We Asked, You Said, We Did

The Council provides social care services to more than 2,000 adults of all ages with learning disabilities, physical disabilities or illnesses and mental illnesses in Sutton. This helps people to be safe, independent and live the lives that they want to.

Social care is not free at the point of delivery and a financial assessment is carried out to see what someone can afford to pay towards the costs of their care. Financial assessments are where we identify all the benefits a person can receive and work out how much they can pay for their care.

Like councils all over the country, Sutton Council has to try to save money as more people need our social care services while the cost of providing this care has increased. 
 
One way we can save money is by making some changes to our adult social care Charging Policy. Our adult social care Charging Policy is about how we decide what people are able to pay for social care and the different costs of care. 

We  identified some changes that could be made to the Charging Policy and asked for your views.

Throughout the 13-week consultation period, the Council received feedback in the following ways:

• 310 people via the online survey,
• 86 people at our events,
• 17 people at focus groups,
• 77 phone calls,
• 3 hard copy surveys received by post,
• More than 30 emails.

The Council received a very high number of responses to the consultation, particularly when compared with similar consultations of other local authorities. The Council also heard from a range of residents, including some who may be affected by the proposed changes, unpaid carers of people receiving care and support from the Council, members of local groups along with interested members of the public.

Key themes across all types of engagement and how the Council responded. The People Committee Report can be viewed on the Council website.

Clarity of information

Early on in the consultation, the Council recognised the need for clarification, particularly of proposal 2 and its impact on Personal Independence Payments benefit (PIP). The relationship between night care and PIP was a consistent theme, which the Council clarified through additional information and events.

Reviewing feedback across the extended consultation period demonstrated that improved clarity and understanding were achieved, and people attending events appreciated the opportunity to have the proposals explained.

Understanding of Disability Related Expenditure (DREs) as well as the clarity of information was a theme, especially for proposals 2 and 3. If these proposals are adopted, resources to explain them to residents as well as social workers will be co-produced as outlined in the implementation plan (see 3.42 - 3.49 of the People Committee Report).

Impact on unpaid carers

The impact of the proposals on the wellbeing of unpaid carers was a key theme of the events and the feedback received through the survey.

The Council responded by:

• organising focus groups with carers,
• updating the financial assessment form, 
• providing clearer information on DREs, which can support the additional costs faced through disability, and
• comparing the charging policies of neighbouring councils (see Appendix A of the People Committee Report) and looking at potential mitigation measures.

The Council spent a significant amount of time considering different mitigation measures, and has recommended that proposal 2 be amended as outlined in the People Committee Report. 

Affordability

There was some understanding that the government provides enhanced and higher rates of benefits to help people to pay towards the cost of their care, but overall there was concern about the financial impact on residents and the risk that residents may be more socially excluded as they look to reduce expenses.

To address this point, the Council has developed a comprehensive implementation plan as set out in the People Committee report (see paragraphs 3.42 - 3.49). This involves providing clearer information on DREs as well as working with each person affected by the proposals to maximise their benefit income and ensure they are only charged what they are able to pay.

Respondents asked about what other steps the Council was taking to manage the resource pressures councils are facing. The Council is delivering savings programmes in many areas, including a wide-ranging savings and transformation plan for Adult Social Care which seeks to manage increased cost pressures and demand.

The Council also collaborates with other councils through which the cost of services such as Legal, Human Resources and Information Technology can be shared and reduced. 

Implementation

In relation to proposal 2, there was some concern that some benefits were temporary and any assessment of an ability to pay increased contributions would need to be reviewed in a timely way. The implementation of the proposals and the speed with which financial assessments and social care assessments could be completed was a concern.

This feedback has been carefully considered by the Council when developing its implementation plan, highlights of which are included in paragraphs 3.42 - 3.49 of the People Committee report. This outlines the approach the Council is proposing to take to inform residents of any changes in charging for care, the support that would be provided to residents to help them to maximise their income through DREs and benefits, as well the offer of carers assessments.

Carers assessments are an important way in which the Council can support unpaid carers. This is an area of focus for the Council and is likely to be reflected in the Carers Strategy, which is being developed together with Sutton Carers Centre, local partners and local residents.

In addition, the Council has been improving its internal processes to make assessments more efficient, and the Financial Assessment Team and Adult Social Care are continuing to more closely work together to consider DRE claims.

