Clackmannanshire Consultation Database

We asked what you thought about our draft British Sign Language Plan.

We promoted engagement on the plan through our website, the local newspaper and social media. We also used BSL videos and shared our messages with local and national partner organisations, including community councils, Clackmannanshire Third Sector Interface, the Sensory Centre in Camelon and the British Deaf Association.

We gathered views in different ways:

• Public meetings in the Speirs Centre, Alloa during August and September 2018

• An online survey

• Comments by email

You told us:

There is a general lack of understanding around deafness and BSL. It is often assumed, incorrectly, that D/deaf people should be able to easily communicate through written English

• It can be very difficult for a D/deaf BSL to find the information they need on websites because it is usually only presented in English

• Customer service staff in many organisations do not know what to do when a D/deaf person makes an enquiry

• Families with D/deaf children said that courses in BSL were expensive and often involved long journey times to take part

• There is a lot of misunderstanding about the value of BSL to D/deaf people. In particular, there is often an assumption that cochlear implants negate the need for a visual language, but it is important distinguish what is essentially a medical intervention from the social and cultural benefits offered by BSL

• There is significant local demand for learning at least some BSL

We made some changes to the draft BSL plan. It was approved by Clackmannanshire Council on 25th October 2018.

The plan is available in BSL at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYsYiplr_vHP0M3XvnJ7w1w/videos?view=0&shelf_id=1&sort=dd

We asked for your views on a proposal to co-locate Alloa’s police operations within Clackmannanshire Council’s head quarters in Kilncraigs, Alloa.

Six key themes have emerged from your feedback:  Service Delivery; Building and Facilities; Parking, Roads and Vehicles; Reception and Risk; Organisational Culture; and Finance and Savings.  The issues of concern to most of the 387 respondents was parking, whilst many felt the proposal would benefit citizens of Clackmannanshire through more opportunities for collaborative working between Police and Clackmannanshire Council. 

Six short-life task groups have been set up to review each of the feedback themes.  Actions will be identified to address your key concerns and build the basis for business case options.

We asked for final comments on the content and wording of a proposed new Scheme to ensure it is clear and fit for purpose.

The provision for more frequent elections would be a distraction from core community council business, but that community councils should still be able to replace members who leave and recruit to fill vacancies within the election cycle as long as safeguards were in place to ensure democratic legitimacy.

We re-worded some of the text for clarity without changing the principle. 

We removed the provision for top-up elections and amended the provision for elections which community councils can request when their numbers drop. 

We added a clause to the provision for co-option to require community councils to  publicise in advance the procedure for co-option as well as the intention to co-opt to replace a member who has left.