Our ‘Your Council Your Voice’ survey gives county residents the opportunity to tell us what they think about the services they use, how satisfied they are with them and which ones are most important to them and why.
Your Council Your Voice is open until Sunday 13 December and residents who haven’t filled in the online survey are being urged to do so.
This year the survey also asks residents whether the COVID-19 pandemic has changed their opinion of the county council and the services we provide, and if it has had an impact on their satisfaction with the way we run things.
Divided into sections, the survey asks residents how satisfied they are with where they live, if they are proud of Derbyshire and if they think it is a safe place to live.
People are also asked if they are involved in any organisations or groups, whether they offer help and support to others as a volunteer and if they feel supported and know where to get advice and support.
The survey includes our annual budget consultation, with questions about how we should prioritise our budget for the coming year (2021/22).
People are asked to list their top and bottom 3 priorities from a list of services we provide, with an opportunity to give additional information about why they have ranked services as high or low priority.
They are also asked to look at a range of options we could consider in order to save money or raise additional revenue and to rank them in order of preference. The options include reducing or stopping less important services and putting more services online to increasing council tax or using council assets to win business from the private sector. People are also able to add their own suggestions.
Derbyshire County Council Leader Councillor Barry Lewis said:
“It’s more important than ever that we know if Derbyshire residents think we’re getting it right, what changes they’d like to see and whether their priorities have changed from last year.
“We are also keen to know if people are volunteering in their communities, whether people feel supported and know where to go for advice or help in a crisis and if their opinions of the services we provide have changed as a result of the pandemic.”
Papers copies are available on request by ringing Call Derbyshire on 01629 533190.
People taking part have the chance to win £100 of shopping vouchers in a prize draw.
No decisions about our budget have been made and our Cabinet will consider the survey responses relating to the budget, along with budget proposals, at a meeting in early 2021. Derbyshire residents will be given the chance to have their say about individual proposals which may affect them after decisions have been made about the overall budget.
Responses relating to non-budget issues in the survey will be used to help shape and improve council services in the year ahead.