By Lauren Monaghan, Junior Local Democracy Reporter
More residents say they aren’t satisfied with some council-run services in Broxtowe, a new consultation has revealed.
In a Cabinet meeting at Broxtowe Borough Council yesterday (January 7) the result of the council’s public budget consultation were discussed.
The meeting was the first since 20 Labour councillors on the authority stepped down from the party to sit as independents last Thursday (January 2).
Responses from the internet survey asked for residents’ opinions on topics such as their preferred approach to balancing the council’s budget, the funding of services and satisfaction levels on services.
It received 1,290 responses- markedly higher than 277 in 2020 but slightly lower than last year. The results will be used to inform the council’s budget for 12 months starting in April.
More than 55 per cent of people were either ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with the council’s delivery of services – this is similar to the national picture.
A further 29 per cent had a neutral stance and three per cent were ‘very dissatisfied’ – which is a slight improvement from the previous consultation.
However opinions of satisfaction with council-run services appear to be showing downward trends, with those ‘dissatisfied’ or ‘very dissatisfied’ doubling from eight per cent in 2020/21 to 16 per cent in the current consultation.
However the current 16 per cent figure reflects only a marginal increase of 0.7 since last year.
In response to these figures, Cllr Philip Owen (Con) said: “I think there are some worrying trends being shown.
“Household waste collection, satisfaction down, parks and nature conservation, satisfaction levels down, garden waste collection, brown bin, satisfaction levels down- down by 11 per cent- that’s not in the margin of statistical error.
“No wonder Sir Keir (Prime Minister Starmer) wants to abolish [districts and borough councils], it’s getting to be a bit of an embarrassment perhaps.”
Among the highest levels of dissatisfied responses were public car parks (42 per cent), community safety (35 per cent), economic development (33 per cent), street cleanliness (30 per cent)- all with higher dissatisfaction than previous years.
Cllr Owen also spoke of decreased footfall in town centres with car parking charges.
Cllr Greg Marshall, Deputy Leader of the Council, who was among Labour members who stepped down last week, responded: “In at least one town centre there is an outstripping of car park usage and an increase in the footfall- the correlation you draw universally I think is flawed.
“Our [bin] satisfaction levels are at 91 per cent, a full 15 per cent above the national benchmark average.
“The absolute number of missed bins is very tiny, frustrating because they’re often the most physical interaction that residents can have with the authority.”
Responding to Cllr Owen’s comment earlier in the meeting regarding the government’s devolution changes, Cllr Stever Carr (Ind) said: “Starmer doesn’t want to abolish [districts and boroughs], he wants to abolish all of us- the nearest representatives to the people in this county.”
He also questioned the chair over the council’s review of parking charges potentially reintroducing parking being free for the first hour.
Cllr Marshall responded: “Nothing’s off the table.”
The consultation also had responses from residents asking for better CCTV, more investment in street cleansing, investment in economic development, better health and leisure and a review of parking charges.
Cllr Gabrielle Bunn spoke of the difficulty of respondents not wanting service cuts but how only 11 per cent supported increased council tax to help fund services, saying: “We need to find new ways of bringing in income but that income can’t be seen as a fee or charge- there’s a challenge to navigate there.”
The council says it is entering into a supplier contract which will enable more enforcement on those who litter and fly tip- any proceeds will be reinvested back into street cleansing services.
It will also continue talks with the East Midlands Combined Authority on issues such as bidding for funding for economic redevelopment and housing.
