Have your say on drastic council changes

The ‘Redefining your Council’ document outlines how the council’s operations will be reviewed and affected by changes so that frontline services can be protected.

Those services which cost the most to provide will be reviewed first.

A full summary of the proposals in the report and a quick and easy on-line survey is available to complete at www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/redefiningyourcouncil.

Paper copies will also be available from libraries.

The consultation ends on 17th June 2014.

The changes are likely to see some of the council’s functions provided by external companies or trusts as the authority tries to save a further £77m from its budget by 2017/18.

Council leader Alan Rhodes said: “We all know that we face unprecedented challenges but I am clear that we do not want to be a council defined by austerity and cost savings. Instead I want us to be defined by the way in which we tackle change, working in new and creative ways to secure the best possible outcomes for local people.”

Once the Redefining your Council document is agreed, there will be further consultation about any specific changes proposed to individual services.

Service reviews will take place and initial proposals drawn up between May and July this year. All the proposals will ultimately be considered as part of the 2015/2016 to 2017/18 budget setting process.

Coun Rhodes added: “I want us to be a council driven by our values - a council which treats people fairly, a council that explores new ways of working and focuses on the people of Nottinghamshire rather than who delivers services.”

Demand for council services continues to increase - it is predicted that the number of older people aged over-85 in Nottinghamshire will double by 2030 and there will be a 20 per cent increase in the number of adults over-65 with complex disabilities.

The number of children in care increased at a faster rate than anywhere else in the country between 2008 and 2012, going from 455 to 800.