Consultation Hub

• Whether you supported our proposal for libraries to be closed between 6.00pm and 7.00pm and for the Mobile Library Service to cease in order to make the required saving whilst maintaining our 36 libraries across the county.
• What should our priorities be if we were no longer able to run our Mobile Library Service?
• What impact would it have on you if our libraries were no longer open between 6.00pm and 7.00pm?

• 2,079 people or organisations responded.
• 42% of respondents supported the overall proposal to reduce evening opening and cease the Mobile Library Service, 41% opposed it, while 17% didn't express an opinion.
• Of the 172 respondents who answered as Mobile Library users, 56 stated that they only used the Mobile Library Service; of these 172 respondents 44 opposed the proposal.
• Of the 849 respondents who opposed the proposal, 261 used one of the impacted libraries between 6.00pm and 7.00pm in the last month (69% of those who opposed the reduction in evening opening did not use the libraries proposed to have their opening hours reduced).
• Preferred mitigations in regard to the Mobile Library Service were to promote existing services such as Home Library Direct and working with parishes to provide a Select and Collect service in local communities.

• Feedback suggested that the promotion of Home Library Direct and partnership working with parishes for our Select and Collect offer were seen as priorities for our Mobile Library users. We will action these and use postcode data to see where these options were most commonly chosen and explore these with corresponding parishes.
• We will talk to users that have adopted Home Library Direct, Select and Collect, Digital Library Plus or Reading Friends to ask about their experience of using the new service. This could be done a year after implementation.
• Saturday openings will be maintained with increased active promotion of our digital services.
• We will ensure that we recommend either quietest times in the week or locations in the building most suitable for users that value a quiet atmosphere.

This consultation is run jointly by NHS Coastal West Sussex, NHS Crawley and NHS Horsham and Mid Sussex Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), in partnership with Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SPFT), and is now closed.  The survey sought views on improving mental health services in West Sussex.

This feedback will now be independently analysed by the survey owners so that they can take full account of people’s views as they develop their final proposals. 

During November and December 2019, the final proposals will be submitted for approval to NHS England, the West Sussex Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee and the Boards of Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and the joint Board of the three West Sussex Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs).

For more information about these meetings, please check out thier respective websites or you contact them direct on westsussex.mh@nhs.net.

We asked for people's views and comments on our draft electric vehicle strategy, and a consultation took place from 27 August to 2 October 2019. It primarily consisted of an online questionnaire. 694 responses were submitted.

The full consultation response report is attached, but the highlights are:

• 72% of respondents agree, or strongly agree with the general aims proposed in the strategy
• 62% agree that the strategy should focus on people who will be reliant on public infrastructure
• 61% think should be using renewable energy to power the chargers, but 33% think should only use renewable energy if it was not more expensive to users
• 55% think they would be fairly or very likely to use chargers installed.
• 39% think the aims were just right; 37% think the aims are not ambitious enough; 23% think the aims are too ambitious
• 40% think that the County Council should allow cables in cable protectors, to run across pavements for charging electric vehicles; 51% think this should not be allowed; 8% didn’t know.

 Additional points that arose through the comments section included:

• Alternative sustainable transport, including active transport such as cycling and walk should be considered over EV charging (5.91% of all responses)
• The importance of enforcement to ensure charging bays are being used by charging cars (3.6% of all responses)
• Concerns about cables (3.6% of all responses)
• Broadening of the public land solution to a community land solution that encompassed village halls and community centres.

As a result of the consultation feedback, the following amendments were made to the Draft EV Strategy:

1. Adjusted the Ambition
   The consultation draft included the aim of:
   70% of all new cars in the County to be electric by 2030, but as a minimum at least 50% are electric.
    
   The 50% caveat was removed, and the aim reworded to: At least 70% of new cars in the County to be electric by 2030.
    
2. Removed enabling cables to cross pavements
   The consultation draft included a provision to enable cables to allow residents to run a cable in a suitable cable cover across a pavement and will develop and issue guidance to assist in ensuring that this is possible at minimal risk to members of the public.
    
   This was removed from the strategy and the County Council will not support residents to run a cable in a suitable cable cover across the pavement.
   
   Instead, the County Council will continue to explore potential solutions to enable residents to charge at home, including keeping up to date with pilots running in other areas, for example channels for cables in Oxford.
    
   3.  Broadened the public land solution aspiration
   The consultation draft included the aspiration of working in partnership with District and Borough Councils (the main owners of public off street parking) and Parish Councils to provide a public land solution.
    
   This aspiration has been broadened to a community land solution and the County Council’s partnership aspirations include charities that run and maintain community land such as village halls and community centres.
    
   4.  Other
   Adjustments were also made to the text to make it clearer that:
   • This strategy was set within the context of a move to more sustainable transport, and this was included in the strategy summary.
   • There would be no cost to the County Council to install the chargers
   • Chargers enabled by the County Council will be accessible via contactless payments
   • Street lighting chargers are not a viable solution within the County
   • Efforts will continue to engage with potential market providers to encourage them to invest in charging infrastructure within the County
   • Our communications plan will include a focus on local businesses

Several other minor additions and amendments were made to reflect comments and suggestions from the consultation and to provide clarity on various aspects of the strategy.
 
The Electric Vehicle Strategy, containing these amendments was approved by the Cabinet Member for the Environment on 3^rd December 2019. The final strategy can be found on our website.