We Asked, You Said, We Did

Consultation requested feedback on the proposal to increase the capacity and establish specialist resourced provision at St Johns Primary School.

A summary of responses can be found in the December 2023 Education Capital Programme Report

Cabinet approved the proposal to increase the capacity of St Johns Primary School to 420 pupils and to establish specialist resourced provision for 14 pupils.

WCC and South Warwickshire Foundation Trust released a consultation on a proposal to enter a formal partnership arrangement known as a Section 75 Agreement for the future delivery of the 0-5 Public Health Nursing Service. 

The consultation aimed to hear the views and feedback on the proposal which sought to link Health Visiting services more closely with others that support the health of children and their families. This included detailing:

• Our rationale for the proposal
• Meaning of the agreement and implications.
• Potential benefits and their relative importance.
• Equality Impacts
• Wider views on how services users access the service and feedback on service access/communication.

The target audience for this consultation was current and previous users of the health visiting service or family nurse partnership, the general public, healthcare professionals, professionals working in related areas.

In addition to the survey, focus groups were held with young mothers, parents of SEND children and care leaver parents.

In total there were 236 responses to the online survey. 70.3% strongly agreed or agreed with the proposal, 18.6% neither agreed or disagreed and 10.2% strongly disagreed or disagreed.

Focus groups and drop-in clinics generated a further 18 participants.

Key themes regarding agreement with the Section 75 included:

• Continuation of service delivery from a provider who already know local families well. Providing stability and a longer-term agreement than traditional commissioning approach.
• Collaboration and a shared organisation vision.
• Partnership across 0-5 services.
• Operational benefits for families and staffing working closer together.

Respondents noted that the agreement needs a clear vision and a transformative, open relationship between organisations to ensure change occurs. There was a clear theme for services supporting 0-5s communicating well with each other with a strong emphasis on ensuring true integration is realised beyond words and embedded in the day-day processes of health visiting work.

There were concerns regarding perceived negative impacts of the arrangement such as loss of service provision and resources for the health visiting service. It was repeated that the Section 75 must not lead to loss of the key prevention elements of the service. Whilst integration was noted to be a good thing there was also comments that each service needs to retain its individual role and specialism and remits do not become blurred.

The arrangement requires clear outcomes, and monitoring of how well integration is working with specific measurables in place.

There was a clear emphasis that tangible aspects of the service needed to change for integration to work; all partners need to be strategically on board with the vision and work together to achieve the same goals.

Services listed as needing closer working relationships to support a holistic offer of support alongside Health Visiting were:

• Early Help
• Children Social Care
• GP practices
• Midwives
• Local community provision through charities and community centres/groups.
• Paediatrics
• School nursing

Participants stated some uncertainty about the partnership approach and stated that  clear evidence of what would be different because of this working arrangement needed to be made clear.

The Section 75 arrangement was seen as a better mechanism than a contractual arrangement in bringing about change.

Respondents commented that it was crucial to keep front and centre the role skilled health visitors play around prevention of ill-health, and in delivering the healthy child programme. Work around the mandated contacts needs to be protected and if changed in any way, very well justified.

The Section 75 needs clear objectives, monitoring and scrutiny of the progress towards the aims of the partnership that are set out from the start.

Respondents who disagreed or strongly disagreed with the proposal were asked to what extent did they agree with the alternative – going out to tender.

Only 18.9% of those responding to the question strongly agreed or agreed with going out to tender whereas 44% either disagreed or strongly disagreed with going out to tender. The main reason for disagreeing with this approach was that it was likely to cause disruption and instability to staff working in the service and service users, with tendering seen as a lengthy and costly process. Additionally, concerns were raised that another provider may not have the local intelligence and relationships that SWFT has within the health system of the County. Conversely some respondents commented that seeking an alternative provider may lead to greater value for money, innovation, quality and improved performance.

Feedback on proposed benefits:

Of the proposed benefits of the Section 75 that were listed in the consultation, the benefit with most agreement was ‘Getting the right level of support for your needs, at the right place, at the right time’ with 98.3% of respondents saying this was very important or important to them. The top 3 overall were:

1. Getting right level of support for your needs, at the right place, at the right time.
2. Strong links and connections between different services such as HV, early help, mental health support and SEN services.
3. Easier transition/referral(s) between the services offered for parents and children aged 0-5.

An additional theme that was repeated was the need for shared information systems in order to accelerate timely and joined up care. Many respondents felt IT and data processes were not being used most effectively for the service user and receiving the right level of support at the right time.

Respondents commented that equally as important was enabling an environment that fosters easier communication between services both formally and informally.

In working towards a Section 75 respondents noted that this was a timely chance to improve communication about the service offer to families, how support is offered, where and by whom. Additionally it was emphasised that information is clear, easy to find and if not families can easily talk to someone.

Respondents commented it is important that any agreement continues to place the focus on prevention and early intervention and that as much as possible to not lose sight of this important role health visitors have.

In sharing resources, expertise and working closely with another organisation it was noted that this still needs to have rigorous oversight to ensure the appropriate practitioner supports the relevant need as opposed to inadvertently leading to more connections and referrals for a family which may be confusing.

Concerns with a Section 75 Agreement:

Respondents commented that having some duplication may be necessary particularly if services are doing a similar area of work but approaching it from different viewpoints. For example, with sleep, early help may take a different approach to health visiting. Comments noted the need to consider the actual content of what each service offers and how it is different, rather than viewing duplication by a general theme.

It was noted the Section 75 required strategic buy-in from all the relevant partners health visiting works with, so that they are jointly on-board with the vision and committed to working in this way.

Given the priorities of NHS providers and local authorities may often diverge, respondents comments on the need to ensure a common understanding of the arrangement and utilise each other’s strengths.

An overarching theme was concern about having adequate resources to deliver this arrangement both staffing and financially.

Both professionals and service users strongly stated that the agreement should not lead to a reduction in financial resources or impacts on service resources. Concerns were expressed that integration was a way to reduce costs with the result being poorer experience, outcomes and service for families. The use of skill mix ( utilising different roles to carry out usual health visitor functions) and doing things differently should undergo a rigorous process to identify any clinical risks this may entail.

Professionals noted that clear governance arrangements are needed to make the proposal work, regularly reviewing whether the aims of the S75 are on track and specific measures put in place if not.

Respondents placed emphasis on need for effective IT systems to make integration truly work and robust interoperability between services and systems.

Professional respondents clearly stated that during each stage of the development of the proposal, should it be approved, staff need to be actively engaged with, have their views considered and are a key part in the design of the service.

