We asked, you said, we did

We asked

We asked for your views on childhood obesity.

You said

In total there were 160 survey responses from Barnet residents. The availability of cheap unhealthy food was the primary concern across all London boroughs including Barnet. Secondary concerns for respondents from Barnet were the quantity of fast food shops, food advertising, and the time and skills required for healthy food preparation. 65% of Barnet participants felt that the availability of cheap unhealthy food and drink was a main contributing factor to unhealthy lifestyles. Respondents from Barnet felt that a more effective intervention would target the availability of unhealthy food & drinks overall, rather than fast-food shops alone. Compared to healthy eating concerns, participants across London felt that there were already interventions in place to help children be physically active. Only 12% of Barnet respondents were unaware of opportunities in their area - an insignificant difference from the London average.

We did:

Information gathered from this debate and debates across other boroughs in London will provide a picture of Londoners' opinions on how to best shape interventions on tackling the childhood obesity epidemic. The views and ideas put forward will be used to inform the next stage of the debate with Healthy London Partnership which will work towards making tangible changes at a community and London-wide level. In addition the information gathered will help the Barnet Public Health team to develop a strategy to meet the obesity related needs of children and young people living in Barnet.

We asked

We asked for your views on our Burnt Oak Town Centre Strategy.

The strategy identified numerous key proposals to meet the strategy aims. The majority of these proposals were public realm enhancements and building upgrades (shop front improvements), but also included potential development sites and highway improvements. The suggested improvements included works to the local Library, Church, introduction of a railway bridge mural, shop front improvements and a new modern kiosk shop outside the train station.

The feedback from our consultation highlighted two themes:

1) The urgency to start the works as soon as possible

2) What is the strategy if business/shop owners do not want to engage in the improvements?

We did

We are happy to confirm that the on site works have already commenced and are due for completion this summer (2017).

We created the strategy and engaged with the shop owners in a way to get the best possible response. If shop owners do not want to engage in the improvements then we can not force them to do so. The shop owners are responsible for the upkeep and cleanliness of their shops. However, we are hoping the increase in footfall (the number of shoppers entering a shop or shopping area) and improvements to other shops in the area and will encourage more retail owners to keep their front of shop clean and tidy.

We asked

We asked for your views on our Finchley Church End Town Centre Strategy.

The strategy identified several key proposals which ranged from improving and establishing civic spaces to improving pedestrian and cycling movement through a revised key junction.

The consultation was carried out on the 30th November 2016 and involved an evening exposition at the Wohl Centre in Finchley Church End with the architects, LBB and large printed copies of the strategy for people to read. The session was a great success with over 100 locals attending to let their opinions known and a large number of people completing the online survey.

You said

The opinions were fairly varied and diverse, bringing into consideration all of the different elements of the strategy. However there were certain elements of the strategy that had an overwhelming response from multiple respondents.

A lot of respondents agreed that there was a real issue with the lack of parking in the local area and thought the idea of more development in the area would make this issue a lot worse than it already is.

There was a mismatch of opinions when it game to potential junction changes and the introduction of cycle lanes through key junctions and roads throughout Church End. A lot of people agreed with the proposed cycle lanes as the current roads are not suitable/safe for cyclists. However, the introduction of cycle lanes mean narrower lanes/less lanes for traffic which many people frowned upon due to the high level of traffic currently.

All of the feedback from the consultation evening was considered, resulting in many of the respondent’s issues and comments being added into the revised strategy

With regards to parking, a full parking study will need to be undertaken prior to the redevelopment of the station car park and other public realm enhancements. Where there is a demand, parking will be reprovided.

The strategy proposes that the junctions and carriageway along Ballards Lane should be remodelled to prioritise creating wider pavements and cycling lanes. A comprehensive traffic modelling study needs to be carried out to ensure a positive outcome for all users of the town centre.

We asked for your views on the proposed refurbishment designs for Stonegrove junior play area. Two designs were proposed in the consultation. Design one included the retention of an existing skate unit. Design two proposed the removal of this unit and an increase in size of a new slide unit, as well as the relocation of the fence line to include all of the play area and equipment.

You said

There were 84 survey responses to the consultation. Of these;

• 79% wanted design 2.
• 91% agreed with the relocation of the fence line to include all of the play area and equipment.

We did

As a result of the consultation we will be proceeding with design two. The current skate unit will be removed and the fence line will be relocated as part of the Summer 2017 refurbishment.

We asked

We asked for your views on the proposed vision, outcomes and commitments of the draft Fit & Active Barnet Framework (2016-2021).

You said

A total of sixty responses were received with representation across residents and organisations that have an interest, involvement or influence over sport and physical activity opportunities in the borough. 75% of respondents agreed / tended to agree with the content of the draft Framework and 8% disagreed / tended to disagree. All comments received were reviewed by the Sport & Physical Activity team.

We did

As a result of the comments received, amendments were made to the draft Framework. A final Fit & Active Barnet Framework (2016-2021) can be found here.

