We Asked, You Said, We Will

We Asked

Aberdeenshire Council, as Licensing Authority, are statutorily obliged to review and fix the maximum fares that taxis in Aberdeenshire can charge every 18 months.

To gather opinions, before fixing the maximum fares, we undertook two distinct consultations. We conducted a pre-consultation exercise with the taxi trade which is not statutorily required. This sought the views of the trade in respect of the proposed fare scale to be taken forward to the statutory consultation phase. Views were sought on all aspects of the fare scale and the survey was active between 1 July 2024 to 22 July 2024. A link to the survey was sent to all relevant licence holders within the trade.

The statutory consultation was open to the public and the taxi trade. Views were sought on the proposed fare scale with a view to fixing the final fare scale. The survey was active between 4 September 2024 and 4 October 2024. A link to the survey was sent to all members of the trade, a notice was published in the Press Journal on 4 September 2024 and the consultation was also publicised through the Council’s social media channels. The notice provided details of the proposed scale, the dates of the consultation and detail as to how parties may respond.

You Said

Initial Consultation With The Trade

• We received 31 responses to the pre statutory consultation with the taxi trade;
• The majority of the respondents from the taxi trade sought no change;
• The highest level of support was in relation to the standard initial charge (19.4% of respondents seeking an increase);
• Support in respect of change to other aspects of the fare scale range from 0.0%-16.1%;
• Some respondents indicated issues with practicalities of the current fare scale (need to carry change) and impact of the festive season rate in December in addition to costs increasing for operators;

Public Consultation

• We received 29 responses to the statutory consultation – 21 from members of the public and 8 from the taxi trade;

Taxi trade respondents:

• 50.0% did not agree with the proposed fare scale. The majority of those indicated that an increase was needed to cover increasing costs;
• 42.9% stated that the incremental charges caused an issue in terms of the need to hold change. However, the majority indicated no issue with this as they tended not to charge the pence and more and more people were paying by card;
• A large proportion of those who responded felt that the inclusion of all weekends in December within the festive season rate did have a negative impact on their business.
• Those who sought an amendment to the fare scale proposed various increases ranging from higher set amounts to inflationary increases across the Board.

Members of the public:

• 76.2% did not agree with the proposed fare scale;
• Those who agreed felt it was fair and reasonable, given the costs faced by the trade.
• Those who did not agree felt it is too expensive, with the majority stating that their main issue is in relation to the inclusion of weekends within the festive season rate. They felt that was unfair and had too much of an impact on those who were reliant on taxis to get around or required such transport to get to and from work;
• Some of those who disagreed with the proposed scale put forward proposals for consideration with the majority of these relating to the removal of weekends in December from the festive period something which was also supported by some of the trade when responding to the initial consultation (15.4% of the trade).

We Will

A report summarising the engagement with the taxi trade during the pre-statutory consultation was presented to Licensing Sub-Committee on 30 August 2024. Committee considered the views of the trade and agreed that the current scale with no changes should be taken forward for public consultation. This being the view of the majority of the trade who had responded. Committee also instructed officers to seek further details in respect of the issues raised by some of the trade in respect of the current scale and for this to be done as part of the statutory consultation so that they were fully aware of the impacts before fixing the final scale.

A report summarising the second round of statutory engagement with the taxi trade and members of the public was presented to Licensing Sub-Committee on 11 October 2024. Committee also heard from a member of the trade. The Committee sought answers from the speaker in respect of some of the practicalities caused by the current fare scale as well as the impact that this has had in terms of their business. The speaker had previously responded to the consultation and also spoke to their responses.

On considering the responses in front of them the Committee were split in their decision. The majority voted to approve a 5% uplift in the initial and additional charges across the board with the festive season rate being retained for weekends in December on a temporary basis with this being reviewed at the next pre-consultation phase.

We will seek further feedback from the trade in early 2025 in terms of of how their business was impacted by the decision to retain the festive season rate across all weekends in December and with a view to establishing whether this remains appropriate moving forward.

The fare scale was set as agreed and there were no appeals lodged with the Traffic Commissioner for Scotland. The fixed scale was therefore published in the Press and Journal on 5 November 2024, in line with the statutory requirements, and came into effect on 1 December 2024.

We asked

Aberdeenshire Health & Social Care Partnership is currently reviewing its Adult Carer Strategy, which was published in 2018. Our updated Adult Carer Strategy aims to set out our objectives for supporting adult carers in Aberdeenshire, over the next five years.

We conducted online surveys for both adult carers and people who support them, asking for their views on priorities for Aberdeenshire’s Strategy, for supporting adult carers to sustain their caring role and have a meaningful life alongside caring. Paper copies of the surveys were available on request. The surveys were open from 26th August to 13^th October 2024.