A key communication message was highlighted in that although SWFT deliver the service it needs to be made clear that all Warwickshire families can access the service not only those who have given birth through South Warwickshire Foundation Trust.

Additional benefits were noted by respondents regarding the flexibility and adaptable planning approach the Section 75 may provide as opposed to waiting for contract renewal for larger changes to the service which may lead to better outcomes.

Comments regarding the future design of the Health Visiting service:

45% of respondents answered this question.

The key themes were:

Face-face contact including drop-in clinics was  identified by respondents as a critical aspect of the health visiting service.

There was a theme regarding the importance of home visiting to pick up needs which aren’t as obvious over the telephone these included:

• Maternal mental health,
• Domestic abuse,
• Building trusting rapport with mother, baby and family.

There were mixed responses about Chat Health with some indicating they have used the service and have found it invaluable but that it needs promoting more. Others felt uncomfortable with receiving advice via text.

A blended approach to delivery which included aspects of webinars, Microsoft Teams and online website access was seen as a useful approach to service delivery but this needed to be carefully designed so that hidden needs were not missed.

Both service users and professionals provided ideas around the schedule of mandated reviews and options for re-designing so that they are more impactful and delivered at the right times for families as opposed to those set out in the healthy child programme which at times do not reflect the realities of families lives.

Respondents said they would like information regarding the mandated contacts, what to expect, when, and what is covered prior to visit and visible online.

Use of social media was seen as a positive for many families as an easy way to access information they required.

Respondents felt further information regarding what support and how to access it outside the mandated reviews would be useful such as groups, clinics and more informal support, which sometimes the timeframes of the mandated reviews didn’t meet.

If you would like to read the full reports on the consultation feedback please click on the links below. (These will open in a new window).

Analysis Report - Survey responses
SEND Carers Discussion Group Summary Report
Care Experienced - Discussion Group Summary Report
Family Nurse Partnership - Focus Group Summary

Since the public consultation the Council have been working with South Warwickshire University Foundation Trust to develop and plan for the Section 75 Agreement. In developing and working through this agreement, challenges were uncovered around delivering the current service model within the available budget. As a result of these identified financial pressures both partners have agreed that it is not possible to progress the Section 75 at this time. Further time is required to work through an acceptable resolution, which provides a sustainable service delivery model for Warwickshire families for the long-term and importantly does not adversely impact service users.

An 18-month extension to the existing contract has been agreed to enable partners to complete the required work and establish the best route forward for the service. In the first instance and in recognition of the consultation results, it will be our priority to find ways to deliver the service within the allocated budget so that the Section 75 can progress.

Additional actions and next steps which have been initiated from the consultation are:

1. Establishing an integrated working group with early help, early years and children and family centres to review offers of each service, reduce duplication and identify ways to work more collaboratively together throughout a family’s newborn journey.
2. Taking on board the ways in which service users prefer to access the service, what is missing and the best methods for delivery. This has been included within the development of the service specification for the future health visiting service.
3. Creating and communicating clear journey of care pathways for families so they can easily understand what to expect, when and from which service during the 0-5 years; and where to go if require further support.
4. Reviewing and establishing integrated pathways for delivery of school readiness and the 2-2.5-year review.
5. Developed a robust governance and monitoring arrangement for the Section 75 should it go ahead.

Results of the public consultation will continue to inform the development of the future delivery model of the Health Visiting service.

The Healthy Ageing in Warwickshire survey was developed to support the Healthy Ageing Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) by understanding the experiences of growing older in Warwickshire. It did this by seeking to understand:

• what is important to people as they age.
• what people think of their local area as a place to grow older.
• experiences of access to health and care services.
• experiences of attitudes to ageing/older people.

The survey was targeted at those aged 60 or more, although responses were allowed from people of any age.

There were 440 responses to the survey. Below is a summary of key findings and messages relating to the 4 purpose statements above.

What is important to people as they age?

• The top three highest scoring items for staying ‘healthier and happier’ were:
  • Spending time with friends or family.
  • Staying physical active.
  • Being able to do things independently.

What people think of their local area as a place to grow older.

• Just over half of respondents rated their local area as either ‘excellent or good’ as a place to live. Around a third were neutral, with the rest being ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’.
• Respondents were most likely to agree that their local area met their needs for social participation, and least likely for local infrastructure, transport, and housing.

Experiences of access to health and care services.

• Most respondents agreed that they knew which health service to access and how to get in touch with them. They were least likely to agree that appointments were easy to travel to, could afford the cost of, or that services were ‘joined up’.
• While there was praise for the healthcare services received by some respondents, many expressed concerns about the process of making appointments, getting to them and communication between different parts of the health and care system.
• Fewer respondents had experienced care services. Overall, agreement scores were lower when compared to people’s experience of health services. Being able to comfortably meet the cost of care services was the least agreed with item.

Experiences of attitudes to ageing/older people.

• Respondents were most likely to think other older people held positive views about them, followed by middle aged people while younger people were thought to have the least positive views. However, several respondents expressed a desire to do more intergenerationally, especially with younger people.
• Community/faith groups were seen by respondents to hold the most positive views of older people when compared to other groups, with Employers and the media being perceived to hold the least positive views.

Cross cutting themes were evident from survey responses whether participants were being asked about their local area, experiences of health and care, services people would like to see, or their views on ageing in a healthier and happier way.

Transport and travel, access to health and social care, and wider support featured frequently. Additionally, issues relating to the design of local areas and infrastructure with older people in mind were evident.

While some welcomed new technology, others raised concerns about the risk of digital exclusion as more services and activities shift online.

A full engagement report can be accessed together with other supporting documents by clicking on the link below.
Healthy Ageing Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) documents

• Themes and quotes from the survey have been included throughout the Healthy Ageing JSNA.
   
• The last chapter of the JSNA, “Recognising strengths and tackling discrimination”, was written based on feedback from the survey and other engagement activities.
   
• The feedback from the survey helped to inform and shape the recommendations set out in the JSNA, particularly:
  • Recommendation 2: We should explore options for Warwickshire to become an Age-Friendly Community, in line with World Health Organisation principles.
  • Recommendation 7: We need to continue work joining up services.
  • Recommendation 10: Organisations should consider signing up to the Age-friendly Employer pledge or otherwise review how ‘age-friendly’ they are for potential or current employees.
  • Recommendation 16: Services and commissioners should explore best practice to identify and support people who may be excluded, including via digital exclusion, and should ensure that impact assessments are routinely carried out when making changes to services to identify who might be disadvantaged and offer mitigations.
  • Recommendation 17: Everyone should be aware of the language and imagery they are using around ageing and older people.
  • Recommendation 18: We should consider intergenerational approaches when considering how to implement these recommendations.
  • Recommendation 20: Findings from the JSNA should be fed back to Housing and Transport colleagues and we should consider how we can continue to work together to improve the health and wellbeing of older people.
• Having been approved for publication by the Health and Wellbeing Board on 10^th January 2023, the Healthy Ageing JSNA, which includes the feedback from this survey, is now being shared and promoted with colleagues across the health and care sector to help inform decision making.

