Postcards: 140,000 distributed to schools, libraries, health centres, roadshows. Home carers etc. 3675 returned plus 110 from older people
Employee surveys: 23,000 distributed, returned 363
Voluntary sector surveys: 3000 distributed, 177 returned
Faith group surveys: ? Distributed, 5 returned.
Youth: 2 events; still waiting for summaries
Business: 7 business breakfast meetings: 170 invited, 46 attended, one still to come 25/11/99
Evening meeting at university, 12 attended out of 70 invited
Evening meeting with IOD to be held 01/12/99
Business survey based on SWOT: 113 returned and analysed out of 2000 distributed
Education: ? attended 2 events out of ? invited.
Councillors: ??
Trade Unions: ??
Responses from web site: 23
Need to build on its image, reinvent pride in the district; trying to wave the Bradford flag can get very frustrating. Need to cast off the past of the wool industry. Overshadowed by Leeds. Leeds has just as much deprivation as Bradford, but has managed to crack the image problem. Shouldn’t see Bradford in competition with Leeds. Similarly the reality of Glasgow is different from the image. The metropolitan district is in need of an identity; Keighley, Ilkley also need there own identities.
Lack of "feel good" factor, people tell others it’s bad, talk themselves down, complain but don’t do anything about it. Sense of desperation and no belief in the future. We have to put the pride back into Bradford and challenge the negative points of view. Want people to be proud to say they’re from Bradford.
Getting Bradford to have a pride in itself, promote a positive image, stop the press always coming to Bradford for the negative stories on deprivation etc. Negative comments "put a bomb under it", "its too late to do anything" blaming Asian communities for Bradford's image.
We’re fearful to talk about racial issues. Being politically correct is strangling communications. Blind pursuit of being PC. Nobody genuinely addressing it without being pilloried. Both communities need to look at themselves. Multiculturalism is a strength, cultural diversity is a unique selling point. If we buy into this, gives everybody an equal and powerful say in partnerships. Discourage that which divides. Cohesion not uniformity.
Want to be seen as a friendly, multiracial city that works. We have a potential time bomb, if we tackle it right, then it could work in our favour. Attitudes to class and ethnicity need to be changed; Bradford could be a window on the world.
Positive views for a racially inclusive society that celebrates cultural diversity, respects other people’s culture. As one child put it "the black people and the white people have nothing to argue about". Sense of community.
Mixed in with the views for racial harmony are racist comments: either the very nasty or the "I don’t want this group here, but I’m not violent about it". There is also a significant perception of favouritism of one culture over another in relation to who gets what resources from the council.
Help the less fortunate, reduce poverty, "we’re all God’s children", "neighbours looking out for each other", needs of elderly, disabled. Being more aware of the needs of others. Concentrating too exclusively on the problems and opportunities of ones own locality. Do things with people not for them.
Gateways, corridors into city are derelict, clean up the city in a way that’s never been done before. Litter, weeds, rubbish etc is appalling, bring business visitors, parent companies into Bradford without them seeing what it’s like, is very difficult. City doesn’t look loved or cared for. We have a dirty city and dreadful parking.
Cleansing needs to be fast, effective, efficient. Although it’s praiseworthy to use "green card" holders, doesn’t create the right impression. Insufficient supervision of street cleaners. Cleanliness needs to be a crusade, a blitz, declare a war on litter. Prosecute people for dumping might help. Need to educate, advertise. The depot where the cleaners work from is a dismal dump. If provide the right environment, people will keep it clean. Start with the city centre, attitudinal change; becomes social pressure to do it. Need to move from the remedial to progress.
Clean, tidy, more litter bins, empty the bins on time, problems of chewing gum, graffiti, dog fouling "when I grow up I want the world to have no dog dirt", dumping, fly posting. Scruffy, rubbish on estates. People are disgusted with the dirty state of the district, though fewer make the connection with education, pride in the area so people don’t cause the problem in the first place. There are comments that the District doesn’t create a good first impression to visitors, new businesses. Needs to be "more organised and presentable". The access corridors are also recognised as a particular problem.
