My city, my say

Before we started to set our budget proposals, we asked what was important to you. We have listened to what you said and the results of this exercise have directly shaped our budget proposals for 2014/15. The full results will be available on stoke.gov.uk/budget 2014 from mid-December but the top answers are listed below.

We asked “Which services or activities do you think should be protected?” You said:

Crime reduction We will continue to invest £2.6m in Community Safety Services and work in partnership with the Staffordshire Police & Crime Commissioner.

Residents with disabilities We help over 8,000 people to lead independent and fulfilling lives by providing invaluable support services that enable people to live in their own homes.

Health facilities From April 2013, we have been responsible for the delivery of Public Health services across the city. We also work closely with our local health partners to ensure that we deliver high quality care and support services.

Children’s facilities We provide a wide range of services for over 54,000 children in the city. This includes the support of young families through our network of Children’s Centres, Youth Services, Sports and Leisure facilities and a variety of activities delivered in our libraries, museums and parks.

Protecting children The protection of the city’s children is a high priority and we will invest over £29m in safeguarding and looking after our children in care.

Q.1.	Do you agree with these priorities?
	Yes		No

Are there any other services you think should be protected?

We asked “Thinking about the city as a whole, which are things you would like to see improved?” You said:

Crime and anti-social behaviour We are investing a further £325,000 in initiatives to reduce fly tipping and tackle noise and anti-social behaviour.

Bringing in new businesses and jobs The ‘Make it’ Inward Investment Service engages with over 1,000 businesses per year, offering advice and guidance and supporting 200 start-ups. In the first six months of 2013 we helped create 992 jobs in the city and look to continue to improve on this throughout 2014.

Effective city council The annual audit letter recognises that the council is prioritising its resources within tighter budgets. We are looking at better ways of doing things - working with others to reduce our costs. Our Spot the Cheater campaign has already identified over £1m worth of fraud.

Road and pavement repairs We are investing a further £600,000 to address the problem of potholes. Over 5,000 repairs have already been carried out and we will operate a ‘find and fix’ method of repair in the future.

Cleaner streets We are investing £150,000 to help keep our streets clean, taking action against those who break the law by fly-tipping and dropping litter.

Q.2.	Do you agree with where improvements should be made?
	Yes		No

Are there any other services you think we should be investing in?

Due to continued service pressures and funding reductions imposed by central government, the city council must find another £20m of savings from its budget in 2014. To continue to provide and improve upon the services mentioned we propose to make the following changes:

Increase car parking charges by 3.8% Scale back highways grass cutting Reduce the city’s mobile library service Some support services for homeless people will be impacted

However:

Council tax will be frozen for another year Recycling services and children in care services will be reorganised to help save money There will be a review of all council administrative buildings to reduce the number of properties from which the council operates

Q.3.	What do you think of these proposals?
	Support		Really support		Don't support		Really don't support		Neutral

If we do not make £20m of savings this year, it would be the equivalent of a 29% increase in council tax (£231.40 for a band A property).

Q.4.	Would you rather we increased council tax to cover these savings?
	Yes		No

Do you have any suggestions to help us save money?

Thank you taking part in this survey, we would also like to hear your views on our budget proposals.

Have your say by emailing us at budget2014@stoke.gov.uk or find out more at stoke.gov.uk/budget2014

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Disclaimer of Liability Neither the Council nor any of its employees shall be held liable for any improper or incorrect use of the information described and assumes no responsibility for anyone's use of the information. In no event shall the Council or its employees be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential damages however caused. This disclaimer of liability applies to the maximum extent permitted by law and excludes liability for any loss, damages or costs arising out of in connection with the provision of information in connection with the survey.