SCC LP Research to understand resident priorities for services

Tender description

Surrey County Council is responsible for delivering a wide range of complex and varied services for 1.18 million residents across the county. This means deciding how to prioritise and allocate available funds to the huge variety of services they provide. The budget setting process involves complex, and sometimes difficult decisions, which reflect national and local priorities, as well as the needs, wants and aspirations of residents. Reductions in local government budgets and an increase in demand for primarily, but not exclusively, social care services for adults and children are putting services under considerable pressure. The way those services are currently delivered is not sustainable and the council and partner organisations need to consider alternative approaches to meeting the needs of residents in the future. Moving towards integrated services provided with a range of partners from health, other local authorities, police as well as voluntary, faith and community groups is becoming increasingly important for developing and delivering services in the future. Given the demands for social care services other services provided by the council need to be increasingly innovative in how they provide services which are valued by residents. Surrey's public services are provided by a number of organisations including the county council, 11 district and borough councils, Surrey Police, a number of health organisations (including four CCGs, three hospitals and a number of community care providers) as well as a range of community, faith and voluntary organisations and charities. Three county council service areas are looking to understand in more detail residents' informed opinion on a range of issues so they can better understand their priorities when it comes to designing services, prioritising and allocating resources and setting budgets in the future. This information will then be fed into the plans for the transformation of these services. This will help develop a plan that is not only 'deliverable' but that is also reflective of informed resident opinion. Please see attached documentation for a full description of the requirement