking at running a ‘take-up’ campaign which will be targeting elderly and vulnerable groups to help them claim money they are entitled to. Last year this amounted to £900,000.
All the survey results will be shared with the Council’s Resources Scrutiny Committee on November 11. They will be used in guiding the budget process and help refresh the Council’s priorities. Resources Scrutiny is a public meeting so please feel free to attend. Further details can be found at www.staffordbc.gov.uk/committees.
If you would like a copy of statistics from the first survey or need any further information about the peoples panel please contact Norman Jones.
EMAIL npjones@staffordbc.gov.uk
TEL 01785 619 199
WEB www.staffordbc.gov.uk/peoplespanel
Thank you again for the tremendous response - a second survey will be sent out to you in February 2009.
Welcome to the first People’s Panel Newsletter - and thank you to all those who completed the first questionnaire.
The response was tremendous.
In total we had 700 responses and your views are now being used to help the Council set its budget priorities for next year. Your feedback has indicated that Cleaner, Greener, Safer Communities should be our top priority. This was followed by Prosperity for All and Health and Wellbeing.
In this first Newsletter I just wanted to give you some of the headlines from your feedback - and a brief look at some of the ways we are addressing the issues. Joint top of the pile was using our powers to ‘reduce litter’ along with ‘identifying priority areas’ for tackling crime. Last year we started a high profile campaign to clamp down on litter-louts which had excellent overage in the local media. It may surprise you to learn that around 50 fixed penalty notices for littering offences have been issued and we have a Crown Court case involving flytipping in the pipeline. www.staffordbc.gov.uk/litter.
The Council is part of the ‘Stafford Borough Community Safety Partnership’ along with the police and other agencies. Together we have just opened a ‘Safer Stafford Shop’ in the Guildhall Shopping Centre - the first of its kind in the region. A similar pilot scheme last year reduced crime in the Town Centre by around 30%. www.saferstafford.org.uk.
‘Reducing the amount of waste we send to landfill’ and ‘increasing household recycling’ was another of your big concerns. Thanks to residents across this Borough, and the introduction of a new waste collection service, we have already increased recycling rates to between 50 - 55%. This is an amazing figure - and a huge jump from less than 30% previously - which has catapulted us to the top set of councils in the country for recycling.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Here is a brief look at some of the other things we are doing to tackle concerns you have raised.
Laws to curb disturbances relating to alcohol
In June the Council introduced a ‘designation order’ to ban alcohol in Wildwood Park.
Increase use of leisure facilities to beat childhood obesity
During school holidays children are able to swim for free in the new Stafford Leisure Centre www.staffordleisurecentre.co.uk
and also at Alleyne’s Sports Centre in Stone. www.staffordbc.gov.uk/leisure
Attract new businesses
The council has worked with developers to bring half a billion pounds of investment to Stafford through promoting the borough on a regional and national scale. www.staffordbc.gov.uk/staffordrenewed
Reduce number of houses in fuel poverty
In the last 12 months the Council has assisted 650 households to access grants for insulation and heating measures to combat fuel poverty.
Bringing empty homes back into use
Grants are available to improve long term empty properties to bring them back in to use. www.staffordbc.gov.uk/housing.
Helping residents claim benefit which they are entitled to
We are currently looking at running a ‘take-up’ campaign which will be targeting elderly and vulnerable groups to help them claim money they are entitled to. Last year this amounted to £900,000.
All the survey results will be shared with the Council’s Resources Scrutiny Committee on November 11. They will be used in guiding the budget process and help refresh the Council’s priorities. Resources Scrutiny is a public meeting so please feel free to attend. Further details can be found at www.staffordbc.gov.uk/committees.
If you would like a copy of statistics from the first survey or need any further information about the peoples panel please contact Norman Jones.
EMAIL npjones@staffordbc.gov.uk
TEL 01785 619 199
WEB www.staffordbc.gov.uk/peoplespanel
Thank you again for the tremendous response - a second survey will be sent out to you in February 2009.