Disproportionate impact on severely disabled people and legality

Some residents were concerned with the legality of the proposals; specifically in relation to the Council’s Public Sector Equality Duty.

Legal advice has confirmed that the proposals are legal, as set out in the People Committee report (Section 6). 

Councillors met on 5 December 2024 and resolved that:

 The Charging Policy recommendations set out in the report be implemented:

• To introduce a weekly charge of £8.57 for assistive technology (tech-enabled care) and a one-off connection fee charge of £33.95.
• To include the full amount of higher or enhanced disability benefits in charge calculations but to disregard £10 per week where the Council does not provide or pay for care at night.
• To introduce an annual management charge to cover the costs of the Council’s Appointeeship Service.

We secured a £14.1 million grant from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund to transform public transport to the London Cancer Hub (LCH) in Belmont. The London Cancer Hub is currently under development and is set to become the world’s leading district for cancer research and treatment bringing 13,000 new jobs in health, science, education and construction to the area.

Sutton Council is working with Network Rail to double train services from two to four trains an hour, with additional direct services between Belmont Station and London Victoria. In December 2023, the Council asked local people about walking and cycling between Belmont Station and the London Cancer Hub.

We shared suggestions on how to improve the walking/cycling route in December 2023, giving the opportunity to comment via an online questionnaire and drop in event, held at the Cancer Hub site.

We received 65 completed questionnaires and feedback from 9 visitors in this initial engagement period.

Key findings included:

• Agreement on the need for improvements around Belmont Station, including increased train frequency and a  better walking/cycling route to the London Cancer Hub.
• Support for specific suggestions, such as a new pedestrian/cycling route via Pelton Avenue and improvements to Brighton Road.
• Concerns raised about issues such as parking, flooding at the station and potential traffic congestion from new crossings.
• Positive feedback on enhancements such as increased green spaces and pedestrian access improvements.
• Other issues were raised that are outside the scope for this project and these are noted for consideration during the wider development. 
   

The feedback has been used to inform further design development and a further round of consultation on the more develped proposals will take place during July 2024.

Our Home to School Assisted Travel service provides support to help children and young people to travel to school or college when they would otherwise be prevented by disability or need.

We asked for your views on proposals to change the way assisted travel is provided in Sutton and updates to the Sutton Home to School Assisted Travel policy. There were two main reasons to consider changes:

Increasing costs and demand - in 2015/16, £4.2 million was spent on home to school travel assistance. This year we are expecting to spend almost £8.3 million - this is an increase of over 76%. With demand for travel assistance continuing to increase, and the cost of delivering that provision increasing, the current way that travel assistance is provided is unlikely to be affordable in the future. 

Preparation for adulthood – we want to explore more ways that young people can be supported to travel to their place of learning independently in the future. 

We received 155 responses to the online survey. A record of the consultation findings and decisions that were made can be found on the Council’s website (opens in a new window).

Each family receiving the Home to School Travel Assistance will be contacted individually to confirm travel assistance arrangements for September 2024.

A summary of key changes is included below:

 For all children and young people (ages 5-25) 

• To promote the Council’s free Independent Travel Training (ITT) offer more widely with families, where need and age-appropriate (11+ years)  

• To increase the use of Personal Travel Budgets (PTBs). A Personal Travel Budget (PTB) is a flexible payment made directly to families, designed to help them to get their child or young person to school or college. 

• Councillors decided not to use central pick-up points.

Under 5s 

• The Council will not provide any home to school travel assistance for children under 5 years old and attending pre-school, as they are under statutory school age. However, 4 -year olds entering Reception will be supported if they meet the eligibility criteria on need or distance. 

 Post-16 

• Where organised transport is being provided by the Council (e.g. coach, minibus, taxi) families of post 16 learners (young people aged 16 - 19) will be asked to make a contribution to the costs of that provision – £800 a year or £400 for families on a low income. This charge will not apply to families receiving a Personal Travel Budget or mileage payments. 

• Where organised transport is being provided by the Council (e.g. coach, minibus, taxi) a fixed drop off and pick up time will be introduced at the start and end of the college/school day. This replaces personalised services around individual timetables.  

We asked for feedback from Children’s Centre users, about the impact of Children’s Centre Services and the approach to running sessions in the community. 

Children’s Centre users were overwhelmingly positive regarding the services and the impact they have on them and their family. Many users said they wanted to see more services in the community. A few people raised concern regarding our booking system and the start times of sessions. 

