We asked, you said, we did

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We asked

As part of Barnet’s ambition to be a net zero borough by 2042, we asked for your views on introducing a Library of Things to East Finchley. A Library of Things is just like a normal library except instead of books you can borrow things like lawnmowers, carpet cleaners, air fryers and games consoles – for a small daily fee.

You said

A total of 372 questionnaires were completed. Most responses were from residents, and approval for a Library of Things (LoT) was overwhelmingly positive: 365 out of 372 (98%) selected that they would borrow at least one item. Out of the seven who would not use it, four said they didn’t need the items available, and three would buy them directly.

From a selected of all LoT items, the top five most popular that people would like to borrow were carpet cleaner (288), pressure washer (239), gazebo (180), extendable Ladder (171) and hedge trimmer (148). 38% said they would use a LoT every two to three months. 20% said monthly and 19% every four to six months. 13% said as and when needed.

Respondents are mobile and happy to travel short distances. A LoT doesn’t have to be on their doorstep but must be accessible from a car as well as walking and cycling. Almost 50% would be happy to drive up to 5 miles to get to a LoT. Over 40% would prefer only to walk or cycle.

Tarling Road Community Hub in East Finchley is an option for the first LoT location. Although not an ideal location, comments are mostly positive and identify the strengths of that site. 62% of respondents strongly agreed or agreed that this was a good location. Based on comments many respondents live near to Tarling Road Community Hub or felt that the location was highly accessible by car or bicycle. Only 9% disagreed that it was a good location and felt that it was out of the way, and not near a town centre. Other popular locations mentioned were Colindale, Edgware, Finchley Central, High Barnet and North Finchley.

You can read more information in the full consultation report.

We did

We have listened to feedback and will work to bring a Library of Things to the borough.

Although not a site under consideration when the consultation opened, Barnet Council will first pursue Edgware as a priority site. The site (a vacant Argos Unit on the high street), managed by partners TfL and Ballymore, is in a better location with higher footfall and greater public transport accessibility. A library of Things will initially be installed and run for approximately three years (in lieu of the site’s long-term reconstruction as part of proposals for Edgware’s regeneration).

This will help to test the usage of a Library of Things in Barnet and will also benefit Edgware adding a new amenity to the town centre that could become permanent. The Library of Thing’s performance will be monitored, and the council will revisit the Tarling Road Community Hub site pending the Edgware site’s success.

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We asked

We asked for your views on the implementation of a controlled pedestrian and cycling zone during school pick up and drop off hours, or ‘School Street’, on Great Strand (between Lower Strand and Everglade Strand). The proposed times are 8.15-9.15am and 2.45-3.45pm, Monday to Friday, term time only.

You said

We received 77 responses to this engagement. 19.48% of respondents supported the scheme. 79.22% of respondents opposed the scheme. 1.3% of respondents neither supported nor opposed the scheme.

10% of respondents thought the scheme would improve safety. 7.7% of respondents thought the scheme would reduce traffic. 4% of respondents thought the scheme would encourage people to walk, bike or scoot to school.

27% of respondents were concerned that the School Street would affect access to services on the road such as churches, nurseries, and businesses. 12% of respondents expressed concern that the scheme would impact working parents’ ability to get to work after dropping their children at school. 20% of respondents expressed concern that it would affect access to the road for people who needed it, like residents, carers, teachers, taxi/trade/delivery vehicles, friends and family.

8% of respondents did not give reasons for their opinions.

We did

We have considered the feedback and will be proceeding with the School Street scheme, alongside measures to mitigate the highlighted concerns.

We asked

We asked for your views on making the pavement wider on Great Strand.

You said

We received 59 responses to this engagement.

8% of respondents thought the footway widening would improve safety. 8% of respondents thought the footway widening would reduce traffic. 5% of respondents thought the footway widening would encourage people to walk, bike or scoot to school.

24% of respondents were concerned about the reduction in parking as a result of the footway widening. 7% of respondents were concerned about the impact the footway widening would have on driving on the Great Strand. 5% thought there would be no improvement from the measures.

24% of respondents did not give reasons for their opinions.

We did

We have considered the feedback and will not be proceeding with the footway widening in Great Strand.

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We asked

In October we facilitated a range of engagement sessions with children and young people to gather their experiences and perceptions of violence and exploitation that may have affected them in Barnet. The sessions were designed to engage young people, residents, professionals and businesses working and living in Barnet and to understand the following:

• perceptions of violence and exploitation in Barnet
• factors that support feeling safer or more at risk
• areas and priorities that people feel the council should implement / drive to improve, safety, and response to violence and exploitation.

