EXTRA INFORMATION

What we do with your Council Tax and other income we receive?
 
The Council has to manage its reserves to help pay for services, to keep council tax down and to invest in new projects. We receive 11% of the overall Council Tax you pay, with Surrey County Council receiving 75% and Surrey Police authority 14%. Our current financial information can be viewed on the Council Finance pages.

Central Government gave us an extra £20,000 funding to cover inflation costs for 2009/10, which is just a 0.5% funding increase. Ways to achieve efficiency and cost savings have been agreed, however we are continually responding to the impacts of the economic downturn. 

In a series of workshops in 2007, you told us what was important for us to concentrate resources on, while continuing the usual services we provide.
 
We turned your suggestions into six Key Priorities and began work on them in 2008;

Cost effective recycling 
Enhancing the visual appearance of the local environment
Tackling anti-social behaviour
Promoting sustainability and tackling issues of climate change
Championing local health services improvements
Enhancing services for young people

What have we done so far?

Here are a few highlights of our achievements and activities in 2008/09. Detailed performance reports can be found in our Performance Management reports section.

• A Community Safety Action Zone (CSAZ) has been introduced in Ewell Village following a successful pilot scheme on the Longmead.
• New cleansing schedules have been introduced for all Borough car parks.
• We have improved play areas for children and teenagers in three playgrounds in the Borough. The Auriol Multi-Use Games Area is now open.
• A new batteries recycling kerbside service was launched in 2008.
• Smart meters, giving accurate measurements of energy usage, have been installed in major Council buildings.
• Councillors met with the Chief Executive Officer of Epsom Hospital Trust to discuss local needs, sent a series of media releases highlighting our response to NHS meetings and consultations and we joined an inter-authority health partnership with neighbouring councils. A public meeting with health care professionals was held at the Town Hall in March.   
• A series of activities and services to encourage people to stay fit and healthy were continued or introduced, including health walks, foot care clinics and fall prevention classes. 
• 3,000 residents and 2,000 children attended 23 roadshows and school assemblies to explain the new kerbside recycling service. The new kerbside service started its rollout in March 2009.
• Tennis for Free was re-introduced at Court Recreation Ground in August 2008 and a second scheme developed at Alexandra Park was launched in January 2009.

Customer satisfaction results - 2006/07

The Local Government Association published this report in January 2009. We scored highly and above average when compared to similar councils. The full report can be viewed at the LGA website

Regarding overall satisfaction with the Council, 60% of our residents were satisfied. This compared to 54.6% nationally and 55.8% regionally.

When asked about satisfaction with Council services,such as waste collection, recycling, sport and leisure facilities and parks and open spaces, 67.4% of our residents were satisfied. Again we scored higher when compared with the national (63.3%) and regional (63.6%) councils.

This survey has been replaced with the new Place Survey, which will go out every second year to a sample of residents in the Borough. The first survey results will be available on this website very soon.