The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Study seeks opinions on public service priorities
Aberdonians are being asked to show what issues they care about – be it access to digital skills, better cycling infrastructure or changes to policing – in a wideranging study by community leaders.
The Community Planning Aberdeen (CPA) board has launched a new study to gauge the attitudes, priorities and values of people across the city and what they want from their public services.
It will help shape the work of CPA going forward and provide its leadership with a cross-check on whether their current priorities matter to citizens.
The check comes a few months before a refresh of the Aberdeen local outcome improvement plan (LOIP), which maps how the member organisations can better the lives of communities across the city.
By 2026, the aim is to ensure the city is a place “where all people can prosper” – with improvements focused on the economy, people and places.
With restrictions on faceto-face consultation due to coronavirus, the leaders have turned to web solutions to take the public’s all-important views.
Those taking part will be asked to allocate points to show how large an emphasis should be placed on different priorities.
For example, they might be asked to choose between whether resources should be committed to improving digital skills in the city or to encouraging more people to walk and cycle.
Results will be collected at a city and community level, allowing planners to identify what separate neighbourhoods of Aberdeen think is most important to them.
Councillor Jenny Laing, co-leader of Aberdeen City Council and chairwoman of CPA, said: “Community Planning Aberdeen is committed to empowering the people of the city, and the introduction of the ‘values simulator’ will enable more citizens to express what is important and of value to them and for their community.
“While some citizens may wish to join one of our locality empowerment groups and priority neighbourhood partnerships, we want to ensure that everyone in our communities who may face barriers because of their race, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief can be heard.”
The CPA board is a partnership – headed by the city council and police – including public, private and third sector organisations.
Those include the fire service, NHS Grampian and Aberdeen City Health and Social Care Partnership, Nestrans and Aberdeen University, as well as North East Scotland College, ACVO, and Aberdeen Civic Forum.
Chief Superintendent George Macdonald, local police commander and vice-chairman of CPA, said: “It is really important that we capture the views of the public to support the midway review of the Aberdeen city local outcome improvement plan.
“We obviously have restrictions currently that prevent us from having the level of face-to-face engagement we would normally seek to achieve. However the use of technology, and in particular the simulator, provides a real opportunity for us to ensure that we are on track, or where we need to perhaps focus more.
“This also allows us to capture a broad opinion base for this important piece of work.
“I would encourage residents to get involved and tell us what matters to you the most to help us shape the future of our communities.”