This week we have been meeting with staff, residents and families at:

• Hayleigh a residential home in Bedminster
• Maesknoll a residential home in Hengrove
• We also held an open meeting at The Council House

Comments and issues raised this week include:

• What would happen if a private home closed and the council had no capacity to provide an alternative?
• Can people move with their friends or out of Bristol to be closer to relatives?
• Extra Care Housing is a possible alternative but this is not suitable for the many residents that have high levels of need.
•  Many comments about a higher level of training, and a caring and positive ethos in council run homes. It is this rather than the built environment that is the most important factor for many people.

Tell us what you think.  Fill out the questionnaire online.

We have received 149 questionnaires about residential services so far.

Equalities Meetings

In response to feedback and as part of our consultation we want to make sure we involve people from equalities groups.  We have therefore arranged 3 events to look at specific areas.

• Tuesday 7th Feb 2012  18:00 – 20:00  Council House College Green – Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community Groups

• Monday 13th February 2012  18:00 – 20:00  Council House College Green – Older and Disabled Community Groups

• Wednesday 15th February 2012  15:00 – 17:00  Council House College Green – Black Minority Ethnic Community Groups

If you wish to discuss any aspects of this invitation or confirm attendance please contact us using the consultation phone line 0117 352 1456 or e-mail
residential.consultation@bristol.gov.uk

Over the past week we have met with staff, service users and carers at:

• Bristol 600 Day Centre in the south of the city
• St George and Lawrence Link Day Centres in the east of the city
• We also held an open meeting at council house.

Comments and issues raised this week include:

• Day services provide an important support for carers, giving them time to themselves knowing that their loved one is safe.
• People need somewhere to go to meet up and plan days, somewhere to go when it is raining or they just want time out.
• How can we provide more employment opportunities for younger people with learning difficulties?
• Younger people may want to access activities in the community, but frail older people want a ‘place’ to go to where they can integrate with familiar friendly people

Tell us what you think.  Fill out the questionnaire online.

We have received 257 questionnaires about day opportunities so far.

Equalities Meetings

In response to feedback and as part of our consultation we want to make sure we involve people from equalities groups.  We have therefore arranged 3 events to look at specific areas.

• Tuesday 7th Feb 2012   18:00 – 20:00  Council House College Green  -  Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community Groups
• Monday 13th February 2012   18:00 – 20:00 Council House College Green  -   Older and Disabled Community Groups
• Wednesday 15th February 2012   15:00 – 17:00  Council House College Green -   Black Minority Ethnic Community Groups

If you wish to discuss any aspects of this invitation or confirm attendance please contact us using the consultation phone line 0117 352 1456 or e-mail
dayservices.consultation@bristol.gov.uk

Bristol has around 140 residential care homes, 11 of these are run by Bristol City Council. Our residential care homes for older people were reviewed in 2008 with recommendations to close all council-run services and replace them with a smaller number of resource centres and specialist dementia units. Work on this plan was put on hold in 2010 due to falling property prices and rising staff costs.

This consultation looks again at how services can be improved by developing alternatives to long-term residential care and making best use of all care homes in the city, including the independent sector.

We are asking for the views of residents, their families, friends and staff on the future of residential services in Bristol. This will help us decide how we can continue to improve services within the difficult financial environment that now exists.

Residential Services Consultation information leaflet

Have you filled out our residential services consultation questionnaire?

We are speaking directly to residents, their families, groups and organisations representing older people, staff and trade unions to find out their views at a series of meetings over the next few weeks.

Residential Services Consultation Timetable of events

This week we have been meeting with staff, residents and families at:

• Coombe – a residential home in the North of the city specialising in the care of people with dementia.
• Greville – a residential home in the South of the city specialising in the care of people with dementia.

Comments and issues raised this week include:

• Concerns about people living in the community being isolated. Residential homes provide opportunities to make friends and socialise.
• Concerns about negative press reports on independent sector care homes and a lack of trust in monitoring and inspections.
• A comment that the quality of care in a residential home is more important than the physical environment.

We will keep you updated on the outcomes of the meetings on this page.