Click on this link for further information and to view the JSNA and related documents.

An action plan has been created around the recommendations from the JSNA, which the survey helped to inform, which is now being carried out.

Warwickshire County Council undertook a 12-week public consultation period on the redesign proposals for Housing Related Support Services (22 May 2023- 11th August 2023).  The aim of the consultation was to inform Warwickshire citizens about the proposals to redesign the current Services, to ask for views on these proposals and their impact and to gather alternative proposals.  The consultation also asked people’s views on the equality impact assessment that was produced in relation to each proposal; whether people felt all impacts were identified, anything missing and ideas about how to reduce the impact.

Social Engine and Kaizen were commissioned to help target and tailor consultation methods and approaches for people whose voices are heard less frequently and those with lived experience.

There was good engagement with the consultation, with 583 responses across the different engagement methods. This included: Ask Warwickshire public survey, outreach work in community settings, focus groups, email responses and a consultation workshop with organisations who work with people who are homeless and with the current services.

For each proposal, people were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with the proposal, their reasons for this, and how the proposal would impact on them and other people/ organisations. They were also asked for thoughts on what could be done instead.

Two analysis reports on feedback were provided by Social Engine.
Click on this link to read the summary anlaysis report.
Click on this link to read the detailed analysis report.

In relation to the specific proposed changes, and following consideration of the analysis reports the following recommendations were made to Cabinet following consultation:  

Recommendation 1 – keeping both floating and accommodation-based support, allocating budget in similar proportions as current commissioned services.  Both professionals and service users (and potential service users) welcomed the retention of both accommodation–based and floating support services.

Recommendation 2 – integrating disabled people’s service into inclusive floating support services for young people 16-25 years and adults 25+ years. To support consistency in service and quality, within the specification we shall strengthen the staff training requirements. This may result in providers choosing to have specialist staff with dedicated caseloads or adopting alternative ways to address this. 

Recommendation 3 – offering flexible, shorter interventions. We recommend proceeding with an enhanced triage process that offers early information, advice, signposting and brief intervention. This will improve the customer’s journey to get the right service at the right time, telling their story only once to services. 

Recommendation 4 – shortening the maximum duration of services. For young people’s support services, we recommend not reducing the time limits. For adults’ support services we recommend the reductions are taken forward. All services will offer holistic and personalised support to meet need, promoting wellbeing, safety, resilience, independence to prevent, reduce and/or delay an individual’s need for ongoing care and support

Recommendation 5 – not changing the current names to Supporting Independence services. We recommend tendering two services:  Young People (16-25 years) and Adults (25+) and changing the name to Accommodation Related Support Services.

Recommendation 6 – current additional services (Street Outreach and Hubs in Nuneaton and Rugby) are not included in future service specification. It was suggested that the redesign with clearer signposting, more streamlined services and working smarter with other hubs/community spaces across Warwickshire could help mitigate some of the impact. 

The Cabinet approved these recommendations on 12^th December 2023.

The next steps are to tender for the redesign services in Spring 2024 to start as redesign services on 1^st April 2025.

A consultation was undertaken to collect feedback on the proposal to alter the age range at Long Lawford Primary School from 3-11 to 4-11 from September 2023.  This would allow the nursery provision to be govenor led rather than a maintained nursery class providing creating flexibility in the early years offer

A statutory consultation was undertaken between 5 June and 2 July 2023, during which 5 responses were received. Of the 5 responses, 4 agreed with the proposal and one disagreed.

The outcome of the consultation and recommendation were presented to Cabinet 13 July 2023 and subsequently approved by Cabinet members  - Cabinet report

WCC consulted on the proposed change in age range at the school from 3-7 to 4-7 from September 2023.  This would enable the nursery provision to be governor led rather than classfied as a maintained nursery class increasing the flexibility of the early years provision offer

A statutory consultation was undertaken between 5 June and 2 July 2023, during which 2 responses were received. Both responders strongly agreed with the proposal

The outcome of the consultation and recommendation were presented to Cabinet on 13th July 2023 and subsequently approved by members - Cabinet report 

The Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care System focus is to address waiting times for a neurodevelopmental diagnostic assessment, including autism diagnosis. This includes finding ways to reduce waiting times for an assessment and improve the support available to people who are waiting for an assessment.

Two surveys were developed to seek views of people waiting for an assessment, those diagnosed with autism, and their family and support networks; as well as one for professionals; to find out more about what is working well and what could be improved in diagnostic and support provision.

The 2023 surveys were a repeat of the 2021 ones which were aimed at understanding if any change has been experienced by respondents, as a result of the new Autism Strategy implementation and increased resource targeted at reducing wait times and improving the offer of pre and post diagnostic support.

204 responses were received to the public survey and 102 to the professionals one.

Responses are being analysed which will inform ongoing commissioning activity for the Autism Strategy delivery.

A quantitative analysis of responses was completed. Qualitative feedback including comments made by respondents is being analysed. The responses will inform ongoing commissioning activity for the Autism Strategy delivery.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care System focus is to address waiting times for a neurodevelopmental diagnostic assessment, including autism diagnosis. This includes finding ways to reduce waiting times for an assessment and improve the support available to people who are waiting for an assessment.

Two surveys were developed to seek views of people waiting for an assessment, those diagnosed with autism, and their family and support networks; as well as one for professionals; to find out more about what is working well and what could be improved in diagnostic and support provision.

The 2023 surveys were a repeat of the 2021 ones which were aimed at understanding if any change has been experienced by respondents, as a result of the new Autism Strategy implementation and increased resource targeted at reducing wait times and improving the offer of pre and post diagnostic support.

204 responses were received to the public survey and 102 to the professionals one.

Responses are being analysed which will inform ongoing commissioning activity for the Autism Strategy delivery.

A quantitative analysis of responses was completed. Qualitative feedback including comments made by respondents is being analysed. The responses will inform ongoing commissioning activity for the Autism Strategy delivery.

