Budget consultation
The consultation period on the 2009/10 budget has now ended and findings have been presented to senior management and councillors to use when making decisions about the council’s future spending
Crime
Although Lambeth is becoming a safer place, crime and disorder remains a top priority for Lambeth residents.
More activities for young people, increased visibility of policing and improved use of CCTV are the most common suggestions to reduce crime and these findings will help us, along with the Police and our other partners to continue to strive to make Lambeth a safer place.
Young people
The view that young people need more activities was evident throughout the consultation, but services need to be focused on what young people like doing and need to be well serviced. We will be working closely with the borough’s young people through the youth council in order to improve activities for them.
The credit crunch
Residents say that Lambeth Council can best protect them from the effects of the credit crunch by offering credit and debt advice and making sure residents are aware of the benefits they are entitled to. With our credit crunch task force we will be introducing a number of measures to support our residents through these difficult financial times.
Residents agreed with the council’s proposals to create an “Invest to Save” fund that would subsidise projects that produce long term savings through either being more efficient or taking a preventative approach.
Waste and the environment
The research showed Lambeth’s residents to be very environmentally conscious, with 6 out of 10 residents saying they recycle everything that can be recycled. here is also clear support for initiatives to increase the level of recycling in the borough.
These findings will be used to explore further ways in which we can make our borough cleaner and greener in the future whilst reducing the costs of disposing of the borough’s rubbish.
Health and wellbeing
The health and well being of our residents is important to us and in the budget consultation we wanted to know what kind of activities residents would like to see introduced and what the barriers are to participating in healthy activities.
You told us that you are keen to see more exercise classes made available in community centres and halls and fitness trails in the local parks. We found out that the main barrier to people exercising more is a lack of time with cost of leisure also putting off people from exercising more.
As a result we will be looking at improving access to the many leisure facilities we already provide and the information you gave us will shape the leisure activities we provide in the future.
“Tell Us Once” a bereavement project in which residents only need to inform the council of a relative’s death once, instead of multiple times, will also be trialled in Lambeth following backing from people in the consultation.
What we did
Overall more than 1,000 people got involved in this year’s consultation which took place over two phases.
The first stage of the budget consultation started in August and asked residents where the council should focus its resources not only next year but in the future. It involved workshops, focus groups and a number of public 'drop in' sessions for residents to ask questions and give their views to the consultation team.
| Research type |
Detail |
| Public workshop |
A half day workshop with a representative group of over 50 of the borough’s residents. |
| 4 x focus groups |
Muslim community, young people, older people, people on lower incomes. |
| 4 drop in sessions |
Half day drop in sessions for anyone to give their views on how the council should spend its money. Drop in sessions took place at Brixton Market, Gracefield Gardens Customer Centre, Lower Marsh Market, Clapham Library. |
| Online surveys |
Sent out to the budget consultation network and mirrored the topics discussed at other sessions. |
Resident's priorities and other findings from the first stage were used to inform the second stage of consultation.
Read the full Budget Consultation 2009 -10 stage one report
In the second stage of the consultation, 533 residents took part in an on street survey on a range of key topics created from phase 1 of the research. Businesses and other stakeholders were given the opportunity to contribute through a postal and online survey.
Read the full Budget Consultation 2009 -10 final stage report
Read the presentation on the main findings from the Budget Consultation 2009 - 10
Read more about how people contributed to shaping the council's previous budgets.