Adult carers and people supporting them were also given the opportunity to provide feedback during the AHSCP Strategic Plan Engagement Events held widely over Aberdeenshire during mid-September to mid-October.

We asked adult carers and those supporting them for their views on the following:

• Their awareness of the Aberdeenshire Carers Support Service (VSA)
• Whether carers felt recognised by health and social care services and carer support services in Aberdeenshire and what would help support carers to be more recognised
• Their views on training available for carers within Aberdeenshire
• Access to breaks from caring
• Their experiences of being involved and included in the hospital discharge of the person they are caring for
• Their views on Emergency Planning
• Their priorities for inclusion in our Adult Carer Strategy over the next five years
• Comments on the implementation of the Carers Scotland Act

You said

In total 188 adult carers and 20 people supporting adult carers participated in the surveys to give their views. Responses to both surveys were received evenly from across north, central and south Aberdeenshire. 75% were female carers and the majority of carers were aged between 45 and 64 (58%), with 23% aged over 65.

The majority of carers (56%) were aware of the Carer Support Service and registered with VSA, with signposting via social work services, health services, the third sector and social media. The majority of people supporting adult carers (70%) were also aware of the service.

46% of carers informed that they did not feel recognised as an unpaid carer. The majority indicated that more awareness and understanding by services would help carers feel more recognised, particularly Healthcare/NHS and GP Services. 30% of people supporting adult carers also said that carers were not recognised.

Most carers (81%) advised that they had not accessed training to support them in their caring role, identifying Moving and Handling, Mental Health Training, First Aid and Condition Specific Training as required. 50% of people supporting adult carers informed they had accessed Carer Awareness Training.

60% of carers said they have not accessed breaks from caring. Those who had, informed that having a break had the most positive impact on their mental health. Whilst additional feedback from some carers was positive, the majority of carers stated a lack of resources for respite care or replacement care for the person they are caring for as being a barrier to accessing breaks from caring.

42% of carers stated they were not involved or informed during the hospital discharge process of the person they are caring for, with the majority informing there was no or little recognition by ward staff/healthcare staff for carer involvement in hospital discharge. Responses for people supporting adult carers was similar.

78% of carers stated that carers would like support to complete an emergency plan.

Carers top priorities for inclusion in the updated Strategy were:

• Information sharing and support available to carers
• Development and implementation of a consistent and supportive hospital discharge planning process, which involves carers
• Improve and promote carer awareness training for paid staff and carers and the people they care for
• Develop a training plan for carers to access based on their identified training needs
• Promotion of Carers Card UK (carer concessions and recognition)

People supporting adult carers identified the same top priorities in a similar order.

Of the carers who gave feedback on the local implementation of the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016, the majority were either unaware of the Act or made no comments, suggesting that there is potentially a lack of awareness and understanding of the Carers (Scotland) Act amongst local carers. People supporting adult carers indicated the Act is being implemented well in Aberdeenshire, but there were also concerns about resources.

We will

The Draft Strategy is now being prepared for the Integrated Joint Board and Strategic Planning Committee, being held in March 2025, for their review, and to seek approval of the proposed Strategy, prior to making this available to unpaid carers for their consultation during April/May 2025.

We asked

In October 2024, we asked for public opinion via an online consultation on two proposals within Stonehaven and whether the designs would meet its aims

1. Beach Front Improvements aims to:

• Make permanent the increased space given to pedestrians along the beach front
• Improve road safety by reducing road space and slowing traffic
• Create more formal parking spaces and reduce the informal parking that is causing issues for motorhomes trying to reach the caravan park

1. Belmont Brae One Way System aims to:

• Improve road safety by disallowing vehicles to enter the B979 from Belmont Brae to reduce conflict with vehicles entering and exiting Mineralwell park
• Improve road space by only allowing vehicles to travel one way
• Improve space for pedestrians by giving some of the road space to creating a footpath that leads all the way round Belmont Brae.

The consultation also asked respondents to leave comments on the scheme.

You said

We received 244 online responses to the survey as well as one email and one written response.

In relation to the Beach Front improvement scheme, from the online responses 65% felt the designs would meet the aims stated, 25% felt it would partly meet the aims and 10% felt it would not.

The main comments received in support of the designs welcomed the scheme and believe that it will provide better conditions for pedestrians along the beach area. The main concerns were that the scheme doesn’t cover a wider enough area as well road safety concerns regarding traffic and parking particularly for motor homes.

In relation to the Belmont Brae One Way System scheme, from the online responses, 62% of respondents agreed the design for this scheme would meet the aims stated, while 14% partly agreed and 24% felt it would not meet the aims.

