Citizens' Panel Newsletter

Winter 05/06

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Welcome to the latest edition of the Citizens Panel newsletter focusing on what you told us about Tameside in Bloom, Open Spaces, Street Cafés, Crime and Scrutiny.

Tameside in Bloom

Tameside in Bloom works towards Tameside's Community Strategy aim of creating an Attractive Borough in which to live and work. The scheme aims to encourage a sense of pride and environmental responsibility in our community, and also forms Tameside's entry into the Britain in Bloom competition.

Almost 90% of panel members are aware of the Tameside in Bloom campaign and over 90% have noticed the floral displays in the local area.

75% of those panel members who have noticed the floral displays think that they make the appearance of the Borough a lot better.

Tameside in Bloom works with the Probation Service to allow offenders to work on community projects such as painting park benches, railings and lamp posts and large-scale clean ups. When asked about this nine out of ten panel members agreed with this approach.

The main reason given for this, according to panel members, is that it is a good way for offenders to put something back into the community, and also something that will help rehabilitate offenders.

Encouragingly, 25% of panel members would like to get involved in the Britain in Bloom bid in 2006.

Open Spaces in Tameside

We wanted to know how often you use the open spaces provided by Tameside Council, and also if you were satisfied with the current facilities.

Four out of ten panel members currently use parks/playgrounds and water areas at least once a month.

We asked how satisfied you are with the open spaces in Tameside.

The percentage of people satisfied and dissatisfied is shown in the chart below:

When asked why they do not make more use of open spaces, panel members consistently stated a lack of time as a major factor.

Street Cafés

Tameside Council wants to provide safe, clean places where people can come together to eat and drink, and we wanted to ask your views on how street cafés in Tameside can be improved.

Around one in five panel members currently visit a street café at least once a month. When asked why people did not currently visit street cafés, the most common reason given was a lack of time, followed by the unsuitable British climate!

Even if you didn't currently use street cafés, we wanted to know what you thought about the idea of introducing to Tameside more continental style dining and also what checks should be in place to regulate it.

Around two-thirds of panel members believe that street cafés will help make Tameside more attractive to visitors and that they will also help create a pleasant eating and drinking environment. Panel members were less sure about whether street cafés would make town centres safer. Three in ten panel members agreed that this would be the case, whilst four in ten were unsure and two in ten disagreed. Overall, over two-thirds of panel members think that street cafés are a good idea.

We wanted to know what things are important when considering whether or not to grant a licence to street cafés. Panel members think overwhelmingly that street cafés should ensure that the immediate surrounding areas should be kept clean and tidy and that opening hours should take into account the effect on the local neighbourhood.

Following these results, the council has produced a draft policy outlining the standards required and criteria against which applications will be determined, which it is anticipated will be taken to full council for approval in the near future.

Crime

Tameside Council receives lots of information about crime within the Borough, but the Council wanted to get a picture of how people actually feel about crime in the area.

Generally, despite an actual reduction in the level of crime according to Police figures, more than half of panel members perceive that there is more crime now than two years ago.

Following this, we asked you how safe you felt in a variety of situations. The results are shown in the chart below:

Comparing the results to last year when the same question was asked, panel members now feel significantly safer when out and about in their neighbourhood and town centre during the day and also when travelling on public transport during the day. From these results, it is clear we must continue to improve feelings of safety after dark.

We've asked how concerned you are about a number of issues in 2004 and now 2005. As the chart below shows, in all but one case, dog fouling, panel members are less concerned about these situations than in 2004.

Panel members were asked about their confidence in the criminal justice system. Overall, around one-third of panel members expressed confidence in the effectiveness of the criminal justice system in bringing people who commit crimes to justice.

Scrutiny

"The Scrutiny team is keen to involve members of the public in actual reviews and also in the selection of topics to scrutinise."

Since 2000 all local authorities in the country need to provide some way for Councillors who are not part of the Executive (the Cabinet) to look closely at the way the Council and other service providers (including the police and health services) address local issues and deliver services. This is called 'Scrutiny'.

One-quarter of the Panel say they had heard of the Tameside Scrutiny Panels before receiving the Winter 2005 questionnaire. Of those who had heard of the Scrutiny Panels, three-fifths either partly or fully understand their role.

The Scrutiny team is keen to involve members of the public in actual reviews and also in the selection of topics to scrutinise. Around one-fifth of panel members who suggested a particular topic thought the Scrutiny team should review the problem of youth gangs and wider crime issues.

The same number of panel members also thought the Scrutiny team should look at the transport infrastructure and road/pavement maintenance.

All of the ideas suggested have been forwarded to the Scrutiny team and will be taken into consideration when planning the 2006/07 review timetable.

A large number of Panel members also requested to receive a copy of 'Scrutiny Matters', the quarterly newsletter about scrutiny in Tameside. If you requested a copy and have not yet received it, please contact Christine Reid in the Scrutiny team on 0161 342 3701.

If you have any comments, ideas or queries about the Citizens’ Panel please contact:

Jonathon Blackburn tel: 0161 342 3529