Previous Budget Consultations
Consultation on 2008/ 09 budget
We consulted over 800 Lambeth residents on how the council should spend its 2008/09 budget and heard the views of a wide range of residents.
• Read details of how we conducted the consultation
• Read the full 2008-09 budget consultation report
Consultation on the 2008/09 budget: How the council has acted on the findings
This is the second year that Lambeth Council has undertaken an extensive budget consultation, and the exercise has grown in scope, detail and engagement and will continue to do so in the future.
The Council is committed to consulting with residents on all areas and aims to put public opinion at the heart of the decisions it makes.
Residents' priorities
Last year's consultation found that the main priorities for residents are young people and community safety. The council's budget was set to respond to these issues. This year's research also found that these were the top concerns and the council will continue to address these priorities in the next year.
Services for young people
In this year's consultation the council asked residents how they wanted to approach children's social services, particularly Looked After Children and foster carer allowances.
Residents expressed strong support for the council taking a more preventative approach to Looked After Children and increasing foster carers allowances to that of neighbouring boroughs. This will both benefit the borough's children who will be kept at home for as long as possible and reduce the number and cost of children in social care.
"We don't need to have children in care. We need to have them in families" - Attendee at a workshop
"Fostering is a full time job, so they should get paid well" - Attendee at the public meeting
Residents recognised that activities for young people are essential to give them a good start in life which benefits the whole community in the long term. The council will increase it's spend in youth participation by £750,000 in 2008/09 and will further increase this by £660,000 in 2009/10.
Waste and Recycling
Recycling and waste management is now a topic of national debate. Over the next 3 years the council faces increases in landfill taxes of £8 per year per tonne - adding £900,000 to the cost of disposal each year - and therefore the council must find ways of reducing the amount of waste produced. We asked you how we can increase recycling in the borough and received many good ideas on how we can reduce the level of waste.
You told us that people need more information on what can be recycled, the impacts of not recycling and that education about recycling should start at school.
"We've learned from day one, (we were) taught in schools what can be recycled. I live in a flat share with others and it amazes me that they don’t know what can be recycled". - A workshop attendee who once lived in Germany
These valuable insights will inform decisions the council makes in the future to make the borough greener.
Community Safety
Crime reduction was a key area of Lambeth Council’s 2007/08 budget and it will continue to address what is a key concern for residents with further spending in 2008/09. The council will increase its current annual spend of £100,000 on its anti-domestic violence team in to £205,000 in 2008/09.
Our consultation for the 2007/08 budget involved over 800 people and took place over 3 months with events happening on almost a weekly basis.