Please respond to the consultation using the questionnaire.

If you have comments or questions about the information in the weekly updates, please join the discussion.

Our current day services are highly valued – but are large day centres a model of care that people will want to buy in the future – when more people can exercise choice and control over how their personal budget is spent? Our in-house day centres are currently operating at an average of 70% capacity. There are also a significant number of services already provided in the community. We need to make sure that day opportunities provide value for money and are as effective at meeting people’s needs as possible.

We are asking service users, their families, friends, independent sector providers and staff who work in day services for their views on the future of day opportunities in Bristol. We want to know what kind of opportunities people want in the future and what their priorities are.

Day Opportunities consultation leaflet

Have you filled out our Day Opportunities  consultation questionnaire?

We are now holding a series of meetings with service users, their families and staff to gather their views and opinions.

This week we are meeting with:

• Service users and carers at The Peer Support Service Quaker Central Meeting House.
• Staff at Bristol 600, Lockleaze/Eastville and St George Day Centres.

Full details of forthcoming events are listed in the Day Services Consultation Timetable of Events.

We will keep you updated on the outcomes of the meetings on this page.

Please respond to the consultation using the questionnaire .

If you have comments or questions about the information in the weekly updates, please join the discussion.

Council Leader Barbara Janke said: “Last year Bristol City Council found that with skill and good planning we were able to make £28 million of savings without having to slash back frontline services, as many authorities felt obliged to do, and without having to make large numbers of staff redundant.

“This year, with a net figure of around another £21 million in savings to find, the task has been harder.  The council is slimmer and leaner than it was before.  It is changing and, we hope, becoming more responsive to the needs of the people of Bristol.  The change will continue.  For next year the largest cut – around £8 million – has been in the council’s central organisation.

“In an uncertain world, though, we know we have to provide stability, where this is possible. For a second year running, we will be freezing council tax.  This will be good news to the many elderly pensioners and families on low incomes who face enough challenges to their own budgets without facing a council tax hike.

“However, large numbers of vulnerable people in Bristol are dependent on our services.  The proposals seek to protect services wherever possible – even though this may sometimes mean a change in the way services are provided.  Nowhere is this more the case than in the areas of social care and children and young people’s services, where society’s needs and government policy are forcing the pace of change.”

This detailed set of proposals is among the first published by any local authority in the UK this year. This allows for consultation ahead of final proposals being published in mid January, for recommendation by the Cabinet on 26th January, and decision by full Council on 28th February.

Visit the budget conversation website and have your say

The 40th Anniversary Harbour Festival has now been and gone for 2011.

We’ve gasped at the trapeze acts at the Castle Park circus stage, or applauded our favourite band at one of the many music stages.  We’ve had our fill of continental food or local drink, and danced like there’s no tomorrow.  We’ve caught up with old friends and made some new ones, and we’ve seen more boats and water-borne activity than you could shake a stick at.

We hope you enjoyed the festival and would ask that you spare a few minutes to complete our feedback survey

Over 250,000 people are estimated to have attended this year.  The number of residents and visitors it attracts to the city brings great financial benefit to the economy as well as the cultural / social benefits of holding a  festival.  The reductions in council funding from government means we will have less money to spend organising the festival in the future and so there will need to be some changes.  We will also need to look at fund raising for the festival and issues such as paid-for fringe and evening events – we saw these being extended this year and many of them were really popular.  The 2011 festival was achieved through partnership working with businesses and the city’s cultural and community organisations – we’ll need to develop our joint-working to an even greater extent in future festivals:

We’re looking for your feedback from the 2011 festival:

• What did you think of it?
• What did you like most?
• What lessons can we learn for the future?
• What ideas do you have for boosting fund-raising for the festival?
• How could income from the festival be increased to help cover its costs?

We’re also hoping to better understand the economic benefits and have included a few questions in the survey about this.

Please give us feedback by completing the survey  and then join in the  public conversation by leaving a comment below. 

Your responses will be invaluable in planning future festivals!
Click to view slideshow.