Warwickshire County Council with the support of the rail industry is bringing forward plans for Rugby Parkway Station, located approximately 5km South East of Rugby adjacent to the A428 Crick Road at Houlton. Situated on the Northampton Loop of the West Coast Mainline between Rugby Station and Long Buckby Station. Rugby Parkway Station will offer access to the local and national rail network with two trains per hour in each direction.

An application for outline planning permission for Rugby Parkway Station has been submitted; you can view the application on Warwickshire County Council’s planning pages: https://planning.warwickshire.gov.uk/swiftlg/apas/run/WCHVARYLOGIN.display

Prior to the submission of the planning application, Warwickshire County Council undertook a four-week pre-planning public engagement exercise which ran from 23 January 2023 to 20 February 2023. The engagement provided an opportunity for residents, businesses and other stakeholders to find out more about the station project and have their say at an early stage of the design development.

Warwickshire County Council received 388 written responses either through the online Response Form, by e-mail or paper form completed at the drop-in engagement events. Responses received via e-mail or completed on paper copies of the Response Form were manually uploaded to be captured for analysis and reporting purposes.

A significant proportion of respondents (265 – 68%) indicated that they lived in Rugby Borough, 39 lived elsewhere and commute to/via Rugby (10%), 35 lived elsewhere (9%) and the remainder of respondents lived in neighbouring areas/counties.

Consultees were asked to indicate their level of support for the proposals presented. 229 respondents strongly agree/agree with the proposals (59%), 106 strongly disagree/disagree (27%), the remaining respondents are neutral or did not express an opinion.

Responses have been carefully considered by the project team and a report has been produced. Please click on this link to view this.

At this phase of the project development the design of the station is at a very early stage. The submitted application seeks outline planning permission with all matters reserved, except for access to the highway network. All matters other than access to the site from the highway network will be the subject of a subsequent application for reserved matters approval. The reserved matters include the appearance, landscaping, layout, and scale. The plans presented for the public engagement were developed in line with rail industry standards for a station of this type. Much of the detail will be the subject of planning conditions set by the local planning authority, these will need to be discharged by the local planning authority prior to construction/installation.

What happens next

An application for outline planning permission for the station has been submitted to Warwickshire County Council. As at May 2023 a statutory consultation process is underway which will allow residents, businesses and other stakeholders a further opportunity to comment on the proposals prior to determination. You can find view and comment on the application by visiting Warwickshire County Council’s planning pages during the statutory consultation period - https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/commentingonplanning

A Statement of Community Engagement has been submitted as part of the planning application, this describes in more detail the public engagement process and the feedback received.

Future updates on Rugby Parkway Station will continue to be posted to the project’s web page at: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/major-transport-construction-projects/rugby-parkway-station

We wished to obtain feedback on our draft Sustainable Futures Strategy and action plan before finalising the document. We considered this important as these issues will affect everyone that lives or works in Warwickshire. We want to ensure our Strategy is focussing on the right things. In particular: 

• Views on our ambitions and if you think we are ambitious enough 

• Feedback to help us to understand how to get more residents and other stakeholders involved 

• How best to collaborate and partner 

• The suitability of our action plan 

• Help us to understand if there are any barriers to making progress and, if so, what these are. 

• Funding and financing 

The method of engagement was though a public survey open from 18th November 2022 to 15th January 2023. This was hosted online although paper copies of survey forms were made available if requested.  

A series of externally facilitated focus groups were held in February 2023.  

The public survey had no specific target audience as we wished to hear from all in Warwickshire, however due to the nature of the questions, this was best suited for people acting as residents.  

The focus groups (7) were split into members from common audiences: Warwickshire based business; care, community, public sector, seldom heard (particularly the young), subject specialists; a residents group recruited through an expression of interest. An additional focus group for Warwickshire County Council Councillors was facilitated by Democratic Services.  

There were 221 responses to the online survey. Of these 82.8% were responding as members of the general public, 5% as Warwickshire County Council employees, 4.5% as representatives of a local community or voluntary sector organisation and 3.2% as an employee of another public sector organisation.

• 47.6% of 208 respondents thought that the scope of the Sustainable Futures Strategy was ‘about right’, with just over a third (36.5%, n=76) saying that it was ‘not ambitious enough’ and a further 15.9% saying the strategy was too ambitious. 
• 57.8% of 206 respondents felt that the number of objectives included in the strategy was ‘about right’, with just over a quarter (27.7%) saying there were too many objectives and a further 14.6% saying that there were ‘not enough’ objectives. 
• When asked ‘What else should we be doing?’. The most frequently mentioned theme was ‘refocus efforts, be more specific’. Other common themes mentioned included support green infrastructures, buildings, and transport; protect biodiversity/ limit waste; and increase collaboration. 
• When asked ‘What should we stop doing or scale back?’. The most frequently mentioned theme was to shift focus on short-term goals and quick wins. Other themes mentioned included do not remove any objectives; and specific areas to focus on or not focus on. 

Feedback was collected on each of the six sustainable futures themes.

• Of the six key delivery themes proposed in the strategy Energy (65.4%, n=138), Transport (60.7%, n=128) and ‘Wildlife, our Natural Environment and Biodiversity’ (57.8%, n=122) were the options most likely to feature in respondents’ Top 3 priorities.
• The ‘Sustainable Communities and Green Economy’ theme was ranked in either 5th or 6th position as a priority out of the six themes by more than half of respondents (53.6%).

Feedback was also collected on our delivery principles.

• The delivery principles selected as the most important by the highest number of respondents were ‘address climate change and biodiversity justly and equitably’, ‘be innovative in our thinking and lead others on the journey’ and ‘not accept the status quo; we will challenge and inspire’. Each were selected by at least half of respondents.
• The delivery principle chosen by the least number of respondents as important was ‘share our success and learnings’.

Each theme includes an objective. The following feedback was obtained on these:

• (Biodiversity) ‘Improve the richness and diversity of Warwickshire’s habitats, wildlife and landscapes’ was the highest rated objective within this delivery theme (rated by 90.0% as very important or important). 
• (Transport) ‘Provide low emission public transport options to serve Warwickshire’s communities’ was the highest rated objective within this delivery theme (rated by 86.4% as very important or important).  
• (Built environment) ‘Work in partnership with Warwickshire’s district and boroughs to minimise carbon emissions in existing housing to make sure new housing has net zero emissions’ was the highest rated objective within this delivery theme (rated by 85.5% as very important or important). This was closely followed by ‘Minimise carbon emissions from any new Council buildings that we either build, acquire or lease’ (83.7%). 
• (Energy) ‘Facilitate the take-up of low carbon energy solutions for residents and communities’ was the highest rated objective within this delivery theme (rated by 80.1% as very important or important). 
• (Resources, waste and circular economy) Both ‘reduce amount of waste per head going to landfill to near zero by 2050’ and ‘reduce waste from Council buildings’ were the highest rated objectives within this delivery theme (rated by 82.8% % as very important or important). 
• (Sustainable communities and green economy) ‘Lead by example by procuring sustainably and supporting the development of a localised green economy’ was the highest rated objective within this delivery theme (rated by 81.4% as very important or important). 

