Corporate Plan and Budget 2023-2024

Closed 29 Jan 2023

Opened 18 Oct 2022

Contact

Democratic and Business Support

Communications@pkc.gov.uk

Feedback updated 2 Nov 2023

We asked

We requested your views on our draft Corporate Plan 2022/3 to 2027/8. We asked if you thought that the vision, outcomes and priorities in the Plan will improve the lives of people living in Perth and Kinross. If not, then we asked what should we be focussing on instead.

To inform budget setting for 2023-2024 we asked for your feedback on what is most important to you/your community, council tax, where we should invest for the future and where you would prefer the budget savings to come from. 

You said

Corporate Plan:

Issues raised primarily related to language used in the Plan. There were also issues raised by fewer people, but which were particularly relevant within the context and purpose of the document.

Common themes included:

  • More clarity needed on what ‘sustainability’ means in multiple places
  • Climate change/ environmental importance not clear in outcomes
  • Be bolder and more ambitious, particularly around business/ economy
  • Ordering of priorities suggest some are more important than others and does not make interdependencies clear
  • Reduce Perth-centrism
  • More focus/reference needed to communities of interest as well as place and commitments to equality and diversity
  • More clarity needed about how this will be delivered/assessed

Budget 2023-2024

  • Overall, 70% of respondents opted for an increase in Council Tax of some kind rather than no change.
  • As would be expected, those services which most respondents specified for a reduction in standard or frequency were mirrored by those selected for reduction or even stop delivering. These were council-run events, how you access the Council, adult learning, repair and maintenance of Council owned buildings and Cultural activity.
  • The top 3 priorities for investment overall were “support for the growth of the local economy”, “create opportunities for young people”  and “improve or grow our school learning estate”.
  • 75% of respondents agreed that Perth & Kinross Council should encourage and support local people and communities to deliver certain services.
  • 71% of respondents agreed that we should help people to help themselves more so they have less reliance on publicly funded services.
  • You gave us your comments on a wide rage of topics. Common themes were council run events, council tax, use of council buildings, street cleaning and winter maintenance, roads maintenance, biodiversity, public transport, car parking, leisure and council, support for business, cost of living, community/third sector support, energy efficiency and education.

We did

Corporate Plan

As a result of public feedback, we have made some changes to the Corporate Plan 2022/23 – 2027/8. We have now made changes to the following:

From “People and businesses thrive in an inclusive and sustainable local economy across Perth and Kinross” to “People and businesses are increasingly able to prosper in a local economy which supports low carbon ambitions and offers opportunities for all.”

The second outcome of our vision to change is “Perth and Kinross is a sustainable and safe place for this and future generations” to “Perth and Kinross is a safe and vibrant place, mitigating the impact of climate and environmental change for this and future generations.”

In relation to the key priorities, there are two changes. We have moved away from “Placing communities at the heart of how we work” to “Working in partnership with communities” which was felt to be more about joint and collaborative working. In addition, “Growing a sustainable and inclusive local economy” has been amended to “Developing a resilient, stronger and greener local economy.” We also had feedback that it would be fairer to show our key priorities visually rather than by simply listing them. We have now included a diagram which sets a summary of our priorities around a circle in rank order. The full text of the priorities has been retained in a list which also supports accessibility.

Budget 2023-2024

The responses received in the budget consultation exercise have been taken into consideration when developing budget proposals.  Almost all the service areas which participants indicated were of lowest priority for investment and subsequently highest for reducing the standard, frequency, or stopping altogether, have been included as savings proposals, including Council-run events, Customer Service Centre efficiencies, and Council-owned buildings. While the proposals do include reductions in some areas which were most favoured by respondents for maintenance or investment, such as winter maintenance and public transport, the levels of proposed reductions have been limited to minimise the impact on these areas which residents have set out what is most important to them.

Other budget decsions taken on the common response themes outlined above can be viewed in the results section of this page. Elected Members for Perth and Kinross met on Wednesday March 1st 2023 to set the Council’s Revenue and Capital budgets for 2023/24. You can view all decisions here.

Results updated 11 Sep 2023

Thank you to all who responded to the Perth & Kinross Corporate Plan and Budget 2023/24 consultation.  There were 1,092 responses submitted to the on-line survey as a whole and 1,084 of these visited the budget sections of the survey, a considerable increase on the previous three years.

If you would like any of the information below in an alternative format please contact Communications@pkc.gov.uk.

