LETS TALK!
Hell yeah, lets talk, lets have a power point presentation, then talk. I hereby call upon Dudley Council, Ms. James and the Black Country to speed up the 'open' let's talk principle that STOKE-ON-TRENT council are trying.
In principle this seems like a 'democratic' process, where the 'people' actually get to vote on HOW their money and resources should be divided, shared, secured, advertised, etc.
So...what is the catch?
--Steve.
Residents Invited To Have Their Say On How To Save Approximately £30m
12 Jul 2010
Posted by Tony Walley
Residents are to be asked what they would like Stoke-on-Trent City Council to prioritise its spending on for the next financial year, on the back of stiff government cuts.
The authority, which has a budget of £209 million, needs to save approximately £30 million next year – a 14 per cent reduction.
A six-week ‘Let’s Talk’ public consultation will begin on Monday, and residents’ responses will help with tough decisions on where government cuts need to be made.
The consultation, which will run between 12 July – 20 August, will include:
* Face-to-face surveys carried out in local centres, shopping centres, markets, libraries, museums and bus stations
* An on-line survey via stoke.gov.uk/letstalk
* Billboard advertising to inform people about the consultation
* A dedicated phone line – 01782 235104 – where people can give their views in person
The council is responsible for hundreds of services in the city, from bin collections to schools. Some of the services are statutory, which means the council has to carry them out by law – these include looking after children in care and vulnerable adults, to highway maintenance and planning regulations. The authority also provides many discretionary services which the council believes it is right to offer residents – these include libraries, swimming pools, museums and allotments.
The survey questions ask people to say what is important to them from a list that includes:
* Encouraging more jobs and businesses
* Reducing anti-social behaviour and fear of crime
* Looking after the environment and tackling climate change
* Improving health and well-being
* Repairing and maintaining roads and pavements
* Keeping streets clean
* Improving educational achievement
* Supporting and protecting vulnerable adults and children
* Increasing recycling
* Providing sport and leisure facilities
* Providing decent and affordable housing
The results of the consultation will be reported to the council’s cabinet and the overview and scrutiny committees that help to put the budget together.
Councillor Kieran Clarke, cabinet member for finance, performance and governance, said:
Quote:
“We face very tough economic times, and the amount of money the government is asking us to save means we have to make very difficult decisions on where we prioritise our spending.
“Residents views are always important to us, but are even more so given the cuts that need to be made. Saving £30 million is a very hard task and will simply mean that we will not be able to deliver some of the services that we have been doing.
“The government’s emergency budget made it clear that we will not be allowed to raise council tax next year to help pay for services, so it is crucial to know what services are important to residents to help identify where the savings must be made.
“I urge as many residents as possible to respond to the consultation. By getting a good range of views from across the city, we will be able to take their views into account when setting the budget.”
http://pitsnpots.co.uk/news/2010/07/residents-invited-have-their-say-how-save-approximately-30m
Showing posts with label Transparency. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Transparency. Show all posts
Monday, July 12, 2010
David Cameron and Nick Clegg and control
David Cameron and Nick Clegg : We'll transform Britain by giving power away
Dealing with the deficit is vital, but the real mission of the Coalition is to give people control over their lives, say David Cameron and Nick Clegg.
For decades, governments have assumed that the only way to make things better is to centralise Photo: Getty
When we formed our Coalition just nine weeks ago, we did so because we shared a view that our country needed strong and stable government to steer it through a time of enormous difficulty. With the largest peacetime deficit in our history, the inevitable short-termism of an unstable minority government wouldn't have been good enough. So we put aside our differences to work together in the national interest, and have set to work tackling Britain's debt.
But, for both of us, sorting out the public finances is a responsibility, not a passion. We didn't come into politics just to balance the books. We are both ambitious for Britain: we want to change our country for the better. We want to see the best schools open to the poorest children, a first-class NHS there for everyone, streets that are safe, families that are stable and communities that are strong.
Whatever the differences that exist between us and our parties, we both passionately believe in giving people more power over their lives. It has become increasingly clear to us that we can be a strong, reforming government if we build outwards from the instincts we share.
But our commitment to give power away isn't just born of instinct; it has been strengthened by the evidence of the past. For decades, governments have assumed that the only way to make things better is to centralise. Of course, central government has a crucial role to play, but it cannot and should not try to do everything. It's time for the central state to allow the genius of grassroots innovation, diversity and experimentation to take off.
We know this won't be easy. We know that the political machine has an inbuilt tendency to centralise. That's why we are bringing in a new way of coordinating government action. Last week we started publishing Structural Reform Plans, one for each government department. Don't let the dry name fool you. These are radical documents that are going to change the way government works.