We received multiple offers by experts, practitioners, academics and community volunteers to support the Council in refining the Strategy.

Key messages from the focus groups were:

Partnership, engagement and collaboration. A strong willingness in working with the Council to share expertise, knowledge and project experience and ultimately support the Council on the journey of the Strategy. There was some disappointment that engagement on the strategy had not begun earlier, and some have asked if there an opportunity to provide further comment on the draft Strategy. The development and sharing of the strategy has created an opportunity for a more joined up and ambitious approach for WCC to work in partnership with others.

2050 net zero target. Provide more granular breakdown of Warwickshire emissions to allow improved targeting. Not enough interim and long-term targets; The Council should set a ‘high ambition’ emissions target for Warwickshire for 2030.Include a metric for air quality.

Action plan for Warwickshire encompassing our 2050 target. There was an overwhelming response from the focus groups, individual responses, and several in the Councillor session relating to the absence of an area based action plan to meet the ambitions for each of the six themes across Warwickshire. Comments suggested this left the strategy ‘partial’, ‘generally vague’, lacking ‘a pathway to achieving the goals’, with ‘a lack of tangible targets and proper resourcing’ and giving concern as to ‘how we're actually going to achieve it’. “there is too much reliance on offsetting which is inadequate”

Funding: The overwhelming feedback recognises that access to finance will restrict our ability to meet our ambitions and goals. Some in the focus group fed back that bidding for grant money is complex, resource intensive and competitive (a point also made in the recent Mission Zero independent report for HM Government). Some suggested banks and industry have a role to play. Others recommended we bid jointly with others.

Strategy themes: Overall support although a need for relevant targets and frameworks to demonstrate how the goals can be delivered. We identified there may be challenges communicating the joint aims of the sustainable communities and green economy theme to our audience. Food was cited as a major omission and should be considered as a stand-alone theme. Others that climate change adaptation should be included. Also, that a seventh cross-cutting theme could be introduced to capture human capital, pooling knowledge, and bringing experts together.

Communications. It was clear from breakdown of respondents in the survey and the focus group recruitment resulted in disproportionate representation despite best efforts to gather views from all. It was fed back to us that there is work to be done to improve awareness of the strategy. Some members of the focus groups recognise the difficulty of appealing to some groups. These particularly include young people, students, people early in their careers and those with young families. We were also able to gather feedback on preferred communication methods.

Tone and language. One of delivery principles as drafted is ‘emphasise prosperity as a focus for sustainable growth’. This didn’t sit well with some. Additionally, there were reoccurring comments of this nature around the ‘deliver a strategy that is value for money’ principle. In these and similar instances, we will be reviewing how we communicate our approach to delivery.

The complete executive summary of the survey is published here

Key messages were summarised in Section 2 of the Cabinet paper

These findings and feedback will be closely considered in the development of a final Sustainable Futures Strategy due to be presented to Cabinet in November 2023. This will be augmented by additional feedback following a resolution to commence further engagement.

As a result of strong interest and engagement in the Strategy across Warwickshire, coupled with multiple offers to support the Council in refining the Strategy, it was recommended to Cabinet that further engagement be undertaken over the summer.

It was recommended that several theme-based expert panels be established with the specific aim of deriving shared solutions, understanding barriers and initiating collaboration. Taking advantage of these offers would also have the benefit of resulting in a strategy with improved stakeholder buy-in to the strategic aims and partnership actions and a strategy that has been subject to external scrutiny. 

At Cabinet on the 15th June 2023, Councillor Heather Timms, portfolio holder for Environment, Climate & Culture applauded the strong engagement from various groups and the ambition to extend that work further. She gave an overview of the different stakeholder groups involved and the proposed establishment of expert panels to help to further develop this work. The aim was to present the draft strategy to the Overview and Scrutiny Committees in September 2023 before submission to Cabinet in the Autumn.

In resolving the matter, Cabinet:

 1)    Acknowledges the progress made since the approval for engagement of the draft Sustainable Futures Strategy in October 2022 and the stakeholder feedback.

2)    Supports the establishment of theme based expert panels drawn from industry and Warwickshire communities to enable production of a final strategy and action plan; and

3) Requests that the draft strategy be considered by Overview and Scrutiny Committees in September 2023, and the Members’ Climate Emergency Group on 20^th September 2023 for comment and any recommendations before consideration of the final Sustainable Futures Strategy and supporting action plan by Cabinet.

 

The Sustainable Futures Strategy Cabinet paper considered on the 15th June 2023 contained the following:

• Recommendations
• Section 2: findings from the engagement work
• Section 7: Recommendations, and timescales

This paper was supported by Appendix 1: summary feedback and reasoning

A survey was required as part of the project evaluation For Our Spaces to explore place sentiment and to gain an insight into the response to public art interventions beyond social media commentary. (Our Spaces – Warwickshire County Council)

To make best use of this opportunity, the research questions were enhanced to enable responses to inform future projects within the place, projects and partnerships team.

The survey was complementary to the University of Warwick’s Getting Creative with Sustainablity programme. For more information on this click on the links below:

Warwick University - Assessing the social impacts of ‘Our Spaces’

Coventry City of Culture 2021 - Assessing the social impacts of our spaces

Key messages from the survey findings that will be applied to future project design include:

1. Suggestions to improve the towns
2. Values and feelings toward art, heritage and community

Information will be shared with local stakeholders including:

1. good things about the towns
2. descriptions of the towns where helpful

Other information will be used in the Our Spaces evaluation.

As part of our medium term work plans we will:

• Develop a plan to communicate findings with stakeholders and other services areas
• Update Our Spaces project evaluation
• Consider the usefulness of such projects for public engagement:  the Our Spaces project has allowed the team to develop new connections and new projects. This survey offers legacy benefits for planning future projects.

Warwickshire County Council undertook a public engagement to the proposed St John’s Junction Improvements scheme in Warwick Town Centre. Engagement took place in November/December 2022; feedback was requested via a public survey, in person drop-in sessions and an online Teams event. These results were reviewed, including open-ended comments and letter/email responses submitted to the council, capturing key themes.

