Citizens Panel Past Consultations & Service Review

This page lists the topics on which the Citizens Panel have been consulted and also the services that have been covered as part of the Council's programme of service reviews. The results of the consultation surveys and the presentations and other related documents are available in the "Downloads" panel to the right.

September/October 2008: 'Safer Hart' Partnership Crime Assessment . 'Safer Hart' is the local Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnership bringing together all the agencies in the district responsible for reducing crime, the fear of crime and anti-social behaviour. They conduct an annual survey of residents to assess what they feel about these subjects and to see if previous initiatives have been successful. The survey results inform decisions about the priorities for the coming year. This survey is also sent out by post to a random selection of 3,500 addresses to catch the widest possible audience

May 2008: Review of arrangements for the District Elections. After every major election, the elections team carefully review all the feedback received from the polling stations, presiding officers, poll staff and other interested parties to note and learn from anything which went wrong and any new arrangements which worked well. Planning for the next election starts almost immediately so this review is very important for the team. This year, they asked the Citizens Panel for their perceptions and were delighted with the response.

December 2007: Communities & Partnerships Review. Communities and Partnerships are the service which maintain the links between the council and partners such as the police, parishes and the voluntary sector. Working with partners across the district, this service is responsible for community safety and the development of the local strategic partnership. The review focussed on identifying the priorities and ensuring that scarce resources are used effectively

November 2007: Performance & Democracy Review. Performance & Democracy is a group of smaller services which provide some of the core support services of the council. Elections, Committee Services, Corporate Support, Performance & the Internal Audit Team are all included in the department. The review looked at these functions in the round as well as looking for potential improvements in each aspect of the services delivered.

November 2007: Finance Service Review. Hart's Finance Service manages the preparation and monitoring of budgets and departmental spending, procurement, bank and cash management and other aspects of the organisation's money management. This review looked at the way in which these services are delivered internally.

November 2007: Information Technology Service Review. This review looked at Hart's internal Information Technology (IT) service, and the way in which it delivers its core services to members and officers of the council.

October 2007: Planning - Development Control and Administration Review. Hart's planning service is mainly focussed on the control of development within the district. This review concentrated on how the service is delivered and administered and how we can make access to information about planning applications and decisions more available and ensure that decisions are made on the basis of the most accurate information available.

October 2007: Parks, Countryside and Grounds Maintenance Review. Hart's Countryside and Grounds Maintenance service became part of the Leisure and Environmental Promotion department this year, since it contributes significantly to the leisure needs of residents. This was confirmed from the results of the survey which covered resident's views on the usage of these facilities and priorities for the future.

October 2007: Planning Enforcement Review. This review focussed on the enforcement aspect of the planning team's work, which includes dealing with complaints from the public about breaches in planning conditions, as well as those discovered by planning inspectors. A survey was conducted to determine awareness of the service and public perception of its effectiveness in Hart.

September 2007: Leisure Service Review. This concentrated on the indoor leisure and community centres and omitted outside sports pitches and grounds which will be reviewed separately in October. The survey focussed on non-users of the leisure facilities to try to discover why some residents don't use them and whether any of the barriers to greater usage can be overcome. This survey is being continued in Hart News to try and obtain as wide a response as possible.

September 2007: Refuse & Recycling Service Review. It is almost a year since Hart introduced alternate weekly collections for waste and recycling so this review was an opportunity to assess the impact of this change. A survey in May showed that public satisfaction with the service had improved, and our end of year performance results showed great improvement in the amount of waste recycled. This review recognised the achievements of the service over the past year but noted that there was still work to be done to make recycling easier for residents. The summary presentation lists the intended actions and is available to download

September 2007: Housing Service Review. Hart does not own any housing stock, so the housing service is mainly centred around the prevention of homelessness, the provision of affordable homes for purchase or rental in the private sector, working with people in the private sector to improve that standards of homes and (since May 2007) the provision of the pest control and dog warden services. The concluding presentation from this review is now available to download.

August 2007: Land Charges Review. The land charges service handles the searches which are carried out when properties are bought and sold. They usually provide this service to solicitors, estate agents and property search agents rather than to the general public, so there was no Citizens Panel survey. However, the final presentation and the action plan from the review give an insight into their work and are available to download.

August 2007: Licensing Review. The licensing service provides the statutory regulatory framework for a range of activities including taxis and minicabs, alcohol sales, gambling, street traders, street collections, animal licensing and body-piercing and tatooing. The review compared the service in Hart with that in other local authorities and reviewed priorities for enforcement in the district. The Citizens Panel survey was helpful in determining how well residents were informed about the work of the service.

July 2007: Commercial Environmental Health Review. The commercial environmental health service monitors and regulates food safety, health and safety, infectious disease control, air quality, contaminated land, general public health issues, noise pollution, and cemetaries & crematoria. The review studied how the service could be improved within the existing resource.

July 2007: Building Control Review. The building control service monitors the work of builders and developers to ensure that new construction meets building regulations and conforms to the approved plans. The review looked at the work of this service, and compared working practices with other local authorities.

July 2007: Community Safety Service Review. This review looked at the work of the Council's Community Safety team, such as tackling anti-social behaviour, CCTV, Community Wardens and Partnership Working.

July 2007: Parking Service Review. This service review focussed on Hart's parking service - covering the Council's car parks, on-street parking, residents' schemes, traffic management and enforcement. A survey was conducted to find out the Citizens Panel's views and concerns on the current service.

June 2007: Contact Centre Service Review. This service review examined the performance and procedures of the reception, cash office, post room and telephone contact centre at the civic offices. A survey was conducted to find out how these services are perceived by the public and to learn where we were performing well (and less well!).

May 2007: Street Cleaning Service Review. This was the first of a series of one-week service reviews being conducted between May and December 2007 to improve customer focus and service delivery. The review used input from the Citizens Panel survey, several focus groups and benchmarking information obtained from various sources to look for best practice and potential service improvements. The review led to several significant changes including the re-introduction of manual sweeping in the centres of Fleet, Odiham, Hartley Wintney, Hook, Blackwater and Yateley