We Asked, You Said, We Will

We asked

We asked people across Aberdeenshire to tell us which 5 services were most important to them now and in the future. We also asked where we should focus attention on transforming our business and which services people would like to have a greater say in shaping and designing.

You said

Around 4000 people shared their thoughts. The top 5 services identified were:

• Education
• Roads
• Waste
• Leisure and Culture
• Care
  

Most support for transforming our business was around Buildings and Estate and Transport. However, the results from the survey alone should not be considered representative of the whole of Aberdeenshire as explained in our report.

We will

A report summarising the results from the engagement exercise was shared with Councillors on 23 November 2023. You can read the full report here. The report will be used by Councillors to help set the budget for 2024/25, which will be set early next year (February 2024).

We asked

To help us develop the Fraserburgh Beach Vision and Masterplan, we asked for your views on what Fraserburgh beach means to you, what you like and dislike most about it, and what could be done to make it a better place in the future. We also held several public events during 2022 and 2023 to further develop our understanding of local priorities for the beach area in Fraserburgh.

You said

We received over 800 responses to the survey, along with feedback from face to face public sessions and working with key stakeholders in Fraserburgh. All of this engagement work told us that the beach is highly valued by local residents but that it can do more to contribute to the local economy and social and health objectives for the town. You pointed to local priorities around improving accessibility to the beach, better facilities for year-round and all day use, improved and inclusive play, but maintaining and respecting the natural environment and its unique and special setting. All of this feedback has been taken into account in designing the Vision and Masterplan, which will be used as an evidence base to inform future projects in this part of Fraserburgh.

We will

The final Vision and Masterplan can be accessed here. We will use the Masterplan to inform future project development and investment decisions. We will continue to work with the community to progress the priority projects over the coming years.

The development of a Place Strategy is one of Aberdeenshire Council’s priorities agreed as part of our Council Plan for 2022-27. Our Place Strategy will explain how the Council and our partners will achieve the vision and objectives for Aberdeenshire.

We asked

To help us develop our Place Strategy we asked for your views on what Aberdeenshire means to you, what changes are needed and how the Place Strategy can help to achieve the vision and ambition for Aberdeenshire.

You said

We received 103 responses to the survey, along with feedback from face to face sessions led by Area Teams, Community Learning and Development and the Lived Experience Network. The survey responses provided valuable insight into how people define place, what people's ambitions are for Aberdeenshire and what people would like to see in the place strategy. A lot of the feedback focused on engaging with and empowering communities.

We will

All of your feedback will help us develop our Place Strategy which will be made available soon. This will be supported by a framework of place plans and you will also have an opportunity to get involved and have your say when these are developed. At the heart of the Place Strategy will be the current and future needs of our communities.

We asked

Through the North Public Health Team, we asked for feedback from community members on their experience of accessing health information in this area including Peterhead Library. The responses we received will help develop this provision in the future.

You said

Your feedback helped to tell us about the health information you think is most important.

• More promotion of website apps, social media and resources covering all health topics including health conditions
• More availability of printed resources
• More health information in public spaces
• Provide health sessions on a variety of topics

We will

Explore the use of web resources to complement existing resources.

The Healthy Reading initiative through Live Life Aberdeenshire and the Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership will continue to create public resources which will help to highlight websites, apps, and books for various topics e.g., food and mood, menopause etc. Recently this has included posters to highlight the ‘Pick up my period’ app and free period products.

Continue to share relevant health information and useful resources via our North Public Health Facebook page: Aberdeenshire Public Health - North

We continue to link relevant websites and resources through social media.

We highlight important topics when they arise e.g., sun safe, infection control etc.

We are committed to posting regular weekly health topic posts in correlation with NHS health calendar topics and advice from the Advanced Public Health Coordinators and Public Health Coordinators.

Review and update existing resources at Peterhead Library based on the feedback received on what the public want to access.

All resources have been monitored for 6 months and we have tailored topics to the most popular and used leaflets. Topics include Alcohol, Tobacco, Stress, Money, Child health, Local wellbeing services etc. Advised on relevant Period Products and signage.