Retail has died and is sorely needed. When Harvey Nicks moved to Leeds, Leeds was perceived to have made it. Bradford lost Brown Muffs in the early 80s, and still doesn’t have a department store. Hearts of cities are important. Centre is going through a natural cycle of redevelopment; view as an opportunity.
One of the trademarks of improvement is upgrading the city centre. Rightly or wrongly we judge cities by their centre.
Attract big names in retail, city centre currently aimed at low incomes and low aspirations.
More, better variety, less tatty shops in Bradford town centre. Trashy town centre, dignified places to shop. Don’t forget Shipley, Bingley, Keighley. Get rid of the 60s,70s concrete, clean up the stone buildings, lively night scene including comparisons with Leeds., Asian shops in city centre, safe, clean, knock down empty and derelict buildings/ reuse old ones. Build on the districts strengths. Comments linked generally cleaning up the whole district.
"green up" the District with more open spaces, preserve green belt, more parks, playing fields, trees, flowers etc. Related to amenities.
"Green" also used though to a lesser extent in relation to less pollution, more recycling
Green spaces, safe clean play areas for younger children, more parks, protect the green belt, sports facilities eg skate parks, theme parks, football pitches, bike tracks
Activity clubs, leisure centres, ice rinks, swimming poois, social clubs. Particular pleas from teenagers for youth clubs, after school clubs, night clubs, entertainment in general. Somewhere to go so aren’t on the streets getting into trouble.
Less mention of museums, libraries, theatre, cinema. Positive views on the calibre of what is available. Some adults mention the "café scene".
In all aspects of amenities, issue of cost, affordability.
Safe
Words used to describe what people want to get rid of: violence, abuse, gangs, bullys, burglaries, stealing, vandalism, domestic violence, prostitution, under age sex.
Associated with crime is drug abuse, get rid of drug dealers. From some young and old comments on too much drinking "get rid of the late night boozers in my local park", anti smoking.
Requests for more police, better street lighting, more security cameras, zero tolerance policing. There is a lot of use of the word "safe" by young people.
Issues of safety for people for people travelling to/from work on 24 hr shifts, safe car parking, prostitutes in certain areas. CCTV is essential to a safer city centre.
General comments on improved public transport, safer and cleaner, more buses in the evening/night time Reduce bus fares, more car parking, better facilities/encourage cycling, park and ride schemes. Don’t forget the outlying areas. Link Forster Square and Interchange.
Council needs to be streamlined, a "dog’s dinner" of lots of different directorates. No compulsory redundancy policy will have to go; quality not quantity of employees is important. Get out of owning assets. Need a responsive attitude from employees, ability to accept change, a "can do" culture. Council tends to get too involved; needs to be more of a facilitator.
Tackle poor performers, concept of jobs for life, issues of accountability. "Will the Chief Executive get beyond the Councillor, Director and Assistant Director smoke screen?" "No pushing papers around" "Take workers opinions into account, they’re on the front line"
If council wants to be seen as business friendly, then need to get the mundane things right eg planning requests, local searches, one stop shop. Need to speed up the processes not necessarily say yes to everything. Planning seen as finding ways not to do things, intransigent. "We need to deliver what the customer wants, not what we want to deliver to them".
Council not held in high regard; seen as too political in the way it operates and responds. Also short sighted, bunkered, lack of joined up thinking, putting obstacles in the way. If council seen as a good facilitator, investment then follows.
Relationships with entrepreneurs are very different to those with the Textile industry.
Business feels alienated rather than hostile, treated with a cavalier attitude in the past.
Business won’t take big decisions just in the interests of Bradford. Earlier perception
that business was just there to write cheques. Some officers think business is always trying to "do the council over"; also uncomfortable with the concept of business making a profit.