The final bid will be submitted on September 9, 2011 by the council and our neighbourhing authorities in the West of England Partnership. Greater Bristol will be competing with areas from across the country and is seeking £114 million to create Bristol’s Bus Rapid Transit Network.

It’s the region’s last big chance to secure national finance for major transport schemes. The government will cease to invest big pots of money in local public transport initiatives beyond this funding round.

A report to Bristol City Council on July 21 2011 will advise the Cabinet of the details of the final bid for a metro-style network to serve Bristol. Watch this meeting live or the recording of it – Meeting held July 21 2011 – 6pm

Greater Bristol’s proposed network – running for much of the route on fast, dedicated lanes – would provide a fast, high-quality alternative to commuting by car, cutting journey times by as much as 40 per cent.

The positive impact for South Bristol is expected to be particularly strong. It is currently held back economically by lack of proper transport connections.

Visit the website and have your say

askbristoltransport.wordpress.com

you can comment on any section and ask questions if there’s something you don’t understand. Remember though, this is a public conversation site.

Over the last three years, there has been a 15 per cent rise in the number of children in reception classes at Bristol schools.   This rapid increase in pupil numbers is expected to continue, with a shortfall of at least 3,000 primary school places predicted by 2015 if new places are not created.  The council has been responding by building new schools and expanding existing ones, however, we need to set out a longer term strategy for how the city is going to provide more school places.

With this in mind, we have produced the School Organisation Strategy and would like your views on it and the key issues arising from it.

What is the School Organisation Strategy?

The School Organisation Strategy addresses the implications of this growth until 2015 and identifies things we could do to ensure families have access to school places within the city.   The population growth in the city is not evenly spread leaving spare places in some areas, whilst other areas have too few places to meet rising local need – so the strategy considers where places could be provided / reduced.  It also considers the implications of new homes which have received planning permission.   The proposed actions in the strategy will be reviewed annually and specific schemes agreed based on available funding and population change / growth.

Overall, the strategy will clarify and make public how the council plans to meet rising demand for school and childcare places by developing new and expanded schools and will help with consultation with our citizens and communities.

The council’s has a legal duty to ensure that there are sufficient school places within our area to meet the present and future demands for pupil places; to ensure diversity in the provision of schools; and to ensure that there are increased opportunities for parental choice.  Other legal duties and the radical reforms envisaged for the role of local authorities are set out in the strategy.

Bristol’s rising population

• There are over 69,000 children aged under 15 registered with GP’s in Bristol
• The population in Bristol is not evenly distributed. There are smaller numbers of both children and pensioners in some parts of the central areas of the City. The highest proportions of children live in the housing estates on the perimeter of the city centre.  Find out more about the state of the city and population growth
• Factors affecting population growth include rising birth rates; immigration to Bristol – from within the United Kingdom, European Union and beyond; the building of new homes and also the strength of the city’s economy in attracting people to work here. These are all important factors in understanding our population growth
• Compared to the rest of the South West region, the population profile of Bristol is relatively young.  There are currently more children under the age of 16 than people of a pensionable age.  This is similar to the national average and that of other Core Cities
• There is a significant movement of pupils due to parental choice and through local authority placements:  especially where reception places (first year of schooling) does not reflect local demand

How much is it likely to cost to find these new school places?

We predict that it will cost £165.15m to make the changes necessary to meet the need for new school places until 2015.   We have identified funding for 2011-12.  Beyond this, the council is in negotiation with the UK government’s Department for Education, along with other cities in a similar position to Bristol, to identify sources of  funding for these additional places.   We are currently waiting to hear the government’s funding proposals.  There’s more on the financial implications in the strategy.