We have reviewed the start times of various sessions for the September programmes, so there is more variation. We acknowledge the concerns related to the booking system and in response we have implemented a new approach.  Tickets for each session are now released throughout the week rather than all in one go to allow for people to be able to book on at different times. We will continue to review the way we manage this. Your feedback will help us review our services going forward. 

We asked for residents’ views on the Draft Learning Disability Strategy 2022-2027. This consultation was part of a much longer engagement period; the purpose was to validate what stakeholders had told us and check that the draft strategy reflected this.

There was support for the strategy and its priorities, while the feedback also emphasised the importance of having an overall delivery plan in place so as to ensure implementation of the key priorities.

Key themes which were incorporated into the final strategy are set out below.

The strategy was updated to reflect the consultation feedback, and a final version was adopted by the People Committee in December 2021. There were no material changes to the strategy as a result of the consultation - however we did make some small amendments and added emphasis to some areas as set out below:

• Emphasising the link between Education and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) services and the transition to adulthood in the strategy.

• Strengthening the wording around families and carers to emphasise the vital role they play.

• Making it clearer that the section of the strategy about respite includes the needs of people with people with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities (PMLD).

• Emphasising the importance of paid employment and the opportunity to consider how unpaid roles could develop into paid employment.

• Including the acronym STOMP (Stop The Over Medication of People) when we talk about reducing unnecessary medication (reflecting the national NHS agenda).

• Including the GP Champion in the foreword of the strategy, to emphasise the key role played by GPs.

We are developing a comprehensive plan with a series of workstreams to deliver the strategy. Progress will be overseen through relevant Council and partnership governance and reported back to the People Committee at least annually.

We asked what residents' priorities were for how to spend the Neighbourhood Fund to improve community infrastructure.

You indicated priorities, voted on council-proposed projects and gave your own suggestions for improvements to fund.

We are using the feedback to make a list of projects recommended for funding approval. We are also reporting suggested improvements to service departments.

We asked tenants of our new Council Housing what they thought of their new homes and amenities.

You said that overall you were very pleased with your new homes. The full set of results are currently being analysed.

Once all the results have been analysed, the findings will feed into the designs of future new build Council Housing.

Sutton Council asked to hear your opinion to better understand views towards domestic abuse and local services in the community.

We wanted to find out how we can improve services and make sure that it is easy for residents to access the support they might need, at the right time. 

We received a great deal of information which we can review and work towards improving. Three key points from the survey include a need for:

1. A clearer understanding on where to go or who to contact for domestic abuse help if needed. 

2. Details on where to go for help if concerned about your own behaviour. 

3. The majority of residents feel they can speak to an independent domestic violence adviser (IDVA) about their circumstances most comfortably. 

The Domestic Abuse Strategic Partnership Board are reviewing recommendations in light of the survey responses and the COVID-19 pandemic. These recommendations include the need for a perpetrator campaign to raise awareness on where to go for help for those concerned about their own behaviour. The Board has also been recommended to agree a sole point of contact for those needing help so we can promote where residents should go for help if needed to avoid any confusion. 

Finally from 1 July following a period of no face-to-face domestic abuse services, we are able to offer face-to-face appointments with our IDVAs for those who need to speak to someone and get help and guidance. 

We asked about support for families with children under five years.

You told us that whilst several services worked well, it was still difficult to find information. You requested better information about school readiness, speech & language, managing behaviour and child development.

As a result we have established 4 pilot initiatives to:

• develop an integrated child development service,
• improve speech & language (school readiness) knowledge,
• make advice and support for parents more easily available,
• initiate a Sutton Best Start campaign to highlight opportunities, support and services for families with young children.

We asked local residents on their view on the ward and asked them to help us to scope the future priorities of the area.

Please read the Rosehill Area Renewal business engagement (August 2020) findings to view the findings from this survey.

Please Read Summary of Findings.

We asked residents to complete a survey to understand their concerns and priorities for safety in the borough.

Residents provided their perceptions on policing, types of crime, and specific areas of concern in the borough.

Community Safety used the results as one of the data sets to infrom its' Community Safety Needs Assessment and in turn its Community Safety Strategy. The Community Safety Needs Assessment is available on the counicl website here: https://www.sutton.gov.uk/downloads/200514/community_safety_and_policing

The Community Safety Strategy is planned to be signed off in January 2021 and then wll also be made publicly available.

