Council finds out what the people want

WHATEVER county councillors agree when fixing next year's budget, more than 360,000 voters can take comfort in the fact that they were at least consulted.

Last year there were moans that council taxpayers were presented with a fait accompli after reports that council committees met in secret to make decisions.

Since then everything has been more open.

The council has just finished a £40,000 consultation exercise using Public Attitude Surveys of High Wycombe.

Some 750 residents and 250 "stakeholders" (representatives from schools, social services and other councils) were asked what they thought about tax levels, the council's services, priorities and more.

Also, more than 2,000 people filled in questionnaires left in libraries, council offices and supermarkets.

A cross-section of residents in all districts, of all ages and socio-economic groups gave their views. There were also focus groups.

"It was all thorough and had some interesting findings," said Roger Russell, the council's chief public relations officer.

"It's been a useful exercise to gauge what people think across Bucks. The council has been more in touch with grassroots feelings."

Fifty-eight per cent said they would pay a bit more council tax to maintain services, 21 per cent said they would pay "significantly" more and 15 per cent said they would pay the same as current levels.

Only five per cent wanted to pay less.

On a different tack, most residents said education was the most important service, followed by social services and then road repairs.

The services least often chosen as being important were trading standards and planning for major emergencies. Half of those questioned felt it most important to protect services for older people followed by children's services.

Finally, the services most favoured for the axe were "advice to businesses", consumer advice and protection and strategic planning for land use.

The survey included 257 respondents from the Wycombe District Council area.

The service the highest percentage of respondents had used or benefited from was libraries (73 per cent), followed by primary schools (41 per cent) and road and pavement repairs (39 per cent).

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.