Council launches 'Listening Plymouth' local services survey

People in Plymouth are being urged to tell the City Council which local services they value most before decisions are made on how to deal with funding cuts imposed by the Government.

The Council is launching a ‘Listening Plymouth’ survey to seek residents’ views before it has to make tough decisions about services in order to set its budget for the next year.

The Council is facing unprecedented pressures in trying to fund local services as the Government’s funding cuts bite even deeper and demand for some services rises.

It is now estimated that within three years the Council will be a funding shortfall of £65 million out of a revenue budget of just over £200 million.

The Council provides more than 300 services for Plymouth residents, including rubbish collection, road maintenance, street cleaning, libraries and care for vulnerable adults and children.

Plymouth residents can give their views on what services they want to see prioritised by taking part in a simple online survey that takes a few minutes to complete.

The survey is part of the Cabinet’s commitment to give the people of Plymouth a say about how funds should be allocated in light of Government cuts.

It also seeks residents’ views about how they would like to get involved in decisions about local services and their communities, which is a key commitment of the co-operative council.

Councillor Mark Lowry, Cabinet Member for Finance, has recorded a short video to accompany the survey to help people understand the challenges the Council faces in setting a budget.

Councillor Lowry said: “As a Co-operative Council we are committed to reflecting the views of local people as we make important decisions about how to tackle the huge problems caused by the Government cuts and the increasing demand for services such as care for vulnerable adults.

“We have already had to save more than £17 million to set a budget for this financial year and the forecasts show the position is going to get even more difficult. We are determined to protect the services that protect the most vulnerable people in our community and those that our residents value most.

“Everyone in the city uses council services, whether it is roads, libraries, schools, leisure facilities, events or social care and I would encourage people to give their views about what is important them by taking part in the survey.”

The survey can be found at www.plymouth.gov.uk. Anyone without access to the internet can request a hard copy by calling 668000.

The survey will be available until 6 December 2013.