Technical Notes 2021, Issue 106 - Your Voice Matters – budget and priorities consultation

1.Background

1.1 The Council has committed to carrying out a consultation and engagement exercise to inform the priorities and budget for 2022/23 and beyond, building on the ‘2020 Vision – Prioritising our Services, Prioritising our Resources’ consultation carried out in Summer 2019.

1.2 There are a number of strategies and commitments that form the basis of the Council’s current priorities and resource allocation, and the Covid pandemic of the past 17 months has determined more recent service delivery.  This detail will provide the context for this consultation and engagement exercise ahead of setting the 2022/23 budget.

1.3 The scope of the budget and engagement exercise is two-fold: engagement activity to raise awareness of the range of services the Council delivers, the current priorities for the organisation and the current budget and proportion of spend in key service areas; and, consultation on areas that our communities can express their views on and inform future decision making.

1.4 The ‘Your Voice Matters’ consultation and engagement exercise will be launched today and will run for 12 weeks, until 18 November.

1.5 The launch will include a media release and the issue of a video highlighting the range of service the Council funds and delivers, the level of income and expenditure and encouraging people to look out for the consultation materials and to participate. 

1.6 The consultation materials will be available from week commencing 30 August to the closing date and responses can be submitted online, by post or at any of the locations where they are available.  The findings will be analysed and reported to the Council meeting of 16 December and will inform the budget proposals for 2022/23 and beyond.

1.7 Given the continued recovery from Covid and the retention of some key measures to keep everyone safe, it will not be possible to hold face-to-face community outreach events for this engagement and consultation exercise.

1.8 All materials, both for the engagement and awareness raising, and the specific consultation questions will be available digitally on the Council website, and will be promoted extensively through social media channels.

1.9 The consultation will also be promoted through the local media and the consultation document and survey will be available in hard copy from our Community Hubs, community centres, libraries and leisure centres now that these have re-opened.

1.10 In addition, the Council’s network of Community Planning Partners, groups the Council already engages with and the voluntary sector will all be provided with a ‘talk in a box’ of resources to share with their members to encourage participation. 

1.11 Senior phase pupils through our schools will also be encouraged to participate and the consultation will be shared directly with employees through an Employee News.

1.12 Summary Timeline