You said

We had over 50 young people who engaged in the focus groups, and over 200 people participated in our interactive online surveys. We were able to engage a range of residents and businesses in ‘walkaround surveys’.

We did

From the sessions, we have incorporated the key themes that emerged into two priority area:

• Tackling Serious Violence Strategy 2024 - 27
• Tackling Exploitation Strategy 2024 - 27

Both of these strategies will be published in March 2024, and will outline our collective approaches to how we are working together to support the safety of residents and young people living in Barnet.

From January 2024 we will be holding a range of further consultation sessions to support the release of our Tackling Serious Violence Strategy, and further sessions to support the co-production of our Tackling Exploitation Strategy.

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We asked

We asked for your views on the proposed schedule of fees and charges, to be implemented from January 2024.

You said

We received 14 responses to the online questionnaire. 12 of the respondents made a comment and the comments were:

• Fees and charges, specifically service charges should be scraped for freeholders. We have lost amenities like parking and parks, land from the estate has been sold to Notting Hill Gensis, yet free holders are asked to pay service charges when you want to turn the estate from public to private. Not to mention the office is now on the estate! Please do not increase parking charges.
• Council tax is high enough already. Don't agree with charges automatically being increased each year.
• Families are struggling enough without you increasing prices. I will have to move out of Barnet if you increase yet again as I won't be able to afford to stay in the Borough.
• The document is too long you need to summarise key changes.
• This will be an extra burden on the people of Barnet.
• They should definitely not be increased - why should people have to pay more at this time when the cost of living is so high.
• I would not like it to rise, as I believe my council tax is already high enough; despite this, potholes on roads in my area remain not fixed.
• I understand that prices are being raised but I think it's really expensive to have a green bin and think it should be less.
• I think that charges should be as low as possible. i don't think they should be increased due to cost of living crisis. i think some fees should be scrapped.
• They are driving out local businesses - need time to recover from Covid and Brexit - hold back on increases.
• In such a hard time financially for people, when they are struggling to purchase food for their children to survive I do not think it is the right time to increase charges for basic things.
• I do not think the fees and charges are proportionate to the services they provide, particularly with service charges and parking. Also planning authority management staffer charging hourly for their advice.

We did

We reviewed the responses, and they were reported to the Council meeting on 17 October 2023. Council approved the proposed non-executive fees and charges. The executive fees and charges were authorised under the delegated authority of the Leader of the Council, Cabinet Member for Resources and Effective Council. The responses were also reviewed in this Cabinet Member Delegated Decision report.

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We asked

We asked for your views on our Children and Young People’s Plan that sets out our ambitions and priorities for children and young people in Barnet. It identifies what all partners will do to deliver this and how we will gauge our success.

You said

We received 31 responses to the online questionnaire. The majority of those responding to the questionnaire agree with all the themes the council is proposing to focus on for the next five years. Over three-quarters of those responding to the questionnaire agreed with all the objectives identified in the Children and Young People’s Plan.

We did

We have published the Children and Young People’s Plan and in response to the consultation feedback, an action plan has been developed and structured against key priorities. The monitoring of this Plan will be by the Children and Young People’s Partnership Board. Regular reports on progress will be presented to the Board for scrutiny. The Partnership, which includes young people representatives, will ensure that agreed priorities against objectives are reflected in partnership work to make certain the impact of the Plan is felt by children, young people and their families.

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We asked

We asked residents, community groups and wider partners to help us develop and co-produce our new Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Policy for Barnet. Topics covered included format of the new policy, inclusive language, experiences of exclusion, EDI priorities and vision for Barnet.

You said

Between February – August 2023, we delivered a series of workshops and community outreach activities. Over 200 people shared their views on how we can create a place where people feel they belong and are respected. Here are the key themes of what people said they want to see:

• ensure everyone can access services and prioritise supporting those most in need
• use inclusive language, reflect Barnet’s diversity and promote EDI work
• more community events and initiatives that foster community togetherness
• education and training on EDI matters and ways to get involved
• protection against discrimination.

We did

We analysed the insights gathered and produced an EDI policy engagement (phase 1) report which included the following recommendations:

• keep the new EDI Policy simple, visual and accessible
• publish an EDI action plan and implement robust processes to monitor progress
• adopt an evidence-based approach to identify and support those most in need
• raise awareness of EDI work and consistently involve residents (living the Community Participation Strategy)
• work closely with voluntary and community sector organisations, businesses, schools, police, NHS and other partners to improve EDI in the borough.

We launched the EDI policy engagement (phase 2) in September 2023 to gather views on the emerging EDI priorities, vision, action planning and to further explore inclusive language. This builds on the insights gathered from Phase 1 and reinforces our commitment to co-producing our new EDI policy.

