www.wiltshire.gov.uk
Parish Newsletter - June 2007
What One Council will mean to you
Why your council will have more influence over local services
- One Council will combine the best arrangements from each of the districts, after consultation with town and councils. The new system will be locally administered by local planning officers with delegated powers. Town and parish councils will have clear strengthened opportunities to comment on local applications and the local unitary councillor will have the power to “call in” a proposed decision after consulting local councils.
- One Council will extend devolved powers to the area managers for local services (street scene, libraries, youth service, leisure service, traffic management etc.). Managers will take direction for these services from Area Boards including the local unitary councillors and representatives from local town and parish councils.
- These area boards will form part of community area partnerships, which will build on existing successful arrangements in different parts of Wiltshire. Town and parish councils will be invited to send representatives to these partnerships (as many already do). These partnerships can serve as the focal point for local consultation, scrutiny of public services (including, we propose, Police and Health), and links with One Council through specific cabinet members and directors. Partnerships currently receive varying levels of funding; our costings allow for all partnerships to receive the current maximum allocation of £50,000. The distribution of small grants to local projects will also continue at the current level.
- One Council will offer parish and town councils a ‘menu’ of services which can be delegated (with their budgets) if an individual parish or town council wants to take responsibility. It will also seek to extend the parish steward approach, whereby parish councils can direct a local service team provided by One Council to do local projects in the parish from a pre-set list.
How the public would benefit from One Council for Wiltshire
- One Council will be easier for the public to understand. The public does not understand who does what in district and county councils. Each area will be served by one councillor, dealing with all local government services.
- One Council will be cheaper to run than five; one management structure, one set of central services instead of five. We calculate savings of £20 million per annum. This will ease pressure on council tax.
- One Council will be more efficient than five; we can join up waste disposal with waste collection; housing with social services; trading standards with environmental health. All the county and district functions for highways, litter, grass cutting etc. will be brought together under one ‘street scene’ manager in every community area.
- One Council can provide better service to its customers – a single number to call, local offices covering the full range of services, no more referring people between councils.
Some Myths about One Council for Wiltshire
- Wiltshire County Council overspends – no, we ended 2006/07 spending approximately 0.5% below our budget.
- Wiltshire is too large to be unitary – no, it is similar to or smaller than most of the other counties which have been shortlisted by the government, including North Yorkshire, Northumberland, Cumbria and Cornwall. Successful unitary councils already serve rural areas, including East Riding, Herefordshire and several councils in Scotland. Many unitary councils serve bigger populations than Wiltshire’s.
- Wiltshire is heavily in debt – no, Wiltshire’s debt simply reflects the services which we run and the way the Government finances them. Typically, when the Government approves a capital project – e.g. a new school or a new road – it authorises the council to raise a loan to spread the cost of the project over its lifetime. Our capital financing costs are currently £15 million which our auditors find very acceptable and they are covered with our Medium Term Financial Plan.
- There is an alternative to unitary – yes there is, it is called ‘Pathfinder’ and two district councils rejected it within days of the publication of the White Paper where the government invited applications. The government made clear that any application must be supported by all the councils and the deadline was 25th January, 2007.
- Services will be more remote under One Council – no, we are committed to retaining local services and our costings allow for this (only central services will be brought together). The council already spends approximately 82% of the total local authority expenditure and most is spent locally on schools, libraries, social services, road maintenance, passenger transport etc. This emphasis on local spending will continue.
Independent chairperson sought for fostering panel
The panel is made up of a mixture of independent people and professionals and makes an important contribution to decisions about children who are looked after and the quality of their care. The panel meets once a month at County Hall in Trowbridge and is responsible for recommending the approval of foster carers, reviewing approvals after one year, agreeing changes and terminations in foster carers approval and recommending long term placement matches for children. Induction and support will be provided including an annual training day with panel members. If you think you have the necessary experience and would like more information, contact Shannon Clarke on 01225 713665. More information about fostering and adoption generally is available on the county council website.
Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service
The Queen’s Award is a national honour (equivalent to an MBE) launched to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002 and will be awarded to outstanding voluntary organisations nominated by their local community. If you know a group of volunteers who devote their time to helping others in the community and improve the quality of life and opportunity for others, why not nominate them for The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service now. The deadline for nominations is 30th September, 2007. Just go to www.queensawardvoluntary.gov.uk for more details and to download a nomination form. Alternatively you can email queensaward@volunteeringengland.org or ring 0845 000 2002 for further information.
News in Brief
Rights of Way Improvement Plan
Having previously forewarned you of WCC’s plan to improve the public rights of way throughout the county and the consultation exercise that we are starting, the Rights of Way team are now asking you to be part of that exercise. We are seeking views from walkers, horse riders, cyclists, carriage drivers and drivers of motorised vehicles on how the management of the 6,000 km of public footpaths, bridleways and byways can be improved over the next ten years. The aim is to make Wiltshire’s countryside more easily accessible and enjoyable for everyone. We would like you and your members to complete and submit a questionnaire to help us in this exercise.
If you have any specific comments to make regarding improvements in your parishes then please forward these to rightofway@wiltshire.gov.uk
To complete the questionnaire visit http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/wcc-rights-of-way-improvement-plan-2.htm
New recycling website
A new website gives people in Wiltshire a wealth of information on waste and recycling. It gives details how people can minimise waste created at home and at work, how the waste and recycling services work in their area and where they can take their rubbish to be recycled. Visit www.recycleforwiltshire.com – your one stop information shop for going green.
Street scene – latest news
Within Wiltshire, each district has been set a target by the government to improve their street cleaning performance plus an overall target for the county. To date each district has contributed by sharing best practice with each other, working smarter, revisiting road cleaning schedules and training staff to improve standards and we are on track to achieve those targets. An additional benefit has been the district operation managers working closely with the divisional highways managers to co-ordinate some of their work.
Rights of Way
The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 created a new right to walk over areas of open countryside and registered common land. The Wiltshire & Swindon Countryside Access Forum was established to support and advise Wiltshire and Swindon councils in their quest to improve access to the countryside for their residents and visitors in light of the CRoW Act. A website has been established which provides a comprehensive inventory of land available for public assess but we would also like to add information about walks available in each parish either by linking to them if you have them on your parish website or holding the details on our website on your behalf. Please contact mike-johnson@blueyonder.co.uk if you would like your parish to participate. More details are available on the county council website.
Contact Details
By post
Communications Unit
County Hall
Bythsea Road
Trowbridge
Wiltshire
BA14 8JN
By email
