Leicestershire Matters

The helpline on 0116 305 6545 is a ‘one-stop-shop’ for parents. It gives information in areas such as childcare, school choices, careers advice, healthy eating and leisure activities.

It is part of the family information service for parents of young people up to 19 years of age. This was formerly the children’s information service.

The service works closely with partners such as health visitors and Job Centre Plus to make sure parents can get the information they need.

Ivan Ould, our Cabinet Member for the Children and Young People’s Service said: “The service will help make sure that parents in Leicestershire get the information they need to make informed choices for their families.”

Contact the family information service on 0116 305 6545 or visit family.

Even the children gave the thumbs up through ‘fun feedback forms’. 88% of the 136 children who took part said they feel ‘happy’ when they go to their place of care. The things they most enjoyed were ‘playing with toys’ (48%) and ‘seeing friends’ (33%).

Two-thirds of parents only travel up to a mile and many could walk to their childcare.

When asked about why they use childcare, two-thirds said it mean they can work and almost half use it for their child’s development.

The majority of parents (84%) would be happy to pay the average cost for a childminder of £2.85 an hour or £2.50 for a holiday club. Seven out of ten parents would be happy to pay £3.50 per hour for out-of-school childcare.

Free nursery places are well-used and for 93% the days and times of the free education suits their needs.

For more information about childcare in your area visit childcare or call 0116 305 6545.

Council tax will increase by 3.9% (the same increase as pensioners will receive in April 2008.) This is a lower increase than our costs because of our major efficiency savings. These and other savings, such as increasing some charges, have also helped to provide money for improvements in high priority services.

We are also planning lower increases in council tax, of 3.5%, in the next two years.

The increase in costs to maintain services is 5.2%. This includes an extra 15% for dealing with waste and 7% more for social care for vulnerable adults.

However, after paying for service improvements and deducting efficiency and other savings, spending is planned to increase by 4.4% (£13.1 million.)

The extra spending will be paid for by:

We are planning to spend nearly £250 million over the next three years on building new schools, improving roads and improvements in other areas.

These will include:

For more details on the budget call 0116 305 7831, e-mail: leics-matters@leics.gov.uk or visit budget.

You will soon get your 2008 council tax bill and if you are over 60 you can call our free, temporary helpline to find out whether this could be reduced.

Call freephone 0800 567 7047 from 17^th March to 11^th April, between 10am and 3pm or you can leave a message at weekends and bank holidays. You will need your total income and savings to hand.

If your savings are over £16,000 you may not qualify, unless you get the guaranteed pension credit.

If you are interested working for us, why not visit our website jobs which is updated weekly to see if there are any vacancies? Or you could call our recruitment hotline on 0116 305 8300.

The stories in this feature will also give you an idea of what it’s like working for the County Council.

Kevin Thompson (52) has been a colliery tour guide at the park in Coalville for two years and is one of a team of six.

Guides work on a casual basis and must have had experience of working in a colliery. They give tours of the colliery buildings which were preserved after work stopped at the mine in 1983.

They talk about the history of coalmining and mining in the area as well as giving their own personal memories and experiences.

Kevin worked for British Coal, for 10 years underground at Whitwick Colliery and for 10 years in the mines rescue service.

He said: “Each tour is different as the guides have very different experiences and Snibston is great, it’s like all the miners just walked out and left it as it was.

“If you’ve got an interest in coalmining, this job is like a hobby.”

Linda Chell is part of our team of 200 drivers and takes people to day centres, respite care homes, luncheon clubs and Age Concern groups around Coalville and Ashby.

She said: “Generally, we drive adults with special needs and many are elderly. If it wasn’t for our minibuses, a lot of people wouldn’t be able to get to day centres and would be stuck at home all day.”

She works from about 7.30am to 5pm. Linda sees her fellow drivers at the beginning and the end of the day. She says they are a close team, which is one of the best things about the job, as well as the passengers. She adds that her work is enjoyable and rewarding and that training courses are also provided.

For more details call our recruitment hotline on 0116 305 8300.

He surveys for wildlife before repair work starts on County Council bridges and highways.

He has been our wildlife officer for more than two years and visits bridges and highways around Leicestershire and Rutland before work begins. He looks to see if any wildlife, especially protected species, are involved.