A total of 326 surveys were received, mostly from Warwickshire residents, of whom 55% live in Warwick Town centre.  

The key findings are; 

• Respondents are broadly supportive of the scheme objectives and agree with the scheme in principle. The feedback demonstrates a strong level of support for improving the area around St. John’s from an active travel, traffic management and environmental perspective, with just under two thirds of respondents either “agreeing” or “strongly agreeing” with the scheme objectives. 

• However, specific proposals of the scheme attracted a significant amount of negative feedback, particularly concerning the loss of car parking spaces. This may reflect the high level of car travel amongst respondents and level of parking usage at St. John’s. There is also a strong reaction from local shoppers and business owners, with existing concerns over the vitality of the town centre due to a lack of available spaces. Removal of parking, which is already at a premium, was generally not well received.  

• Many respondents offered suggestions such as better management of existing spaces, rather than reducing the overall number of spaces, would be beneficial and should be explored in more detail. Respondents were broadly supportive of providing a loading bay and more disabled spaces, however there were concerns that these would get abused without proper policing.  

• Respondents broadly recognise existing issues in the area in regards to congestion, rat running and the premise for reducing car parking and restricting turning movements in/out of the service road. However, many did not believe the scheme would have a material impact on active travel; indeed, key concerns included the mixing of pedestrians and cyclists, local road safety issues and potential loss of pedestrian priority at signalised crossings.  

• Local residents were also concerned by restricting turning movements onto St Nicholas Church Street from St. John’s service road but also from Smith Street, despite the latter not being included in the proposals. Congestion on Coventry Road and Coten End was raised by a number of respondents, with some thinking that this could get worse with the proposals. The introduction of signalised crossing garnered a mixed response, with a lack of consensus as to whether this would improve or exacerbate traffic flow problems.  

• Many respondents agreed with improving the look and feel of St. John’s, although some questioned the level of intervention required, due to perceived cost. Some respondents were also concerned by the removal of existing trees in the area. Overall, landscaping interventions were well received by respondents by way of improving the look and feel of the area; however, this may be negated by lack of perceived safety in the area, e.g. by mixing pedestrian and cycling traffic.  

WCC Response

• Regarding the loss of car parking spaces and management; The current parking spaces are substandard, as they are currently too small. The proposals upgraded the spaces to modern standards making them safer and easier to use. The scheme also provides better provision for cycle parking encouraging alternative modes of travel.  

• Regarding the material impact on active travel; This scheme is part of an overall programme of works to improve active travel in the area. These schemes will provide safe corridors for active travel users.  

• Regarding restricting turning movements; The scheme has been modelled and does not have a negative effective on the overall traffic flow within Warwick. This scheme is also part of the wider Warwick Town Centre improvements, with this scheme enabling those future changes to take place.   

• Regarding the cost of the scheme; WCC believe the benefits to improved look and feel of this area, justify any additional cost to the scheme.   

Next Steps; 

• Detailed design is underway, with final proposals being shared publicly in due course. 
• Following detailed design, a procurement exercise will be undertaken and contractor will be appointed. 
• Once contractor is appointed construction will start, subject to availability of contractor and road space.  

Our new local transport plan, LTP4, and supporting information were consulted upon for eight weeks from 24 Sep to 20 Nov. The consultation was open to all interested parties.

This followed a previous round of consultation in 2021 on the key themes of Environment, Well-being, Economy and Place which provided the foundation for the development of LTP4.

Running in parallel with the consultations a Citizens Panel was engaged in the evaluation and assessment of LTP4 throughout most of its development.

Just over 300 responses were received on the consultation on the draft LTP4 and these, together with the views of the Citizens Panel, a representative group of 30 Warwickshire residents, have shaped the production of the LTP document.

There has been broad overall support for the key themes of the new LTP: environment, well-being, economy and place. Respondents have placed particular emphasis on wishing to see the new Plan deliver environmental and personal well-being benefits through a range of transport interventions.

Click here to read the full consultation analysis report.

Key themes that emerged from the consultation processes included:

• improving active travel facilities for walking and cycling to support active lifestyles
• general improvements in/encouragement to use sustainable (public) transport
• planning to reduce the reliance on private cars and to enable electrification where possible
• concerns around the pressures of housing developments and/or increasing populations on the existing transportation network(s)
• clear and measurable action plan(s) to implement strategies and methods for monitoring progress (success and/or failures)
• current frustration around implementation and time taken to see progress importance of consultation, engagement and communication with residents and stakeholders throughout the process

The views of the consultation and the Citizens Panel have informed the development of the final LTP4 document.

In response to feedback, next steps are to deliver on the strategic aims of LTP4 through the development of action and monitoring plans. These will provide greater detail both on individual schemes and more general transport interventions. Annual monitoring and reporting will provide evidence of delivery of the new Plan’s overall aim which is to decarbonise transport and provide a modern, sustainable transport network.

To read all the LTP4 related documents considered at Full Council on 25 July 2023 please click here.

Warwickshire’s Local Transport Plan (LTP4) was adopted by Warwickshire County Council in July 2023. The Local Transport Plan and supporting documentation can be found here: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/localtransportplan “

We asked the communities of Warwickshire to share their views on our Prevention, Protection and Response Strategy 2022-27 which is one of the components of our Community Risk Management Plan.

There were a total of 465 respondents to the online survey, and 7 e-mails received containing views and feedback on the Prevention, Protection and Response strategy.

Overall, the strategy was strongly supported by the majority of respondents to the survey.

• A high proportion of respondents (90.5%) agreed or strongly agreed that we should target our resources to reduce risk.
• The majority of respondents agreed with the Prevention, Protection and Response priorities; however, it is worth noting that where 90.9% and 90.5% of respondents respectively agreed with the prevention and protection priorities, with regards to the response priorities, 61.7% agreed whilst 32.1% did not agree.
•  A high proportion of respondents (87.5%) agreed, or strongly agreed, that the service offer would meet their safety needs.
• A high proportion of respondents (86.1%) agreed that the Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service approach will ensure that the priorities are delivered in the right way.
•  A high proportion of respondents (79.5%) were satisfied that the strategy will make Warwickshire the best it can be both now and in the future.

For every question, respondents were asked to give a reason for their answer. It is worth noting that a higher proportion of those who disagreed or strongly disagreed with the question elaborated on their response, compared to those who agreed or strongly agreed.

Click here to read the report considered at the Warwickshire County Council meeting on December 13th. This includes a copy of the full analysis report.