Key issues for Bristol arising from the draft School Organisation Strategy:

• The number of places available for very young children (up to the age of 5) in childcare is declining, with the exception of free nursery education for three and four year olds
• A large shortfall in primary school places is predicted: 3,000 places by 2015.   This will increase to 5,300 places if planned housing development is built
• This shortfall includes a shortage of 950 places in reception (first year of schooling) by 2015, increasing to 1200 places if planned housing development is built
• Bristol needs to find the equivalent of 14 primary schools (approx. 2940 places) to meet this demand.  This increases to 25 primary school  (approx. 5250 places) if planned housing development is built
• The increased demand at primary, not unique to Bristol, is driven by increased immigration, birth rates and the recession causing more families to choose state, rather than private, education
• Bristol will need to continue to work with schools to find innovative design solutions for new classrooms and flexible use of existing space
• For many medium and long-term requirements the council will also be liaising with retail developers to help provide new school places
• Although there are currently surplus secondary school places, there will be a shortfall of Year 7 (secondary) places by 2017
• Bristol needs to ensure that the current balance of secondary places is maintained to remain viable for the future and to put plans in place to address the potential long-term shortfall
• It is likely that the Young People’s Learning Agency (a government agency) will permit an academy (and possibly a school) to establish a new sixth form irrespective of whether it is supported by demographic trends but dependent on their capacity to attract learners
• There has been a small decrease in the number of pupils with Special Educational Needs but the type of provision needs to reflect that more children are diagnosed with autism or severe language communication needs
• Bristol’s exam results have improved consistently over the last six years.  There is clearly a narrowing gap between Bristol; other local authorities like us; and England’s large cities

We are interested in your ideas on how we can deliver additional primary capacity within the city and would welcome comments and suggestions as to how best to address some of the key issues identified within the School Organisation Strategy: particularly in relation to the longer term trends.

Update

This consultation has now closed.  We’re currently preparing a report of the response to the consultation and the survey which will be reported to the council’s cabinet of leading councillors.  This meeting discussing the latest update of the School Organisation Strategy will be webcast live.  We will update this shortly with details of the meeting and the report.

There is now an opportunity to reshape supported services over which the council has control. We need to look at how some services could work better with the emerging Greater Bristol Bus Network so that they achieve more for local  communities with less impact on the council tax payer.  Workable solutions for local transport are not just about buses. The council is delivering an integrated transport network which includes buses, local rail, the planned rapid transit schemes, door-to-door minibus services for elderly and disabled people, car clubs, cycling schemes and attractive walking routes.

Sharing information, seeking your opinion

Bristol’s approach is to be open and prepared for challenge when seeking to change services. We share data and background information with our citizens and ask for your ideas about how public services could be provided in the future.  We recognise these are important decisions, where citizens’ views and ideas need to be listened to, and that we don’t have all the answers.  As part of a series of conversations to help shape local public services, we would like your views on Supported Transport Services. Click to view slideshow.

The difference between commercial and supported services

Most of the bus services in Bristol are ‘commercial services’ run by private businesses for profit.  The council has little influence over these services but works with bus companies to improve journeys through improved bus priority, bus stops, electronic real-time information and publicity. On commercial services, the council has no direct control on route, timetable or fares. The council DOES improve the infrastructure – such as bus stops and bus lanes. And it CAN help with technology such as smartcards. Examples of commercial services are the day time services on main routes into the city run by First.

The council DOES NOT pay any money towards keeping these services running except reimbursing bus companies for free travel by concessionary fare card-holders, which is a government requirement.

The council financially supports some transport services for the following reasons:

• At times when commercial operators claim services or parts of services are unprofitable such as: routes with low passenger numbers, early morning services, late evening services, weekends and bank holiday services.
• On routes which are deemed to be socially necessary or help connect commercially operated routes e.g. orbital services / shopper services
• Demand-responsive community transport (e.g. dial-a-ride / door-to-door) which help elderly and disabled people get around
• To invest in services with great potential such as the Severn Beach Line rail service and harbour ferry services
• To reduce congestion in the city centre by providing park and ride for out of town commuters and visitors.

These financially-supported services are known as Supported Transport Services. They currently cost £5.2 million  a year (2010/11) They are:

• Park and Ride
• Orbital services including 500, 517/8 and 584/5/6/7 (around Kingswood/Parkway Station/Southmead Hospital & Shirehampton and other North and Central Bristol areas)
• Local shopper services including 503, 558/9 and 510/11 (Knowle, Bedminster and Brislington orbitals) and Easy Rider services.
• Commuter and cross harbour ferry services
• Community transport (including Dial a Ride, Group Hire and local community transport groups)
• Add-ons to commercial bus services (early morning, late evening, Sunday and Bank Holiday services)
• Support for Severn Beach Line rail service
• Night buses (which run from midnight on Fri and Sat nights)
• Yellow school bus to Henbury school

How much do we spend on Supported Transport Services?

