Consultation feedback

We asked

The ‘Your Neighbourhood 2017’ consultation was open for 12 weeks from 13 June 2017 until 5 September 2017. We asked you for your views on five savings proposals that would impact on neighbourhoods and local services. These were:

1. Bristol Community Links
2. Libraries
3. Public toilets
4. School crossing patrols
5. Withdrawal of funding for Neighbourhood Partnerships

The proposals on which we consulted are described in the Information Booklet.

The Equalities Impact Assessments describe the anticipated effects of the consultation proposals on people with protected characteristics. This the version of the EQIAs that were available during the consultation.

You said

We received nearly 3,750 responses to the consultation survey, the results of which are available in the Your Neighbourhood 2017 consultation report.

The consultation report also describes the feedback received at eight public events and in letters and emails.

We did

The consultation feedback was taken into consideration in developing a set of final recommendations for how to deliver each of the affected services. The recommendations for Bristol Community Links, Toilets, School Crossing Patrols and Neighbourhood Partnerships were put to the Mayor and Cabinet on 4 December 2017 to make a final decision. The Cabinet decisions are listed below. The proposals and the Cabinet decisions are available in full in the Cabinet agenda papers.

Bristol Community Links

Cabinet decided the following for Bristol Community Links:

• Agreed to Transfer the provision of transport to and from the Links Centres to BCC Passenger Services from 1st April 2018.
• Removed automatic entitlement to transport provision, on a case by case basis. Undertake the relevant Management of Change processes to achieve efficiencies from the staffing budget, while maintaining service delivery for vulnerable adults.
• Delegated Authority to Service Director - Transport, to implement the transfer in consultation with the Cabinet Portfolio holder

Libraries

The libraries proposal was not taken to Cabinet on 4 December 2017.

Public Toilets

Cabinet decided the following for Public Toilets:

• Agreed to close 18 public toilets
• Approved the proposals for a Business/Community Toilet Scheme

School Crossing Patrols

Cabinet decided the following for School Crossing Patrols:

• Agreed removal of funding 15 of 16 sites with an existing light controlled or zebra crossing
• Agreed removal of funding on those sites that fail to reach national (RoSPA) assessment criteria and have additionally been assessed to be of lower need of a SCP
• Agreed to progress specialist assessment of the potential for introduction of physical road safety measures at sites where funding is to be removed and a consideration of applying future capital funds from the Transport Capital Programme.
• Agreed to stop funding the service on proposed sites to coincide with term times rather than the earliest opportunity
• Agreed the proposal as to alternative service delivery and how to manage new requests for a School Crossing Patrol
• Delegated the authority to undertake the above recommendations to the Service Director (Transport) in consultation with the Cabinet Portfolio holder

Withdrawal of funding for Neighbourhood Partnerships

Cabinet decided the following for Withdrawal of funding for Neighbourhood Partnerships:

• Approved arrangements to support community action and continue to ensure local people can influence decisions through their local ward councillors.
• Delegated responsibility for the expenditure of £271k (formally ‘wellbeing fund’ expended by the Neighbourhood Committees/Partnerships) to the Service Director of Neighbourhoods& Communities
• Supported the proposal to go to Full Council to establish 6 Area CIL/s106 Committees.
• Noted the proposals to disband the existing Neighbourhood Committees/Partnerships.
• In principle agreed to the delegation of the expenditure of CIL local monies and non-earmarked s.106 monies to the 6 Area CIL/s106 committees with the Mayor’s scheme of delegation to be updated once the committees have been set up. The final decision to be taken by Full Council at its meeting on 20 February 2018.