The Fire Authority considered the findings of the consultation and approved the Prevention, Protection and Response Strategy 2022-27 at their meeting in December.

The strategy will be implemented throughout the Service and will be reviewed annually by the Chief Fire Officer.

Click here to read the strategy.

The draft Warwickshire Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) was consulted upon for eight weeks from 17/06/2022 until 14/8/2022.  The consultation was open to all interested parties.

This followed an earlier survey in Summer 2021 which asked people for ideas and specific locations for new or improved walking and cycling facilities.

The consultation successfully engaged with a wide range of people, reflecting the views of residents and organisations from across the county.

A total of 1031 people responded to the online survey, demonstrating the high level of public interest in active travel in Warwickshire, and ensuring that the LCWIP is based on a good understanding of local viewpoints.

Click here to read the full consultation analysis report.  Conclusions from this analysis were that:

• There was a high level of agreement with aims and proposals.
• The majority of respondents stated that they would walk and/or cycle more should the routes be delivered as outlined in the plans.

People welcomed the opportunity to comment in detail about the infrastructure plans.

The feedback from the LCWIP consultation (online survey as well as face-to-face meetings and email responses) endorsed the overall approach set out in the draft LCWIP but also provided very specific comments on the text in the documents and the schemes proposed in the network plans.  This feedback has informed the development of the final LCWIP.

The Warwickshire LCWIP was approved by Cabinet in February 2024.  To read all the LCWIP documents considered at Cabinet please click here.

The Warwickshire LCWIP now supports the development and delivery of a pipeline of walking, wheeling and cycling schemes and guiding of investment opportunities over a 10-year period.  There will be an annual review of the LCWIP schemes.

Click here for more information on the Warwickshire Walking and Cycling Infrastructure Plan.

The Service User Survey for current users of domiciliary care; their families, friends and carers; and members of the public sought to capture:

• views and experiences about the current commissioned domiciliary care provision in Warwickshire (what works well and what could be improved);
• views about potential future service provision (related to what currently works well and what could be improved).

The level of responses was strong in absolute numbers – 249 responses prior to the closing date.  This represents about 12 percent of current service users.  Responses were received from all districts and boroughs in Warwickshire.

These responses highlighted areas of satisfaction with the current service provision as well as elements which could be improved:

• 66 percent of responses either strongly agreed or agreed that the service meets the needs of the person receiving care;
• The single most important issue in receiving a domiciliary care service was to feel safe with the carers.

Concerns identified with the current provision included timeliness of care calls (both in terms of calls being on time and the difference in time between calls) and consistency of carers (service users preferred to have the same care staff coming regularly).

The timeline for the retender has been amended due to a contract extension approval, therefore the new contract will come into force later than anticipated originally.

Survey feedback and comments were analysed and fed-back to senior management in all relevant teams via an evaluation report and presentation at the steering group in October 2022.

The issues identified have been discussed and will be considered as part of the tendering process at all stages.  This includes design of the future service model to see how the strengths of the existing service can be retained and the weaknesses remedied.

People in Coventry and Warwickshire were invited to have a say on the region's approach to prevent suicide. 

Warwickshire County Council and Coventry City Council are working together with other local organisations and services to create a new joint approach to providing information, services and support across the area to help prevent suicide. 

A new strategy will outline how local organisations and services will work together to achieve the vision that no one in Coventry and Warwickshire ever feels that suicide is their only option. 

Coventry and Warwickshire Suicide Prevention Partnership will use this strategy to make positive change and asked for opinions to ensure the approach will have a positive impact. 

The following different engagement opportunities were made available as part of the development of the Coventry and Warwickshire Suicide Prevention Strategy:

Local strategic partnerships: a number of local partnership boards were engaged with developing the vision and approach for the Suicide Prevention strategy.

Stakeholder workshops: Through a series of workshops, local organisations and services told us that our approach to suicide prevention across Coventry and Warwickshire needs to:  

• have clear and consistent messaging  
• raise awareness of suicide prevention within communities and organisations 
• ensure that people know where to go for the right support at the right time 
• understand and reflect the reasons that may lead to suicide or suicidal thought 
• be relevant to all ages and different communities and population groups 
• target people and groups at higher risk of suicide 
• involve people with lived experience  
• provide support to the people who are working with or caring for people who self harm or are at risk of suicide 
• use the knowledge and experience of existing networks and groups to share best practice  
• enable the sharing of information to support better joint working and coordination of service delivery 
• focus on prevention and early intervention to support the emotional wellbeing of people   

Public engagement survey: This engagement process concluded that the strategic vision and priorities were largely consistent with what respondents felt was needed. There was an emphasis on societal risk factors and prevention at the earliest opportunity. Specific themes were identified in relation to:  

• The need for early intervention and support before crisis is reached 
• Ensuring that individual needs are at the centre of any intervention, particularly at crisis point 
• Tackling risk factors that might be a causal factor for suicide  
• Taking a holistic approach that takes account of the individual and complex nature of suicidal crisis and ideation
• Coproduction and ensuring that lived experience forms the basis of suicide prevention activity  
• Funding, service capacity and joined up working locally 
• Increasing awareness of suicide so that people are better to equipped to identify and support individuals in suicidal crisis 
• Improving the general wellbeing and resilience of individuals and communities  

Overall, our engagement activities concluded that there was overall agreement with the ambitions and priorities of the new suicide prevention strategy.

A significant amount of rich information was gathered from both organisations and individuals through this process. This will be used to inform the suicide prevention delivery planning process.

Where appropriate, the feedback from the public engagement survey will be reflected in the suicide prevention work programme, with specific actions developed in response to this.

The new Coventry and Warwickshire Suicide Prevention Strategy 2023-2030 was endorsed by both the Coventry and Warwickshire Health and Wellbeing Boards in January 2023. Please click on the links below for more information.

Warwickshire Health and Wellbeing Board: 11 January 2023. (Agenda item 6)

Coventry Health and Wellbeing Board: 23 January 2023. (Agenda item 8)

A further paper was submitted to Warwickshire County Council’s Cabinet in April 2023 to confirm the Council’s approval of the Strategy.

The published version of the Strategy is currently being finalised and will be available on the WCC website once published.  

Coventry City Council and Warwickshire County Council invited people to take part in this survey to help to inform and shape future local sexual health services.  

The survey focused on gathering feedback to shape the new service focussing on:

• Reducing health inequalities
• Expanding availability of services
• Improving engagement with people with additional and complex needs
• Increased use of ‘at home’ interventions

The survey was open to everyone, an additional Easy Read survey has been developed and is currently with key organisations.