In the last financial year, this funding has benefited over 4.7 million passengers per year.  The split between the different forms of supported transport services is as follows:

NB: Breakdown of overall costs of supported transport services (Some cross boundary services receive contributions from adjacent authorities towards their costs and the Council also contributes to some services contracted by those authorities)

Cost per journey to the council

Although passengers on most of these services pay to use, it doesn’t cover all the costs, so the council subsidies journeys as follows;

The council wants some supported services to better fit modern needs. Some individual services have begun to fail because they don’t fit their communities any more. In a few cases, supported services have become so underused that the council is contributing up to £10 per passenger journey and this is unacceptable.

All residents must have access to public transport. But we believe we can make the council’s money work harder at providing the right solutions to meet a range of needs at the right price.

Tendering for a better deal and more competition

We have made a start by doing one big thing a lot better – changing how we buy our supported services from the bus companies that can provide them. The council wants to introduce more competition in the Bristol bus market, which has proved effective in other cities where operators can only attract more passengers by improving the quality of services and keeping fares down.

To encourage more competition, we are advertising all our supported services at once. We hope to encourage providers to agree to run large packages of services at a competitive rates.

We have to be realistic and accept that the rising price of fuel and general inflation will increase the annual costs of these services. But our actions should lead to more competitive bids to offset this rise. The process is ongoing. We should be in a position to offer contracts to successful bidders in June 2011.

We expect to get a better deal for local people by getting more supported services running once more as commercial services. And we want to invest as much as we can in securing the right supported services in the right places. We currently support some lengthy bus routes that may discourage greater use because of the time the journeys take. Perhaps some residents would rather get two quick buses on a radial and direct route, rather than sit on one bus for over an hour.

Scope to change our approach?

The reductions in central government funding will be difficult. The council has to save around £1 million from the public transport budget in two years.

But in facing the issues this presents, the council and the community need to look for ways to make things more connected – better AND cheaper.

A combination of door-to-door services for people with mobility problems and conventional services (on circular routes and direct routes into town) are easier to access now we have online and mobile phone links to real bus times and bookings.

We can use other budgets to help more people access online services. We need to think about how we support vulnerable people to use new or unfamiliar services.

When car clubs are introduced across the city, more people – and groups of friends or neighbours – can use public transport for most journeys and access a car for the occasional shopping trip or day trip.  They are a huge success in the areas where they already operate.

Growing passenger numbers

The council also firmly believes that some of the bus services it supports can be run commercially. The best way to use public money is encourage the growth of public transport. That’s why we have invested heavily in improving bus routes and stops over the last few years. We are looking for bus operators who are also prepared to invest in marketing and growing passenger numbers on their services.

It also means the council looking again at underused services / routes and finding opportunities of working with operators and supporting transport services with the potential to grow.

The result is a much more pro-active relationship between the operator and the council, using the money to make the service more popular and growing the number of passengers. An excellent example of this is the recent success story with the Severn Beach Line.

Severn Beach success

Passenger journeys on the Severn Beach Line have increased by 80% over the last four years. This spectacular passenger growth is due to close partnership working – ensuring that public support is directly channelled into initiatives which encourage more people to use the service.

Cllr Gary Hopkins - Cabinet Member

Councillor Gary Hopkins, Cabinet Member for Strategic Transport, Waste and Targeted Improvement, said: “When we’re talking about investment in public transport, this is the way to do it. Public money must work hard and get results. Extra trains and proper investment in safe and welcoming stations have transformed the Severn Beach Line into an attractive and cost effective travel choice for commuters, shoppers and school children. And there is more good news to come in the form of newer trains and larger carriages later this year.

“We are confident that the route will remain sustainable. The Severn Beach Line success story is a shining example which should inform the way we continue to do business in the future.”