Explore other ways for individuals to access information within public settings e.g., Near me Healthpoint service.

Have liaised with Healthpoint on future opportunities, Unfortunately, due to funding the Nearme service couldn’t be implemented within the library however, we have been working hard on creating a model for resources that can be easily duplicated in other locations and continue to promote the Nearme Service which can accessed by individuals at home.

Explore other locations for health information.

Possible further locations; DWP, Health Centre, Men United, Peterhead Community Centre, HMP Family Centre, Rural Libraries.

Provide health sessions on a variety of topics

The North Public Health Team are delivering 'Cooking of a Budget' and 'Confidence to Cook' sessions throughout the area to help promote healthy eating and lifestyles. These are promoted through the Facebook page. The team also continues to explore other health session opportunities.

We asked

The Draft Housing Land Audit was published for consultation in May 2023. This is an annual consultation to update the status of all sites available for housebuilding across Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire.

You said

Responses to the consultation were received from a range of developers, agents, key agencies and other stakeholders.

We did

Amendments were made to sites across the area in response to comments received. The final Housing Land Audit 2023 report has now been published on our website, which can be found here: Housing market statistics - Aberdeenshire Council

We asked

Community groups and organisations in Aberdeenshire to provide their views and feedback on Aberdeenshire Council’s Public Access Defibrillator (PAD) Policy documentation, particularly those groups that have previously shown or may have an interest in siting a PAD outside of a council building. The survey consisted of a small number of questions to gather views on the policy, the process and the Minute of Agreement document as well as inviting proposals for consideration in the development of the updated policy documentation.

You said

There was 34 responses to the survey. The feedback has been collated and is available in the ‘Community Consultation Feedback Summary’ available by clicking on the link below:-

https://engage.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/22706/widgets/72419/documents/43841

We will

All the feedback was considered by the Review Group in developing the proposed amendments to the policy documentation. Consultation with council services and Elected Members was undertaken.

All consultation summaries were appended to the Area Committee report that was considered by each of the six Area Committees during June (Formartine’s is attached at the link below as an example).

2023 06 27 FAC Report - Review of the Public Access Defibrillator Policy .docx

A report is now being prepared for Business Services Committee in September 2023 to seek approval of the proposed amendments to the policy documentation.

Introduction

The community’s interest in developing an action plan was initially sparked by a local survey carried out by the Covid Resilience group. It identified various areas that the community might want to develop including growing spaces.

To do this several engagement methods were used including:

• An online survey that was hosted on Engage Aberdeenshire in June 2022. Paper copies were also made available in local facilities - 82 responses received
• The survey was promoted at the Queens Jubilee event on 4th June to encourage people to respond
• Young people and mums attending the community café took part in a “sticky dot” exercise to identify their priorities for action
• A Community Engagement Event was held at Ritchie Hall on 1st of October 2022
• A survey based on all the ideas identified in the Engage Aberdeenshire survey was distributed at the Christmas Tree Switch on

We asked

The residents of Strichen to provide their thoughts on things like facilities and amenities, play and recreation, public transport, streets and spaces, housing, social contact, and other aspects of living in Strichen which are relevant to them. The survey was based on the Place Standard Tool that asks 14 questions about the quality of the physical and social elements of a place. Those taking part were asked to rate their place on a scale of 1 to 7, where 1 is a lot of room for improvement and 7 no room for improvement.

You said

The diagram below graphically illustrates where Strichen scored well (towards the edge of the circle) and where there is room for improvement (nearer to the centre). This was based on the 82 responses to the survey.

Summary of findings

The Survey results, indicate that Strichen has many areas and assets that the local community rate highly including moving around, public transport, natural spaces, facilities and amenities, housing and economy, social interaction, identity and belonging and feeling safe. The services and places that got a particular mention as being assets to the village were the Community Park, Library, Town House, and the Sharing Larder. Whilst the intention of the engagement exercises was to support the creation of a Community Action Plan for Strichen, this will not be developed at this time.

We will

There were two major areas that scored poorly: traffic and parking along with play and recreation. The concerns around traffic and parking are being reviewed by Aberdeenshire Council and Strichen Community Council are gathering comments to feed into a review of the current traffic management system within Strichen.