Feedback Updated 1 March 2017

We asked

We asked for your views on changing our Fairer Contributions Policy in a way that was fair and prioritises support for those in greatest need. The proposals were about fees and charges for community based (non-residential) care services which include: home care, day care, supported living, extra care, direct payments and other services financially assessed under our Fairer Contributions Policy. The specific changes proposed were:

1. raising the maximum contribution for home care to match the lowest hourly rate we pay our providers
2. raising the maximum contribution for day care to reflect the actual amount paid to providers for an individual’s care
3. including the higher rate of Disability Allowance and Attendance Allowance as income
4. aligning the council’s guaranteed minimum income to the Department of Health’s guaranteed minimum income or the current level whichever is the highest.

The consultation involved posting consultation packs to people who use community care services, writing to their carers, emailing key stakeholders and hosting drop-in sessions across the borough as well as putting the proposals and an online survey on Engage Barnet. A total of 286 questionnaires and responses were received from the general public and interested groups.

Opinion was fairly evenly split on raising the maximum contribution for day care. However, some of the open ended responses may indicate that some respondents considered the proposals to be about provider payment rates rather than service user contribution rates. If this is the case, then it is possible that the majority of respondents disagree with the proposal.

There was slightly more disagreement than agreement on the proposal to raise the maximum contribution for day care.

More respondents disagreed than agreed with the proposals to include the higher rate of Disability Allowance and Attendance Allowance as income and to align the council’s guaranteed minimum income to the Department of Health’s guaranteed minimum income or the current level whichever is the highest.

Please read the full consultation report for further information.

We did

All feedback from the consultation was given due consideration. Whilst there is a proposal in the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy to not increase Council Tax in 2017/18, it also proposes applying the Social Care Precept at the maximum of 3%. This has been taken into account in assessing the Council’s financial resources available for adult social care. Taking all this into account, it is considered that alternative savings proposals (for example further cuts to preventative services) would have a greater adverse impact than implementing these proposals.

The changes to the Fairer Contributions Policy were approved on 28/02/17 by powers delegated to the Adults and Health Commissioning Director (in consultation with the Chairman of the Adults and Safeguarding Committee) by the Adults and Safeguarding Committee.

We asked

We asked for your views on the outcomes of a review of prevention and early support service for adults. We wanted to know what residents and interested parties thought of our proposals on the future provision of the following services:

• Support Planning and Brokerage (delivered by Inclusion Barnet)
• Wellbeing Services (delivered by Chinese Mental Health Association)
• Mental health project (delivered by Barnet Asian Women’s Association)
• Community Arts Project (delivered by Community Focus)

You said

In total 204 responses were received throughout the duration of the consultation.

Residents raised a number of concerns about the impact of the proposals on people accessing support such as the ability of adult social care to respond adequately to need, the cultural appropriateness of alternative provision, accessibility of alternative provision and concerns about the financial implications for individuals.

Please read the (External link)full consultation report(External link) for further information.

The council has recently undertaken a large scale piece of work to change social care practice to a strengths based model for assessments and reviews. This change will help to make sure that we work with clients to help them achieve their aspirations.

We allocated funding to support the transition of service users to new provision. Comments received during the consultation shaped the allocation and use of this transition funding to ensure that alternative provision is suitable for people from the Chinese community.

We have been supporting organisations affected by the proposals to develop their service models.

We have worked with providers to ensure that, where necessary, service users are able to safely transition to alternative provision. We have worked with Chinese Mental Health Association and Barnet Asian Women’s Association to ensure residents have transitioned to the Wellbeing Hub which has included service and staff development. We will continue to monitor uptake of alternative provision.

We did

The results of the consultation were discussed at the Children, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee on 21 February.

We asked

We asked you to share your views on the future of leisure centres in Barnet. Specifically we asked where you wanted to see the new leisure centre, to the north of the borough, built at either Danegrove Playing Field or Victoria Recreation Ground. We also asked what facilities you would most like to see in this facility and the new Copthall. Finally we wanted to understand what other services you could see yourself receiving from your local leisure centre.

You said

The consultation found that residents were very positive about the proposals to re-provide two of the council’s leisure centres. Residents expressed that swimming pools, learner pools, gyms and cafés were the most important facilities to consider whereas sports halls, crèches, climbing walls and diving split opinion.

There was a balance of opinion among residents in the surveys concerning the location of the new facility to the north of the borough with 35% preferring Danegrove; 34% preferring Victoria Recreation Ground; 7% disagreeing with both and 24% not having an opinion on which site should be used. However Victoria Recreation Ground was the overall preferred option in the drop-in sessions, focus groups and written submissions.

65% of residents indicated that they would consider accessing library services from their local leisure facility. Less than half of residents indicated that they would consider accessing GP or pharmacy services, however 60% of residents told us that they would consider receiving health advice from a modern centre.

We did

The results were used to develop a recommendation paper that went to Policy and Resources Committee on December 16th 2015; the recommendations included the location for the new Church Farm Leisure Centre to be located on Victoria Recreation Ground as well as the facilities mixes for both Victoria Recreation Ground and Copthall.

The paper’s recommendations were unanimously agreed upon and the committee gave the project permission to move to the next phase, the project is currently involved in planning the next phase of consultation where residents will be able to see more detailed plans of the new sites.