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We asked

We asked for your views on the proposal to develop an Additionally Resourced Provision (ARP) based in the Queenswell Federation. This is closely linked with one of our priorities in our SEND Strategy 2021-2024 to ensure that there is sufficient high-quality provision in Barnet for children with special educational needs who need access to specialist educational provision.

You said

We received two responses to the consultation. One respondent agreed with the proposal to open the ARP because “Children with disabilities need more help and support”.

We did

We can confirm the 28 place ARP for children with Cognition and Learning needs opened at the start of the academic term, in September 2023.

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We asked

We asked for your views on the proposed Housing Allocation Scheme Strategy in line with the statutory requirement to keep it under review. The review sought to improve the smooth running of the allocation policy and to confirm where discretion is currently taken. This led to three main changes being proposed to the scheme: -

• to revert to a two reasonable offers policy, meaning an applicant would not be sanctioned after refusing their first offer
• after allocating homes to secure tenants living on a regeneration estate, at the point of decanting a non-secure tenant the council will look to
• provide a new home on regeneration estates for any non-secure tenant owed a main homelessness duty (under Section 193(2) of the Housing Act 1996) who has held that non secure tenancy for five years or more at the point vacant possession of the property is sought
• under a local letting policy the council will give priority for local people living on any regeneration estate to be allocated a new home on that estate ahead of those who are otherwise waiting for housing and even if their home is not being demolished.

You said

There were 40 responses to an online questionnaire. Of these respondents:

• 84.2% agreed with the change to revert from one suitable offer to two suitable offers of accommodation
• 73.7% agreed with the proposed new local lettings policy that will ensure that after allocating homes to secure tenants living on a regeneration estate, at the point of decanting a non-secure tenant of at least five years who is owed a main homeless duty, the council will look to provide a new home for them on the estate if there are available properties
• 73% agreed with the proposed new local lettings policy that will additionally give priority to local people living on a regeneration estate to be allocated a new home on that estate ahead of those who are otherwise waiting for housing, even if their home is not being demolished
• Similar percentages (73%) agreed with the proposed clarification regarding discretionary succession, the proposed change to allow any other household member, such as adult children, to be included in the application if they have been part of the household for at least 12 months prior to the application.

We did

The revised Housing Allocation Scheme was approved by the council’s Cabinet on 18 July 2023. Following adoption, the council is:

• working with Barnet Homes and other registered providers to introduce relevant changes.
• seeking to build more homes throughout the borough in accordance with our borough plan via Barnet Homes and other providers.

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We asked

We asked for your views on the proposed Tenancy Strategy which deals with:

• the types of tenancies that the council and registered providers will grant
• the circumstances under which different types of tenancies will be granted
• where they elect to grant fixed-term tenancies, the length of the fixed term
• the circumstances in which they will grant a further tenancy when the fixed term expires.

You said

We received 177 responses to the online questionnaire. 92.5% of respondents were satisfied with the proposals in the Strategy. In particular, you welcomed the proposal to discontinue use of flexible tenancies saying that this would give many ‘greater peace of mind’. Notwithstanding this significant support you were concerned at the continued use of introductory tenancies.

We did

The proposals in the Tenancy Strategy were approved by the council’s Cabinet on 18 July 2023. We will be introducing the various proposals over coming months. We will review the use of introductory tenancies in light of proposed government legislation which affects the use of such tenancies.

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We asked

We asked for your views on the proposed Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy which seeks to prevent homelessness; ensure a sufficient supply of accommodation; and provide support for people who are or have been homeless.

You said

We received 16 responses to an online consultation questionnaire and held a series of focus groups including: care leaver, adult social care clients, and key homelessness services partner agencies. This feedback suggested:

• you wished to see more work on homelessness prevention, particularly the challenge of providing mental health support
• there should be greater ongoing support for those placed in temporary accommodation
• you expressed a wish for intervention at an early stage
• that we should consider using council buildings for temporary accommodation
• you wished to see help offered to people with no recourse to public funds.

We did

The final Strategy document was amended to reflect the comments we received and was approved by the council’s Cabinet on 18 July 2023. As a result:

• we are working with Barnet Homes to introduce new initiatives to prevent homelessness and offer support to those with mental health needs
• the strategy sets out the steps we are taking to support those in temporary accommodation who have support needs
• the strategy places an emphasis on early intervention to prevent homelessness
• we are working with Barnet Homes to identify how we can most effectively provide additional temporary accommodation. This will include considering any underused council land or buildings
• all councils are limited in what help we can offer those with no recourse to public funds. While the strategy does not specifically address this issue we will continue to do all we can to help meet the needs of those qualifying for support.