Each government department has its own plan, with a list of objectives and deadlines to achieve them by. So far, this might sound like the last government with its Public Service Agreements and Prime Minister's Delivery Unit. The difference is in what we're asking departments to do – not to control things from the centre but to put in place structures that will allow people and communities to take power and control for themselves. In place of the old tools of bureaucratic accountability – top-down regulation and targets – are the new tools of democratic, bottom-up accountability – individual choice, competition, direct elections and transparency.
Decentralisation will mean different things across different services. In the plan for schools published last week we identify the major task for the Department for Education: to set schools free, encourage diversity and allow people to start up new schools, thereby opening up the state monopoly on education.
Instead of teachers thinking they have to impress the department, they will have to impress parents, who will finally have a real choice over where to send their child. The most disadvantaged children will benefit from a "pupil premium" so that schools have an incentive to take them on, rather than the incentives they have at the moment to keep them out.
Today we launch our White Paper on health. Yes, we're committed to increasing NHS resources in real terms in each year of this parliament, but we're also committed to reforming the NHS. To help achieve that we'll make sure every penny is spent more effectively, removing £1 billion a year by 2014/15 from bureaucracy and waste.
The plan for health, like all the others, says a lot about the Coalition – not just that we're committed to reform, but that the very act of combining our policies has made us more radical about decentralising power.
It combines Conservative thinking on choice and competition with the Liberal Democrat belief in local democracy to create a truly radical vision for the NHS – giving general practitioners authority over commissioning and patients much more control, and ensuring democratic accountability with councils taking greater responsibility, in particular over public health.
Dealing with the deficit will be painful, but if we ensure reform goes alongside it, Britain will be stronger, freer and fairer. We hope and expect that people will look back at the days when central government held all the power and think it arcane and bizarre. If we continue on the path laid by these plans, if we are bold enough to let go of the controls of government and if we can truly empower people and communities, this country has a great future to look forward to.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/david-cameron/7884681/David-Cameron-and-Nick-Clegg-Well-transform-Britain-by-giving-power-away.html
But our commitment to give power away isn't just born of instinct; it has been strengthened by the evidence of the past. For decades, governments have assumed that the only way to make things better is to centralise. Of course, central government has a crucial role to play, but it cannot and should not try to do everything. It's time for the central state to allow the genius of grassroots innovation, diversity and experimentation to take off.
We know this won't be easy. We know that the political machine has an inbuilt tendency to centralise. That's why we are bringing in a new way of coordinating government action. Last week we started publishing Structural Reform Plans, one for each government department. Don't let the dry name fool you. These are radical documents that are going to change the way government works.
Each government department has its own plan, with a list of objectives and deadlines to achieve them by. So far, this might sound like the last government with its Public Service Agreements and Prime Minister's Delivery Unit. The difference is in what we're asking departments to do – not to control things from the centre but to put in place structures that will allow people and communities to take power and control for themselves. In place of the old tools of bureaucratic accountability – top-down regulation and targets – are the new tools of democratic, bottom-up accountability – individual choice, competition, direct elections and transparency.
Decentralisation will mean different things across different services. In the plan for schools published last week we identify the major task for the Department for Education: to set schools free, encourage diversity and allow people to start up new schools, thereby opening up the state monopoly on education.
Instead of teachers thinking they have to impress the department, they will have to impress parents, who will finally have a real choice over where to send their child. The most disadvantaged children will benefit from a "pupil premium" so that schools have an incentive to take them on, rather than the incentives they have at the moment to keep them out.
Today we launch our White Paper on health. Yes, we're committed to increasing NHS resources in real terms in each year of this parliament, but we're also committed to reforming the NHS. To help achieve that we'll make sure every penny is spent more effectively, removing £1 billion a year by 2014/15 from bureaucracy and waste.
The plan for health, like all the others, says a lot about the Coalition – not just that we're committed to reform, but that the very act of combining our policies has made us more radical about decentralising power.
It combines Conservative thinking on choice and competition with the Liberal Democrat belief in local democracy to create a truly radical vision for the NHS – giving general practitioners authority over commissioning and patients much more control, and ensuring democratic accountability with councils taking greater responsibility, in particular over public health.
Dealing with the deficit will be painful, but if we ensure reform goes alongside it, Britain will be stronger, freer and fairer. We hope and expect that people will look back at the days when central government held all the power and think it arcane and bizarre. If we continue on the path laid by these plans, if we are bold enough to let go of the controls of government and if we can truly empower people and communities, this country has a great future to look forward to.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/david-cameron/7884681/David-Cameron-and-Nick-Clegg-Well-transform-Britain-by-giving-power-away.html
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