In the past political establishment was insular, inward looking and parochial. Sometimes got tied up in the process. Fact that political make up tends to swing doesn’t help. Need to create a vision that is robust enough to survive political changes. Can rise above bickering and feuding but cannot escape from decision making. Need conviction rather than consensus in politics.
Feeling that the council has done more in the past few months than has been done in last few years; very welcomed. Enormous fear it would be lost in waffle. Applaud this forum; CEO and Leader have declared ownership.
Upgrades to city centres in other places started by some from of municipal activity proactive council. Council can be the honest broker facilitating the vision.
"Vision requires leadership, not a 7 day wonder". Comments on need for committed, honest politicians with integrity, leadership and the appropriate level of skill. People who spend the money wisely, councillors who care, get rid of in fighting. Also views such as "get rid of all the councillors", "these postcards, the vision exercise is a waste of time/money". More significantly a plea to the Council to promise only what it can deliver and deliver it, get beyond planning and ideas stage.
Changing patterns of work. We’re about to see a significant structural change akin to the coming of the railways, a 3rd industrial revolution. The change is a geometric rather than an arithmetic progression. E commerce and web based aspects of business, less travel. The competitive advantage that most communities have now will go away. Winning communities will have the skills to deal with these types of environments. We can’t change trends but we can make it more attractive. Acts of faith about what might happen. We might be starting this just at the right time.
We can’t predict what businesses we’ll be in in 20-40 years time any more than we could do 40 years ago, you just find your own way. Bradford can’t be all things to all men; need to pick areas of potential.
Bradford’s activities as a commercial processing centre, back office activities. Genuine strength from low wages, low rents. Niches in sport and museums. Bradford has the resource to fuel new industries from its growing population. Many of future workforce will be from ethnic background. Some manufacturing won’t be here, will have been costed out off shore.
Lot of advice about, but it’s patchy and you need a route map to find your way round it. Initiatives, organisations need to be under one roof, better coordinated. Also need a simple mechanism to enable business and council to work together on straight forward projects.
For Bradford to be wealthier, need education. It’s very rare now to be able to start a business without a good education. Need a seismic shift in how we fund education. The University is struggling and has been too sloppy and slow. Bradford needs to use its intellectual capital more.
What should Bradford be doing to position its people for the future: education even though it doesn’t pay off for 10/15 years. The short term nature of the political system makes education unattractive to politicians.
State of repair of schools, more equipment, "it’s our future" spend more money, smaller classes, a perception that these things and crime related issues are getting in the way. Level of attainment needs to be improved.
Opportunities for all to learn at all ages, support teachers, learn how to learn, meeting the needs of the disaffected and excluded. Schools as neighbourhood community centres. Issue of learners with English as a second language." Not having to leap into the next initiative without having consolidated the first one."
A recognition that without adequate investment in education, the future looks bleak.
"Seeing more and more 16 to 18 year olds applying for work for which they are simply unable and ill equipped to compete for."
"Lack of quality, willing labour"
Address education and training so that when, for instance, call centres are replaced by advice centres, people can respond quickly, flexibly. We can’t predict what skills are required so need basic English and Maths. Then work with organisations to address the specific skills they require. As well as these hard skills, also need self confidence and a belief in the future.
Electronics industry found work force" incredibly adaptable" though level of education needs addressing.
Percentage of respondents who rated the issue as no.1 or no.2 in order of priority:
Under "Current Strengths"
Quality of local authority services 16%
Well developed sense of civic pride 16%
Under "Current Weaknesses"
Run down city centre 60%
Limited range and quality of shopping facilities 34%
Road/rail connections inadequate for a metropolitan centre 44%
Traffic congestion 37%
Poor external image 52%
Under "Future opportunities"
Young, growing population 54%
Under "Future Threats"
Low skills base/poor educational attainment 63%
Racial disharmony and conflict 32%
Diana Cook 18/11/99