He said: “I survey for animals including bats, otters, water voles and crayfish. I also check hedgerows and verges for plants that may be important or show the area has historical significance.

“I can start work as early as 4am, or finish three hours after sunset as I need to observe wildlife when the animals are most active.

“Repair work could destroy or disturb an animal, its habitat or place of refuge. Part of my job is to ensure this doesn’t happen.”

For more information on the County Council’s work with wildlife visit wildlife

Through Leicestershire Together, groups and bodies are working together to improve services. They are also making sure everyone can benefit from them and that no-one is missing out.

By working with a huge number of partners we are making sure that we know how to improve your quality of life and have the ability to make a difference.

David Parsons is Leader of the County Council and Chairman of Leicestershire Together. He said: “We are working together to provide joined up solutions to joined up problems.

“Leicestershire Together is pulling together the diverse range of agencies that impact on the quality of life for local communities. It is making sure that organisations work together.”

This feature highlights just a few of the projects taking place as part of Leicestershire Together.

Through Leicestershire Matters and other methods, you told us that your top issues, in order of priority, are:

All views will be used to update our Sustainable Community Strategy. This sets out what needs to be improved in the County. We will explain how we will make these improvements in our 2^nd Local Area Agreement. Both will be published in June 2008.

Full results of the survey are on the Leicestershire Together website at www.leicestershiretogether.org

If so, community forums are your chance to talk to your County, district or parish councillors and representatives from other agencies such as health and the Police.

Forums are held between two and four times a year and aim to give you more influence over local services. They are held throughout the County and anyone is welcome to come along to their local meeting and say how services in their area could be improved.

Areas for discussion could include:

Forums include a ‘question time’ and then discussions on issues chosen by you or forum members. Forums will then make recommendations for further action.

Forums will also be consulted on changes to local services, plans and policies, but they cannot deal with individual issues such as planning applications.

To get involved, just turn up and please bring neighbours, friends and family members. If you have any specific needs or wish to raise a question, it would help to let us know before meetings.

For details of meetings, issues to be raised and progress on actions, visit www.leicestershireforums.org or e-mail: leicestershireforums@leics.gov.uk or call 0116 305 7581.

Panel members fill in postal surveys about the services they receive and other local issues. Past survey results have influenced decisions on our budget, school transport and travellers’ sites.

By registering for our Citizens’ Panel you will be entered into a prize draw. The winner can choose to receive £50 in vouchers from either Next, Marks and Spencer, Boots or Argos.

To register, and for a chance to win, apply online at: have your say, e-mail: haveyoursay@leics.gov.uk or call us on 0116 305 8185 with your name, address and telephone number.

The County Council funds 50 police community support officers (PCSOs) across the County, including Elaine Morton who is dealing with issues including alcohol-fuelled anti-social behaviour.

Elaine has worked with the Broughton and Walton neighbourhood team for over a year and helped to reduce reports of anti-social behaviour by 50% in her first three months.

She said: “I go around, meet the young people and have a chat. That way they know I’m around if they step out of line, but also if they need me.

“I make house-to-house enquiries, visit victims of crime, call into shops and generally show my face around.

“If something comes up I get on my bike or in the car to deal with it. It may just be a couple of kids throwing plants or it could be a group of 30 youths drinking and I’ll have to confiscate the alcohol. Quite often I’m on my own, but as I know them, I don’t stand for any nonsense. They also know if they cause trouble I’ll call for help.

“People are getting to know me and everything else follows from that. If people know you’re there they feel safer and they’re also more likely to tell you things.”

Byron Rhodes, our Cabinet Lead Member for Community Safety, said: "PCSOs are an invaluable part of local policing.

“They work in the heart of communities and play a vital role in gathering information and intelligence. This gives police officers to bring offenders to justice and tackle the problems that cause communities the greatest concern.

“Elaine has shown how effective PCSOs can be and this is repeated daily, across the County by her colleagues. This is why we have provided so much funding for 50 extra PCSOs across the County."

For details on your local PCSO, visit: www.leics.police.uk and type in your postcode under ‘local police’. Alternatively, call 0116 222 2222.