While there is lots of great work going on outdoors the need to provide improved play facilities for children is an area for improvement that the community can if they wish to, tackle on their own or with support with Community Planning Partners.

The Engage Survey also highlighted issues some of which were already being addressed. While social media is used effectively to share information, the village also has a comprehensive community newsletter that keeps the local community up to date with what’s going on called “Strichen Spikin”. Strichen Spikin includes information and updates from community groups, the church, library, and the local school.

To view details about our work around developing the Aberdeenshire Autism Strategy, please visit https://engage.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/towards-an-autism-strategy-for-aberdeenshire

To help us develop Aberdeenshire’s Autism Strategy, we coordinated and delivered an Engagement Phase to seek the views from people of Aberdeenshire. Our main purpose was to find out – What should be in the next Aberdeenshire Autism Strategy?

The Engagement Phase of our Strategy began in April 2022 and ended in September 2022. During this period, we carried out various engagement work with members of the public, professionals and other organisations. We reached out and engaged in discussions with children, young people and adults. We also engaged with parents, carers of autistic individuals and representatives from partners, such as the NHS and from third sector organisations.

We welcomed especially autistic individuals and individuals who self-identify as autistic to take part in our discussions.

We asked

Stakeholders were asked to reflect on the following key areas in relation to support/services provided either by Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership or Aberdeenshire Council’s Education & Children’s Services.

1. What is currently working well?
2. What is currently working but needs some improvements?
3. What is currently not working well?
4. What are the gaps and barriers?
5. What needs to happen to improve planning, delivery of services and support for autistic children, autistic young people, autistic adults and older autistic adults in Aberdeenshire, and how?

We used the following communication methods:

• Online based discussion groups
• Online surveys
• Comment and feedback via email
• School pupils supported by staff to share their views
• Workings with families
• Use of social media
• Creation of a dedicated webpage
• Creation of a dedicated autism strategy email account

You said

• Total of 74 group participants attended across four online-based Themed discussion groups (A Healthy Life, Choice & Control, Independence and Active Citizenship). These groups met on a fortnightly basis. Attendance varied from week to week.
• Total of 10 individuals attended an autistic-led group.
• 9 individuals attended across four online based evening group sessions.
• 25 online surveys were submitted.
• Aberdeenshire Council schools - through the teachers and with their support, we asked the school aged children and young persons to complete an online survey. 33 surveys were completed.
• 1:1 feedbacks were received by email.

What we did/will do

We analysed all the responses, feedback, comments and data given, and we identified the following seven key themes which have been incorporated into the Autism Strategy Report and Action Plan:

1. Whole Lifespan – Meeting the needs of autistic people from birth to death by supporting them to access appropriate support and services from our organisations, third sector and from the wider community.
2. Diagnostic Pathways (Children, Young People, Adults and Older Adults): Supporting the delivery of a clear autistic assessment pathway and transitions process.
3. Training - Supporting training, learning and development to improve knowledge and understanding for those who work in Aberdeenshire Council’s Education and Children’s Services and Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership who support autistic people.
4. Lifelong Learning – Delivering inclusive support wherever learning takes place
5. Employment – Enhancing employment opportunities and pathways to enhance the skills and experiences of autistic people.
6. Connecting: Keeping autistic people and their families connected to information and their communities.
7. Community: Building a community that is inclusive, accepting and knowledgeable.

Our Action Plan sets out our strategic aims, actions and outcomes.

Ready2Go Survey for Children and Young People

This survey was aimed at children and young people of school age who live in the Ready2Go Around Inverurie bus service operating area. A map of the area can be found on the Council’s website at Ready2Go around Inverurie - Aberdeenshire Council.

The Council pays for some bus services which included Ready2Go Around Inverurie which was run by Watermill Coaches. Ready2Go was a new type of bus service that was being tested, and has now ended.

We think the Council may have less money to pay for buses next year so we need to decide on which bus services should operate. We also want to plan bus services for future years.

You helped by telling us how you travel and what you think about Ready2Go. We wanted to know whether people like this type of bus service which must be booked, which is different to most other bus services that have a timetable and a fixed route.