The main comments in support of the scheme felt that it would improve safety and provide space to improve pedestrian access. The main concern was that a one way scheme would push traffic into the town centre. Several comments proposed that the one way system should operate in the other direction or required further development. Some respondents felt the scheme wasn’t required.

We will

The next step is for detailed designs to be drawn up and any statutory consultation to take place that may be necessary leading from this work. Once the designs are completed, the Council will actively seek appropriate external funding options to deliver these schemes, but delivery of the works will be completely dependent on the ability to raise the necessary capital funding required.

We Asked

Aberdeenshire Council is currently reviewing it’s Young Carer Strategy, published in October 2020. The updated Young Carer Strategy which will apply from 2025 to 2030, aims to set out the Council’s objectives for supporting young carers in Aberdeenshire. The Young Carer Survey and Adults Supporting Young Carers Survey which were active from 26 August to 29 September 2024, sought the views of individuals on the development of the Action Plan. Our survey included priorities for the updated Strategy.

You Said

In total 27 young carers and 17 adults supporting young carers participated in the surveys to give their views.

23% of young carers attending primary or secondary school and 27% of adults supporting young carers told us their school was signed up to the Aberdeenshire Schools Young Carer Charter.

54% of young carers attending school and 80% of adults supporting young carers did not know if their school had a young carer champion and the majority did not know if their school had a dedicated young carer noticeboard.

19% of young carers attending school and 27% of adults supporting young carers told us their school uses assemblies or lessons to raise awareness of young carers.

56% of young carers said they were registered with VSA Aberdeenshire Carer Support Service. Of these young carers, 33% said they had been supported to apply for a Aberdeenshire Health & Wellbeing Grant and 92% of young carers and 94% of adults supporting young carers stated we should continue to offer this Grant.

Responses on the completion of Emergency Plans for young carers, indicated 33% of young carers and 38% of adults supporting young carers said they either had or would like support to complete one. The remaining responses advised they did not want support or did not know if they would need support to complete one.

33% of young carers and 25% of adults supporting young carers said they had a Young Carer Group that meets in school or in the local community. Of the young carers who did not have a group, 57% said they would like a group out-with school, whilst 21% said in school and 21% said they did not want a group.

We Will

We will use the feedback above to help shape the development of the Young Carer Strategy and Action Plan. We will provide further updates once the Strategy has been completed.

We asked

The Draft Housing Land Audit was published for consultation in September 2024. This is an annual consultation to update the status of all sites available for housebuilding across Aberdeenshire.

You said

Responses to the consultation were received from a range of developers, agents and key agencies. This included comments on 100 individual sites within the audit, covering issues such as expected programming, possible constraints, and queries relating to infrastructure provision, ownership and marketability. In addition, there were general issues raised relating to housing market areas, how sites should be regarded in the next Local Development Plan, and the presentation of data within the audit.

We will

Amendments were made to sites across the area in response to comments received and a meeting was held with stakeholders in November 2024 to discuss outstanding issues. The final Housing Land Audit 2024 report will be published in early 2025 on our website Housing market statistics - Aberdeenshire Council

We Asked

The Council proposed to discontinue education at Fisherford School, which had been mothballed since August 2021. The catchment area of the school was suggested to be re-assigned to either Auchterless School, Rayne North School or a combination of both schools. To gather opinions on this proposal, a statutory consultation was conducted from 5th February to 29th March 2024, including a public meeting on 6th March 2024 at Turriff Primary School and an online survey. The consultation process also included discussions with pupils and staff from the affected schools.

You Said

Survey Results: Of the 41 survey participants, 61% supported the closure of Fisherford School and 73% favoured Option 2: realigning the Fisherford catchment area with Rayne North School.

Public Engagement: Despite advertising the public meeting, no members of the public attended. However, stakeholders shared their feedback through the survey and discussions with Education Scotland.

Pupil Feedback: Pupils from both Auchterless and Rayne North Schools generally welcomed the proposal, citing both benefits and drawbacks of increased enrolment.

Staff Feedback: Most staff members supported closing Fisherford School and merging with Rayne North School.

We Will

The consultation findings, including feedback from surveys, discussions, and the Education Scotland report, were reviewed by Council officers.

The consultation report was presented at Formartine Area Committee on 11th June 2024, Education and Children’s Services Committee then considered the report on 29th August 2024 and the final decision on the proposal was made by Full Council on 26th September 2024. On 20th November 2024, Scottish Ministers upheld the Council’s decision to close Fisherford School and realign its catchment area to Rayne North School.

As of 25th November 2024, Fisherford School is permanently closed, with its catchment area officially realigned to Rayne North School to ensure the sustainability of rural education.

