Results of £100k You Choose survey are 'phenomenal' claims council chief
The new chief executive of Northamptonshire County Council has described the results of the authority's You Choose campaign as a 'phenomenal success'.
The public survey, which cost 100,000, has been criticised by opposition councillors for getting just 1,959 responses from Northamptonshire's 650,000 residents when they were asked which council services were most important to them and how the authority could save 100 million by 2014.
But Paul Blantern, who took over the 161,289 top job at County Hall in May, said the fact the You Choose campaign had featured on the BBC's Panorama programme as well as national radio was a real measure of its success.
He said: "It was phenomenally good value. We got national coverage from Panorama, Radio 5 and Radio 4 and a lot of people hear that.
"And through that we told a lot of people that the county council does care about them and does think about them. So the return on the investment from the media was phenomenal."
He also said he was confident the public had reacted well to the campaign, which included a series of roadshows and the creation of a You Choose website.
He said: "When people started to see You Choose they started to think 'the county council does want to start talking to us', which they didn't before, so that was a real plus for us."
The authority has said it will launch 'phase two' of You Choose in the future, which will ask the public again for their views on how the council should be run.
Mr Blantern said: "We've tried to go out and engage with people because of the difficult times we know are coming in the future.
"We know we can't continue to deliver things the way we have done in the past, that just won't work any more.
"And if we want to be trusted, we've got to start this dialogue and ask people what's important to them.
"But the important thing is, it's not just abdication of responsibility from us, we're starting a dialogue."
The results of the You Choose campaign were revealed yesterday at a conference which was attended by representatives from about 30 other councils.
It is hoped the other authorities may buy the You Choose concept to use in other parts of the country, making Northamptonshire County Council back some of the money it has invested in the scheme.
The You Choose survey asked people to pick which council services were most important to them, the number of responses was:
Highway maintenance – 441
Libraries – 265
Education – 212
Country parks and open spaces – 125
Care for the elderly – 118
Children's services – 112
Fire and rescue – 105
Adult social care – 100
Care for disabled children – 82
Activities for young people – 56
Care for disabled adults - 56
Pavement and footpath maintenance – 55
Adult learning courses – 51
Recycling centres – 40
Arts and festivals – 32
Gritting – 26
Conservation and heritage – 24
Adoption and fostering – 23
Voluntary sector – 20
School crossings – 16
Total responses – 1,959
People's top priorities for savings were:
Inefficiencies and general waste
Council salaries
Libraries
Highways maintenance
Country parks and open spaces
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