The survey closed on Tuesday 3rd January 2023.

We asked

• When and why Ready2Go customers use the service
• If customers enjoy using the Ready2Go service
• Whether customers use the Ready2Go service alone or with an adult
• Given the option in future of one or the other, whether customers would prefer a timetabled bus service or a demand responsive service like Ready2Go
• How many days customers used the service on average every week
• How customers usually book a Ready2Go bus
• Which other bus services customers frequently use
• What alternative modes of getting to places customers use

You said

• 65.6% of respondents used Ready2Go.
• Respondents used the service for a variety of reasons, predominantly to meet with friends or family, to go to leisure or sports activities, go shopping and to go to/from school.
• 51.6% liked using the Ready2Go bus compared to 22.2% of respondents who sometimes liked it and sometimes not. 4.5% have indicated that they did not like the service.
• 53.6% of people told us that they mostly or always travelled alone compared to 12.1% who mostly or always travelled with an adult.
• 71.6% would prefer a bus like Ready2Go compared to 25.2% who would prefer a timetabled service. 13.1% are uncertain which one they would prefer.
• Most respondents told us that they used the service on two or more days per week.
• 59.7% of respondents told us that they used the Ready2Go app to book their journey compared to 2.2% who phoned in to book.
• Survey respondents told us that they use a variety of other bus services such as service 9, 10, 22, 37, 240 and 421.

We did

• The evaluation of the Ready2Go service after it ceases on April 2^nd, 2023
• A forthcoming review of the Council’s passenger transport strategy
• The planning of future Council-funded bus services in Aberdeenshire

A full report on the survey is available here: - Ready2Go Survey for Children and Young People Full Survey Analysis

We asked

In 2020 the Aberdeenshire Community Planning Partnership identified Health and Wellbeing as one of its priorities. One of the strands of this work is Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) We all know that keeping healthy means eating well and keeping active. We also know that this can sometimes be hard for all sorts of reasons. We worked with communities to find out what keeps people well and what challenges they have, and then building on the skills and expertise of communities to work with services to help make Aberdeenshire a healthier place for everyone.

For a full report of the engagement please see https://engage.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/heal

The engagement consisted of 3 phases

Phase 1 – asset mapping around what helps and what makes it hard for people to keep active and eat well. Using a survey, pop up stalls and meetings with groups this phase was intended to involve a broad cross section of the population as well targeting particular groups identified as more likely to struggle with HEAL

Phase 2 – further exploration of key themes coming out of phase 1 through focus groups and online forums.

Phase 3 – community members and service representatives working together to discuss and make recommendations for the HEAL action plan through a mini public process

You said

There is much to build on in terms of what is valued – our parks, beaches and countryside - and other local assets – shops, food networks, community groups and community activists, and local knowledge and expertise.

Some groups struggle more to eat well and keep active than other groups, cutting across and compounding other inequalities

Cost, accessibility, mental health/wellbeing and education/self management were seen as the main causes of not eating well and keeping active.

Ongoing community engagement was valued as a way of improving understanding of community priorities and also as a way of involving communities in bringing about change

The mini public working with service representatives identified priority action areas largely in line with rest of engagement. They also emphasised the need for clarity, simplicity and an awareness of how language can reinforce health messaging

We did

We reported back to the HEAL strategic planning group with recommendations on the action plan. The next step for the SPG will be to agree the HEAL action plan for the next 3 years. The group will then move to focussing on delivering the plan with specific contributions by organisations and services to implement the actions effectively. The HEAL actions will be monitored and evaluated to ensure that the plan is making a positive difference for communities in Aberdeenshire to eat healthily and to be active.

We reported back to communities and local community planning groups –. Working with and through our communities will continue to be a key focus of the HEAL action plan. Local community groups will be updated on the progress of the plan and involved in exploring solutions to HEAL issues

Public Health to lead on ongoing engagement as detailed in actions. Ongoing involvement with communities was a key action to emerge from community engagement process on how best improve HEAL in Aberdeenshire communities. This will continue to be a vital part of the work going forward.