We Asked

The Council proposed to discontinue education at Easterfield School, which had been mothballed since August 2021. The catchment area of the school was suggested to be re-assigned to either Auchterless School or Turriff Primary School.

To gather opinions on this proposal, a statutory consultation was conducted from 5th February to 29th March 2024, including a public meeting on 5th March 2024 at Turriff Primary School and an online survey. The consultation process also included discussions with pupils and staff from the affected schools.

You Said

Survey Results: Out of 17 survey participants, 65% supported the closure of Easterfield School and 65% preferred Option 1: realigning the Easterfield catchment area with Auchterless School.

Public Engagement: Despite advertising the public meeting, no members of the public attended. However, stakeholders shared their feedback through the survey and discussions with Education Scotland.

Pupil Feedback: Pupils from both Auchterless and Turriff Schools welcomed the proposal, identifying potential benefits and challenges of integrating Easterfield pupils into larger schools.

Staff Feedback: Most staff members supported closing Easterfield School and merging with Auchterless School.

We Will

The consultation findings, including feedback from surveys, discussions, and the Education Scotland report, were reviewed by Council officers.

The consultation report was presented at Formartine Area Committee on 11th June 2024, Education and Children’s Services Committee then considered the report on 29th August 2024 and the final decision on the proposal was made by Full Council on 26th September 2024. On 20th November 2024, Scottish Ministers upheld the Council’s decision to close Easterfield School and realign its catchment area to Auchterless School.

As of 25th November 2024, Easterfield School is permanently closed, with its catchment area officially realigned to Auchterless School to ensure the sustainability of rural education.

We asked

Aberdeenshire Council asked the community of Braemar for their feedback on a concept design to improve the village centre for people walking, wheeling and cycling. The projects aims to make it easier and safer for people to get around Braemar while also creating a more pleasant environment.

Residents were given the opportunity to provide feedback at a community drop-in event hosted by Cairngorm National Park Authority on 1^st May in the Village Hall. An online survey was open for public feedback from 24^th April to 16^th May 2024. We asked about support for the proposals, feedback on specific interventions and thoughts on tackling congestion and problem parking.

You said

Support for the proposals was split, however we found that those who disagreed had done so on the belief that the current proposals would not be effective without yellow lines rather than disagreement with the whole concept. There was a lot of support for improving footways for people walking and wheeling and a general agreement that traffic calming measures to lower traffic speed was required. However, several people expressed concern with the proposed chicane as a traffic control measure. Lowering the speed limit throughout the village was a common suggestion.

Tackling problem parking was a key theme. The residents identified the Fife Arms Hotel and the bridge as particular problem areas. Concerns were raised about the proposed bus stop at the Mews due to congestion in this area. Locals identified the need for a safe crossing across the A93 to the Primary School and suggested extending the pavement in the village along the Linn of Dee road to provide access to wider walking routes.

We will

As a result of the engagement, we will incorporate the following changes into the next stage of project development:

• A new zebra crossing across the A93. We will explore possibility of widening the current footway from the corner up to the new crossing point to improve route to school.
• Remove proposed bus stop from outside the front of the Mews.
• Remove existing bus stops from outside the Co-op and Kindrochit Crescent.
• Create new bus stop closer to A93 along Invercauld Rd. This would mean there would be one bus stop at A93 end and the existing bus stop at the roundabout.
• Proposed traffic calming chicane positioned outside Village Hall to be removed.
• This chicane is to be replaced with a proposed speed table to aid pedestrian access to the Village Hall.
• The proposed footway widening into Fife Brae at the shop has been removed to ensure lorries can still reverse into this area to serve the shop.

We will proceed with plans to narrow the roads to allow the creation of wider footpaths and will explore the option of adding double yellow lines to prevent problem parking along Invercauld Road/ Mar Road. In addition to this we will explore options to extend footways out to Linn of Dee Road to join into the River Dee Walk. We will also explore the option of an additional footpath through the forest which would link the showground carpark to Kindrochit Crescent. At this stage, the proposal is still a concept and is subject to further consultation, design development and permissions.

We Asked

We conducted a survey to evaluate the performance of our 2024 Employability & Financial Inclusion Conference which took place on 11 October and to gather suggestions for future improvements.

You Said

The survey received 12 responses, and the results indicated that attendees found the workshops to be the most useful part of the event, while the marketplace was considered the least useful. Additionally, feedback suggested that holding more than 1 conference per year would be more beneficial.

We Will

Based on your feedback, we will focus on enhancing the workshop offerings in future conferences and re-evaluate the format and content of the marketplace. We will also review the frequency of our conferences and assess whether holding more events per year would provide additional benefits.