Consultation Hub

Bristol City Council is responsible for the funding and management of Public Health in Bristol. The Public Health funding given to local authorities by central government has reduced by an estimated £700m in recent years. Bristol Public Health has reduced its spending by 17.5% since 2015. Bristol City Council needs to make an additional £2m in savings over the next two years because of reduced funding from central government.

This consultation set out proposals to make these savings through a combination of decommissioning and changing services. The services affected will be:

• Alcohol Brief Advice
• Children’s Weight Management Services
• Adults’ Weight Management Services
• NHS Health Checks Service
• Stop Smoking Services
• Substance Misuse Services (Shared Care)
• Sexual Health Services, including Chlamydia Screening

303 people and partners responded to the consultation.

Responses to the consultation are summarised in the Consultation Summary and Recommendations Report.

Our recommendations of changes to proposals due to the consultation response are summarised in the Consultation Summary and Recommendations Report.

This will be presented at the July Cabinet meeting.

The council is keeping libraries open while it works with Bristol redisents to find solutions for the library service so it meets the needs of each local area. We want to build a library service that everybody can enjoy.

We held 12 public meetings and met over 300 people and have published all the ideas and suggestions here. The ideas list is searchable for theme or site.

We are now working with each individual library through the Friends or Community Groups to talk through the priorities.

Bristol City Council is responsible for setting the school term and holiday dates for all Community and Voluntary Controlled (VC) schools in the city. The dates were the subject of a consultation running from 28 February 2019 to 18 April 2019.

The consultation received 25 responses. Feedback has come from various interested groups including parents, staff and governors from Bristol schools and universities. 

The feedback to the proposed dates has been generally positive and the length of the terms appears to be viewed as well balanced and evenly distributed.

Some criticisms of the proposed dates are summarised below:

• Term dates one and two are too long, particularly for young children. Learning during these terms is negatively affected by pupil absences from tiredness and bad health
• Term six ending with a three day week may result in poor school attendance 
• All school holidays should be shorter, especially for Easter and the summer
• Some councils have tested shortening the summer break, extending holiday days elsewhere
• The structure for how the school terms are organised should be reviewed and modernised due to the high costs charged by holiday companies in August
• Holiday dates should be staggered elsewhere in the country, making holidays more affordable, reducing the number of parents taking unauthorised absence
• A six week summer is too long and it is difficult and expensive for working parents who have to find childcare alternatives

School holiday dates should be co-ordinated nationwide so that children with family and friends in other parts of the UK can see one another and not be affected by school absence

The dates below for the school term and holidays for the 2020/2021 academic school year have been agreed.

Term 1: Tuesday 1 September 2020 to Friday 23 October 2020 (39 School Days)

Term 2: Monday 2 November 2020 to Friday 18 December 2020 (35 School Days)

Term 3: Monday 4 January 2021 to Friday 12 February 2021 (30 School Days)

Term 4: Monday 22 February 2021 to Thursday 1 April 2021 (29 School Days)

Term 5: Monday 19 April 2021 to Friday 28 May 2021 (29 School Days)

Term 6: Monday 7 June 2021 to Wednesday 21 July 2021 (33 School Days)

Total 195 School Days*

*In the school year 2020/21 pupils must attend for 190 days. School may decide which 5 days in the school year are INSET or non-contact days (days when pupils do not attend).

The full report for this consultation can be accessed here.