Consultation Hub

By April 2019 the council has a target to reduce what it spends each year on parks by at least £2.868 million.  This means services will need to be run in a very different way; we will need to work more with communities, make more money, create more partnerships, make services as efficient as possible and reduce some of the things we do now.  As we move forward we want to be positive and ambitious for our parks whilst being clear that we have to work differently to maintain a much valued level of service citywide.

In order to make the savings, we have taken the approach of trying to earn as much money as possible so we can keep service reductions to a minimum.  The alternative would be to make the savings by reducing the service and removing facilities which cost the council a considerable amount of money to keep and maintain.

Between 6 November 2017 and 29 January 2018, we consulted on proposals for:

• generating more income from parks;
• reducing some existing service provision to reduce costs;
• increasing the number of pay and display parking spaces in parks, and increasing the parking charges on sites that already have pay and display parking; and
• proposals for the Parks Service to be delivered by a Trust or similar organisation rather than the City Council Council.

In addition to the Parks & Green Spaces survey, we hosted drop in sessions in Netham, Knowle West, Henbury and Brentry and City Hall with parks officers available to discuss the content of the consultation with members of the public.

This consultation has closed.

The proposals on which we consulted are described in the full survey document.

The consultation document translated into British Sign Language is available here: BSL Parks and Green Spaces Consultation

We received 2670 responses to the survey.

A consultation report which summarises this feedback is being prepared and will be published on this website later in the Spring

We will update this section when decisions have been made about the proposals

As part of the savings needed to bridge the gap in the council’s finances of £108m over the next five years, Bristol City Council consulted on proposed changes to the funding it offers to parents and carers who need extra help to provide care for their children. This would enable us to reduce the budget for this service by £50k in 2018/19.

The proposal that was consulted on was to introduce a financial assessment of three aspects of its provision to children in care. This was intended to ensure that people pay something towards the care of their children if they can afford to, and full funding is reserved for those who need it most. These three proposals were:

Proposal 1: a financial assessment of Special Guardians. The proposal that was consulted on was to reduce or end the payment of the allowance for Special Guardians whose financial situation means they do not need the full allowance for looking after the child(ren). The reduction in allowance for individual Special Guardians would range from no reduction to £243 per week, depending on the age of the child, other benefits and income of the Special Guardian. (The council does not currently undertake any financial assessment of Special Guardians, unlike adoption allowances which are subject to a financial assessment of the family).

Proposal 2: The council would provide practical support to carers and children according to assessed need which may range from therapeutic interventions (for which Adoption Support Fund applications may be made on behalf of the family) to practical, play and parenting support, or support to access universal and targeted services.

Proposal 3: The proposal that was consulted on was to pilot a financial assessment of parents’ income where children are voluntarily accommodated (looked after under Section 20 Children Act 1989) by the local authority. Parents would be required to contribute towards the cost of their child’s care where they were assessed as being able to afford it. Individual families would be required to contribute approximately £40 per week towards living expenses and clothing allowance.

Further information was provided in the Financial Assessment of Care Services consultation document.

The consultation on removal of Financial Assessment of Care Services (FACS) closed on 17 December 2017. We received 50 responses to this consultation, the results of which are available in appendix A of the Corporate Strategy 2018-2023 and Budget consultation report.

The consultation feedback was taken into consideration in developing final recommendations for how to deliver the service in future. The proposal for Prioritising allowance needs for Special Guardians and families with children who are voluntarily looked after by the local authority is not currently being taken forward.

As part of the savings needed to bridge the gap in the council’s finances of £108m over the next five years, Bristol City Council consulted on proposals for increasing income and efficiency across its Culture Services beyond those already detailed in the 2017/18 Corporate Strategy consultation. The proposals in the Culture Services consultation included:

• introducing charges at some of our museums;
• increasing sponsorship income from major events; and
• changes to how the Bristol Film Office and Site Permissions services work that will make them self-financing.

124 responses were received to the Culture Services consultation via the online survey, the results of which are available in appendix B of the Corporate Strategy 2018-2023 and Budget consultation report.

The consultation feedback was taken into consideration in developing final recommendations for how to deliver the service in future. The proposals were put to the Mayor and Cabinet on 23 January 2018 to make a decision. The proposals and the Cabinet decisions are available in full in the Cabinet agenda papers.

Details of the Cabinet decision on increasing income generation and efficiency across culture services are listed below

Cabinet approved the implementation of the following:

• Charging adults for entry to Red Lodge and Georgian House Museums from April 2019
• Increased income from major events through sponsorships
• Increase income generation to make both the Film Office and Site permission team cost neutral by 2022.