Before you comment you can research

To support this conversation, there are some background documents listed below. We make a range of briefing documents and background information available in a citizen briefing.  Please take time to look at them before commenting.  If there’s something else you would like to see please let us know and we’ll endeavour to provide it.

• Bus usage and satisfaction data from the Quality of Life Survey
• Detailed information on costs for supported transport services

So, we’re interested in your ideas for how we can deliver better value for money with this service and how we can do more for less.

This consultation is now closed.  Thank you for your views.  We are currently reviewing these and will update this page shortly.   Your views are due to be reported to council’s cabinet of leading councillors in June 2011.

The key elements of the papers are:

• Council Tax bills will be frozen – in recognition of the tough economic times facing families throughout Bristol, this will be the first time in ten years that residents will not see an increase in their bills
• £28 million savings will be required next year alone, due to reductions in central Government funding. This amounts to around 7% of the Council’s budget (or £1 out of every £14). The savings required over the next four years put together are predicted to be £70m (including this first year’s £28 million). Included in these headline reductions in Government funding, is a loss to Bristol in specific grants – requiring savings of £3 million in Early Intervention Grant areas next year alone.
• The plans also cope with unavoidable cost pressures – such as increasing budget for children in care placements by £1.7 million (following growth in children taken into care after the Baby P case in London)
• The Council has argued Bristol’s case hard with Government, as have other councils. This has included traveling to Whitehall last week to seek to persuade ministers. Despite this, it looks like Bristol will be taking more than its share of funding reductions from Government, so that other Councils (e.g. Dorset, Wokingham and Surrey County Council) will see their funding reductions phased in more gently over several years.
• In deciding which savings to put forward, the Council is seeking as far as possible to protect front-line services and the most vulnerable service users. This has been achieved by finding as much as possible from finding efficiencies in the way the Council works, reducing overheads, and cutting management costs – together amounting to over 80% of the savings.
• The Council predicted this situation and began preparations a year ago (well ahead of the General Election) in light of the general economic situation – freezing vacancies, finding efficiencies, spending within our means (tightening belts to bring in the current year’s budget without overspends). When staff have left the Council, rather than replacing them, the Council has generally frozen the vacancies (except for instance in vital areas, such as children’s social workers). When those vacant posts are now being cut, there are therefore no redundancy bills to pay. As a result, far fewer staff will be facing the prospect of compulsory redundancy than would otherwise be the case.
• The resulting jobs impact for Bristol City Council will see around 340 posts go, of which around 180 are likely to come through vacancies, redeployment and natural wastage, with fewer than half (160) potentially facing redundancy (out of a workforce of around 8,900, excluding school staff). In comparison Manchester City Council has just announced 2,000 jobs to go, and Hull City Council 1,400.
• The budget proposals reflect a clear focus on the Council’s priorities – maintaining the year-on-year improvement in educational attainment; looking after the most vulnerable in society; and attracting jobs and investment to Bristol.
  

  Cllr Barbara Janke - Leader of the Council

Leader of the Council Barbara Janke said

In tough times for the public sector, the budget we’re proposing manages to protect as far as possible the front-line services serving the most

vulnerable people in the city – sometimes even increasing the funding, in areas like children taken into care. We’re also recognising the pressures on hard-pressed families by freezing Council Tax bills. We are managing to do all of this whilst cutting only 340 jobs – and most of them without compulsory redundancies. When other city councils are slashing many times more jobs, we’ve achieved this balance because we have found efficiencies and cut back on management and bureaucratic costs – and because we had the foresight to begin to tighten our belts over a year ago.

Follow the budget debate by watching our live webcasts

The budget has been discussed in these meetings.  You can jump to the agenda point by clicking on ‘index points’ in the webcast player.

• Resources Scrutiny Commission (25 Jan): 2011/12 Budget and impact of economic situation
• Cabinet (27 Jan): including a discussion of the 2011/12  Revenue Budget
• Full Council (22 Feb) – budget for 2011/12 set to be discussed and agreed by all councilors

View the full budget proposals