We asked your views on proposed changes to how street trading is licensed in the borough and in particular in Sutton High Street

You supported the majority of the proposals but also expressed further issues around the structure of street trading in the High Street

We used the results of the consultation to change the conditions by which the current traders operate on the High Street.

We asked for your views on the Draft Affordable Housing and Financial Viability Supplementary Planning Document, which sets out how the Council will apply its affordable housing policy in relation to development viability.

You supported the proposals set out in the draft document and gave some minor feedback on areas where the document could be made clearer.

The final Affordable Housing and Financial Viability Supplementary Planning Document was adopted in March 2020 and is now used to help secure more affordable housing when planning applications are submitted.

We asked for your views on the Issues and Preferred Options for the development of a new South London Waste Plan, a joint plan covering the London Boroughs of Sutton, Croydon, Merton and Kingston for the period 2021-2036. The South London Waste Plan will set out policies and safeguard sites for waste facilities across the four boroughs.

You provided feedback on a number of issues including waste reduction, air quality, traffic generation, and identified safeguarded waste sites.

Feedback on the Issues and Preferred Options document was used to inform the preparation of the Draft South London Waste Plan. This was published for consultation between September and October 2020. The next step is submission of the document to the Secretary of State for Examination-in-Public.

We asked for your views on the Draft Sutton Town Centre Public Realm Design Guide, in particular whether you agreed with the suggested place-based and town centre-wide projects

You supported the objectives for the public realm in Sutton Town Centre, and gave specific feedback on a range of issues including amendments to address the needs of visually impaired residents or visitors to Sutton and to support sustainable transport. In total 69 comments from 13 representors were recieved during consultation. Details can be found here. 

Your feedback informed the final Sutton Town Centre Public Realm Design Guide which was agreed at committee on 7 January 2020. The document is now a material planning considerations and can be used to help determine planning applications. The document has been identified by the Royal Town Planning Institute as a good practice case study.

How the inflationary increase should be calculated and whether it should be applied every year up to an agreed limit.

In the main you supported the proposal and provided feedback on how the inflationary increase should be calculated and whether it should be applied annually up to an agreed limit.

Your feedback formed part of a report that went to the Housing, Economy and Business Committee in December 2019 who agreed the recommendation to apply an index linked inflation rate to each band within the scheme and that this should be applied annually up to a limit of 5%.

We asked relevant statutory bodies, transport organisations, local interests and residents groups and individuals for their comments on the draft Local Implementation Plan, in particular whether they agreed with the priorities identified and the local schemes to achieve them.

There was a broad cross-section of support for the various schemes in the draft Local Implementation Plan and requests for more on cycling and walking.

We provided greater clarity on cycling and walking. The revised draft was approved by the Mayor of London and has now been published. It can be found at https://www.sutton.gov.uk/info/200583/travel_and_transport/1540/transport_plans

We asked residents about proposed changes to our Council Tax Reduction Scheme, which would increase the council tax reduction in line with inflation. The proposals aimed to better support low income households by recognising that as inflation increases it is important that the support our low income households receive increases too.

You said that low income households should be supported and that applying an inflationary increase to their Council Tax entitlement was the fairest way to achieve the correct level of support.

We introduced an inflationary increase to all the income bandings within our scheme in line with the increase in Consumer Price Index but limited any increase to  5% should inflation exceed that level.

Further information about this decision can be found by clicking here.

In August 2019 the draft strategy was published for an 8-week public consultation. Nearly 300 people responded to this consultation. Community Action Sutton and their partner organisations undertook face to face activities to engage with people who might not have completed the online survey. They spoke to 590 people. 

The strategy was too long, contained too much jargon and the vision needed to be more measurable. We also received lots of comments and questions about different sections of the strategy.

We made the strategy shorter, removed the jargon and introduced new chapter headings. We also published a series of FAQ documents on the website to answer commonly asked questions. These are available at https://www.sutton.gov.uk/info/200453/parks_trees_and_open_spaces/1137/environmental_sustainability/8

During February and March 2018 we published an online survey, asking residents and businesses which environmental issues were important to them. Over 500 people responded to the online survey.

The following five issues were identified as priorities for improvement in the borough: 

• Reducing waste and increasing reuse and recycling
• Protecting natural habitats and wildlife
• Reducing air pollution
• Improving health and happiness
• Creating a thriving local economy. 

We used the information, along with all of the results and a review of environmental policies and strategies to draft a new strategy for the borough. This draft was published for an 8-week public consultation during August - September 2018.