There were 248 responses, of which 74.2% (184) were answering on behalf of themselves, 23% (57) as professionals and others on behalf of someone else or a group.

A good mix of people from Coventry and boroughs/districts in Warwickshire responded – 27.8% (52) Coventry, 5.3% (10) North Warwickshire Borough, 10.7% (20) Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough, 13.4% (25) Rugby Borough, 15% (28) Stratford-in-Avon District, 26.2% (49) Warwick District. In addition there were other people who responded from somewhere else or preferred not to say.

Of the responses, 47.1% had used services in either of the Local Authority areas, 40.1% have never used services, 5.9% used services in both Local Authority areas, 7% used services outside the Local Authority areas, 19.3% had not needed services, the other percentage covered other options.

Key messages when looking at barriers to accessing services included:

• Times / days of opening
• Location of clinics
• No service nearby
• Confidentiality
• Embarrassment
• Poor previous experience
• Not feeling understood
• Other

Additional information was gathered through open text box responses, this gave further insightful information.

The detailed report has been shared with colleagues in Coventry, the information will be used to support the Needs Assessment and be used to ensure the service model section of the Service Specification reflects the needs of the Local Authority residents.

A small number of written responses in the free text boxes have caused concern, these have been taken to the current service providers for immediate action.

All responses will be used in the building of the Service Specification which will become a public document on its completion.

Information will also be used to support the Needs Assessment.

Warwickshire County Council's Road Safety Education Team conducted this survey to identify current behaviours and attitudes towards active travel, and to learn how and why people walk and cycle, or why they currently don’t.

The aims of the survey were to:

• Identify barriers to active travel in Warwickshire.
• Identify appropriate support and resources to encourage and enable active travel in Warwickshire, particularly for journeys 5 miles and under.
• Identify potential gaps in provision and education in Warwickshire.

The survey was designed to identify how best to support and enable Warwickshire residents to choose active travel as a mode of transport, and shape future educational interventions and campaigns. Responses from the survey will be used to help design a brand-new community campaign (#JustOneJourney) focussing on promoting active travel across Warwickshire, ensuring targeted and effective information and messaging.

The public were encouraged to take part in the survey through Ask Warwickshire and Facebook and Twitter promotion.

The survey received 863 responses from Warwickshire residents, with geographic representation from across Warwickshire. 6.72% were from North Warwickshire, 8.57% Nuneaton and Bedworth, 17.84% Rugby Borough, 41.14% Warwick District and 23.75% Stratford District. 31 responses were from non-Warwickshire residents who regularly visited Warwickshire.

Key information has been calculated from the number of respondents who answered the specific question.

Key statistics highlighted:

• 41% of respondents use the car to travel to and from work, with only 10% currently walking, 16% by bicycle and 9% using a combination of public transport and active travel. These statistics indicate the importance of promoting commuting by active and sustainable modes and engaging with workplaces and employees.
• 14% of respondents currently travel by car to visit family/friends for journeys 1 mile and under, and 52% for journeys 5 miles and under.
• Fewer residents' cycle than walk, with over 40% stating that they do not cycle due to lack of confidence.
• 77% of respondents strongly agree or agree that walking is convenient for journeys 1 mile and under and 70% that walking is time efficient. Only 10% strongly agree or agree that there is a good level of information about walking routes provided.
• 44% of respondents strongly agree or agree that cycling is convenient for journeys 5 miles and under. 10% believe that there is a good level of information about cycle routes provided.
• 89% of respondents would prefer to travel actively for journeys 1 mile and under, and 60% for journeys 5 miles and under.

Key themes included:

• Recognition of personal responsibility to travel actively and sustainably;
• A clear understanding of the positive outcomes on health and well-being, environment and financial;
• Belief that walking for journeys 1 mile and under is an effective use of time;
• Belief that cycling for journeys 5 miles and under is an effective use of time.

The survey highlighted that for more uptake in walking and cycling in Warwickshire there needs to be:

• An improved level of information of walking and cycling routes throughout Warwickshire;
• More accessible route planning;
• Safer walking and cycling routes;
• Improved cycle parking;
• Improved storage.

In addition to quantitative data, qualitative data indicated that there are concerns when walking, which include cyclists on footpaths, vehicles parked on pavements and road users not adhering to the Highway Code.

This survey has helped us learn about Warwickshire residents' attitudes towards active travel and current travel behaviours. The findings from the survey have helped us develop and launch a new Safe and Active Travel website:  https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/warwickshire-safe-active-travel

The website has a variety of information and resources, developed in response to key themes highlighted in the survey. Including:

• Information about walking and cycling in Warwickshire;
• Journey planners;
• Travel plans;
• Videos and route maps; and
• Extensive information for Schools, Workplaces and Communities around being more active.

Next Steps:

• Promote the new Safe and Active Travel website via social media and with schools, workplaces and communities. This will be a one stop for shop for active and sustainable travel in Warwickshire.
• Develop and refine a community campaign to encourage and promote active travel, ensuring messaging reflects Warwickshire’s needs.
• Finalise development, deliver and evaluate a pilot behaviour change intervention for workplaces focussing on increasing the number of journeys made actively and sustainably to and from work.

The Road Safety Education Team would like to thank all members of the public who took the time to complete this survey and share their active travel experiences with us.

We asked for views on the proposal to extend the age range of Brownsover Community Infant School from 3-7 to 3-11 from September 2026. This would allow the School to change from a two form entry (2FE) infant school to a one form entry (1FE) primary school with the school offering year 3 places from September 2026. This would increase the school size by 30 pupil places from 180 places to 210 places.

A total of 78 responses were received. Of the responses received, 60% were in agreement with the proposal, and 40% disagreed with the proposal.

On 14th July 2022 Cabinet reviewed the report and approved the following recommendations:

1.Approves changing the age range at Brownsover Community Infant School from 3 to 7 to 3 to 11 with effect from September 2026

2. Authorises applying to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator in relation to the proposed reduction in the school’s Published Admission Number (PAN) from 60 to 30 from September 2023

3. Approves, subject to the approval of recommendation 1, that £0.965 million is added to the capital programme to deliver the scheme outlined in section 1, funded from Department for Education capital grant and developer funding.

4. Authorises, subject to the approval of recommendation 3, the Strategic Director for Communities in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Education to invite tenders and enter into the appropriate contracts on terms and conditions considered acceptable to the Strategic Director for Resources, to make the necessary funding arrangements for these schemes.

Cabinet meeting report can be found here