Citizens’ Panel Festive Event Discussion Groups

Corporate Services

• Keeping residents informed was thought to be very important, however most people in the group felt that they were not kept adequately informed about the availability of council services in their local area.
• When contacting the council people have experienced difficulties getting through to the right department or person. Publishing an A-Z of council services and contacts would help.
• Older residents like face to face contact and think that the One Stop Shops are a great idea. Younger people generally prefer dealing with the council over the telephone or Internet.
• Making council information available in supermarkets and libraries would make access to information easier for the wider general public.
• It is extremely important for the council to acknowledge queries, complaints and comments.
• The council should work at promoting positive news stories, too many news items focus on the negatives. Having a regular item in the local press or on the radio would help raise the profile of the council and enable the council to give its opinion.
• Improve the County Council newspaper ‘The Beacon’ by making it stand out more. Group members suggested a glossy, coloured publication with short snappy articles. Making it available at supermarkets and changing the current delivery method would help increase readership.
• Local democracy – more people would use their vote if they knew more about County Councillors and what they did. Regular newsletters from their local councillor would improve local democracy.

Educational Services

• The focus group began with a short presentation showing the various aspects of the County Council’s Education Service.  
• Classroom assistants were seen to play an important role in supporting teachers. At the moment Worcestershire County Council are working at increasing the number of classroom assistants in schools. In addition, schools are always looking out for members of the public who are interested in becoming school governors.
• Over the last few years there has been a massive increase in adult community learning service provision in Worcestershire.
• People expressed interest in undertaking courses in languages, travel and local history.
• WCC wishes to make better use of existing facilities in schools. Holding more adult education evening and weekend courses in schools, will enable participants to take advantage of the excellent IT infrastructure that is in place.
• In terms of helping ‘less academic’ children in the County, it was explained that Worcestershire County Council are trying to make the Education system slightly less academic, by offering a more vocational curriculum.
• Regarding special needs children attending mainstream schools, it was explained that there was still a future for Special Schools.  
• In terms of a specific budget for the teaching of basic, core life skills, it was explained that PSHE (Personal Social Health Education) was provided for every child in Worcestershire even though it does not form part of the National Curriculum.

Environmental Services

• The condition of all county roads continues to improve but is still below the national average.   The County Council is continuing its year on year commitment to increase resources for roads.
• Potholes should be tackled quickly and not allowed to deteriorate, short-term fixes are not a solution.
• Working closer with the utility companies when planning roadwork’s should minimize disruption and damage. The County Council should have more power and control over the utility companies.
• People would like to see more public consultation on local issues relating to highways.  It was thought that  less  money  should be spent on traffic calming measures,  and more on repairs.
• Safer Routes to Schools is a very positive scheme. Parking around schools is a particular problem, pupils and parents must be encouraged to walk, use public transport or car share wherever possible.
• Giving priority right of way to buses was generally seen as a good thing, especially in urban areas.
• The park and ride site in Worcester has been very successful. It was suggested that peak time fares could be increased in order to discourage people from using the service to commute to and from work.
• People thought that traffic problems are steadily increasing in Worcester City centre especially crossing the river. Completing the ring road in the north west of the city and building a new bridge to the north of the city would help.

Financial Services

• Council Tax only provides 5 per cent of the total tax take. People often have a negative image of council tax compared with other forms of taxation. This is probably related to the fact that it is one set amount/a lump sum, whilst the other taxes are often not so obvious and have more tangible benefits e.g. fuel tax.
• Worcestershire receives less money from central government and council taxes than many of the other shire counties. A consequence of this is that the county has a lower per head spend than Warwickshire, Gloucestershire, Staffordshire, Shropshire and Northamptonshire. The county’s spend per head figure of £803 places it in the lowest quartile in comparison to other councils.
• Despite the perceived vast increases in council tax payments, residents in Worcestershire still pay less than the national average and are in the lower quartile compared with other regions.
• Whilst it is accepted that the county council has done well considering the financial constraints it is working under there is concern that not enough is being done to increase the grants received from government. If the council performs well there is no pressure on the government to increase the grants. Somehow this vicious circle needs to be broken. One way to achieve this is through better lobbying from local MP’s and looking at how fair the statistics are which the government uses to decide how money is distributed.

Social Services

• The role of Home Care staff (formerly Home Helps) has changed over a period of time, and they now give a much more “personal” level of care.  In general, Older People prefer to be supported in their own home rather than going into Residential Care, as this maintains their confidence and independence. Social Services current policy is to do this by increasing and improving support for people in their own homes. The Citizens Panels was supportive of this approach.
• A Single Assessment Process is being developed for Health and Social Care agencies. This should help agencies to work together more effectively, which improved IT systems should assist with.
• Transport is a very significant issue for Older People in Worcestershire. SSD spend about £3 million per year on this, due to its importance in maintaining people’s independence. There is also the need to increase and improve rehabilitation services to enable people who have been admitted to hospital to get home as soon as is possible.
• SSD has changed its three Long-Stay Residential Homes for Older People into Short-Stay “Resource Centres.”  Here Health and Social Services staff work together to provide a variety of services including assessment, rehabilitation and respite care – all aimed at preparing Service-Users to return to their own homes .  This has proved very successful, and demand for this service is very high. Investment in this type of service has increased, but needs to increase more significantly in the future.
• SSD are now encouraging Service-Users to take advantage of the “Direct Payments” scheme. This involves an agreed weekly sum being transferred directly into Service-Users own bank account so they can manage it themselves and use it to independently purchase whatever care they need from whoever they want.
• It was felt by the Citizens Panel that Social Services staff dealing with Older People do not have sufficient time to dedicate to each Service-User because of the high number of people they have to support.
• Sheltered accommodation is very important in supporting people to live in the community for longer and we are looking to develop more Sheltered schemes in Worcestershire in the future.
• We are increasing Prevention Services such as Community Meals, Equipment Provision, Day Services, Sitter Services and Carers Support as these are important in reducing accidents and ensuring that  Older Peoples general health and well-being remains as high as possible..
• The Social Services directorate in Worcestershire is under-funded, and this is mirrored for the County Council as a whole.
• It is also good for Older People with dementia to be supported in their own home, providing there is a robust risk assessment undertaken and appropriate support available.