Corporate Plan 2022/23 to 2027/28

Elected Members for Perth and Kinross met on Wednesday 21st December 2022 to approve the Council’s Corporate Plan 2022/23 to 2027/28. You can view the full report here (opens in a new tab) along with the Corporate Plan Consultation & Engagement Feedback Report - Appendix 2 (opens in a new tab). You can also view the feedback report below:

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Budget 2023/24

Elected Members for Perth and Kinross met on Wednesday March 1st 2023 to set the Council’s Revenue and Capital budgets for 2023/24. You can view the full report here (opens in a new tab) along with the Budget Consultation briefing - Appendix 4 (opens in a new tab).

The following report is a summary of the outcomes of the consultation activities, comments received from residents of Perth and Kinross and final decisions made by Elected Members on budget priorities. 

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We shared the outputs from the budget survey with all elected members to allow them to use the information to shape their individual Group budgets. 

Consultation Evaluation

Responses received with regard to consultation evaluation have been read and will be taken into consideration in future consultations. Thank you for your feedback.

Overview

As a Council we are committed to serving the people and communities of Perth and Kinross and delivering the best possible services that we can within the resources at our disposal. 

In doing this we recognise that we need to continually consider what makes the biggest difference to those in the greatest need. 

The pandemic has only added to the significant and increasingly complex challenges we face. The equalities gap we were working to address has widened and our local economy, like others, has been hit hard. Alongside this we are seeing increasing demands for services while facing reductions in the resources we have available to meet these demands. All of this means difficult decisions ahead on where we commit our resources, which will include having to reduce what we do in some areas. 

At the same time we also need to continue with long-term planning to ensure that we are preparing for the future. This includes:

  • Developing the infrastructure to support the aspirations of residents, businesses and visitors (be that investing in energy efficient new buildings or retrofitting existing ones to deliver ambitious carbon emissions targets)
  • Reshaping travel networks to support active travel options and alternative transport routes to reduce congestion
  • Unlocking our "in demand" business land
  • Creating new attractions for residents to use and to attract visitors to grow the local economy.

Why your views matter

To help guide our decisions we’re looking for your feedback on what is most important to you and your community. We need to ask what you think about our priorities, and where we should invest for the future.

We also want to understand where you would prefer the budget savings to come from. Which service areas do you want to see protected, and where are you willing to accept reductions (by stopping, reducing standard or frequency, or offsetting costs through charging) to protect those services?

The answers you give to these questions will help shape our Corporate Plan for the next five years, setting out the priorities we will focus on delivering. They will also inform budget decisions facing Councillors early next year, when they will have to agreed a balanced budget for 2023/24 and beyond.

Give us your views

Please give us your views by completing the following online survey. 

You can choose which sections are of interest to you and which you would like to respond to. You are able to save your response and return later to complete and submit.

We're also running a series of in-person and online events (detailed below) where you can tell us what you believe are the most important issues in your area. These will run until late November and, together with the online consultation, inform our final corporate plan and budget decisions next year.

If you wish to join our online events you can do so by clicking on the links below:

17 November 2022 at 6.30-8pm  Click here to join the meeting

Meeting ID: 376 801 361 984; Passcode: LjJBYH

22 November 2022 6.30-8pm Click here to join the meeting

Meeting ID: 328 634 978 413; Passcode: SUSjPK

Thank you for taking the time to contribute your thoughts. 

What happens next

A summary of responses will be included in the report considered by the Council when agreeing the Corporate Plan and budget.

Events

Areas

  • All Perth & Kinross

Audiences

  • Amnesty Groups
  • Area Partnerships
  • Businesses
  • Campaign Groups
  • Community Councils
  • Community Groups/Organisations
  • Community Planning Partners
  • Developers/Investors
  • Education Institutions
  • Environmental Groups
  • Housing Associations
  • Local Authorities (External)
  • Partner Agencies
  • PKC Employees
  • Professional Bodies
  • Public Sector Bodies
  • Rural Communities
  • Stakeholder Organisations
  • Tenants and Residents Associations
  • Transport Groups
  • Unions
  • Voluntary Groups/Organisations
  • Asylum Seekers and Refugees
  • Children and Young People
  • Civil and Public Servants
  • Council Tenants
  • Elected Members
  • Homeless People
  • Jobseekers
  • Landowners
  • Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People
  • Licence Holders
  • Low Income Households
  • Men
  • Minority Ethnic Groups
  • MSPs, MPs, MEPs
  • Older People
  • Parents, Carers and Guardians
  • People with Disabilities
  • Public Transport Users
  • Road Users
  • Service Users
  • Students (Further Education)
  • Visitors and Tourists
  • Volunteers
  • Women
  • All Residents of Perth and Kinross

Interests

  • Budgets and Spending
  • Council Processes
  • Democracy and Participation
  • Policies and Strategies