East Renfrewshire Council – Budget 2015-18

Q&A

This information has been prepared to provide further information on the process for East Renfrewshire Councils 2015-18 Budget consultation. These are the questions which we think might be asked most frequently.

  1. What was the purpose of the survey?

Questions for the survey were designedto find out the views of residents of staff and corresponded to each section of the budget pack.
The budget pack made clear that there was limited scope to change the savings proposals however the process was aimed at informing people about the proposals and the survey questions were aimed at finding out whether residents and staff had any alternative ideas to the proposed savings, or ways to reduce the impact of proposals.
  1. What methods were used for the process?

The process was agreed by Budget Strategy Group in March 2014.Residents and staff were informed about the budget savings proposals and process through a range of methods including ER magazine to all households, websites, social media, press and Citizen Space.
There were three main ways to comment:
  • Citizen Space survey for residents and staff;
  • Paper copies of the survey available through libraries for both residents and staff;
  • Budget Event at St Ninian’s High School which was open to invited service users.
We also received many additional phone calls, letters and emails and all comments were reflected in the feedback, however they were submitted.
  1. How many responses have been received across the range of methods?

The budget process has generated significant amount of activity within communities.
The budget process generated a high level of activity within communities. More than 750 people were involved across all three channels. There was also a significant amount of participation through social media with over 400 tweets and thousands of people reached through facebook.
All of the results, from all channelsare being included in analysis and are reflected in this presentation of findings.
  1. What are the next steps to this process?

The Budget Strategy Group met on 18 December to hear the initial feedback from the community and this will help make the final decisions in January 2015.
A full Council meeting will meet to formally agree on these savings on 12 February 2015.
A full feedback report will be made available towards the end of February.