Our promise

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We're promising...

We promise to design, manage and develop services with you.

We promise to stand up for you and represent your interests.

We will do everything in our power to develop services so that communities are making the most of West Sussex.

With you, for you, making the most of West Sussex.

Take a look at our Performance Framework 2011-14 to see some of the things we're doing.

With you… we’re listening

We've spent a lot of time talking to people in West Sussex. Many of you have told us how much you like living in West Sussex and we want to help you make the most of it.

That's where our promise has come from. We want better and more relevant services for all our customers and communities and we want to help make that happen.

We want to make sure our services are as closely tailored to the needs of our customers as possible. We will continue to listen to your views and strive to meet your hopes and aspirations.

For you... we're sharing

West Sussex is a great place to live but there are things that can be done to make it better.

As well as reviewing our own services, we're currently identifying how we can improve the way we work with our partners in providing services, such as Sussex Police and the health service.

Whatever your needs we can point you in the right direction. We want to be community leaders; the ones who can provide you with information, guidance and support - whether it’s us delivering the service or not.

Making the most of West Sussex... we're changing

We've already started to make visible changes. Did you know you can now book appointments online for our registration service? We've posted online our top one hundred questions that our contact centre gets asked for and in the future we’ll be introducing plenty more things you can book, pay or apply for.

Or perhaps you or a family member has experienced self-directed support? That's a new way of helping people who need care. Instead of us telling people what help they will receive, we agree an amount of funding and the customer decides how to spend it - perhaps some help around the house, an activity, or even a holiday for respite.

We want to make changes which benefit you and are smarter ways of working for us. We're facing tough challenges in the current economic climate and are looking for ways in which we can be both modern and more efficient.

We're going to keep changing for the better and we'll keep you informed of our progress.

Background to our promise

We spent some time talking to the residents of West Sussex to find out if we have come to the right conclusions about what matters to you, our customers.

Place, enabling and leadership

Two consultations were held in 2008 with customers and residents. Three things in particular stood out: place, information, advice and guidance and leadership.

You told us you really like the local area as a place to live but gave us clear indications of how we can help improve life in West Sussex.

You said you want more information so you can help yourselves make the most of your lives in the county. So we will focus on providing information, advice and guidance to all residents, as well as providing services, assistance and support to people where it's most needed.

We are clear about our leadership responsibilities for services, whether provided directly, through partners or third parties. We will work closely with partners and influence third parties to make sure they deliver to agreed levels of quality and are accountable for what they do.

Value, quality and choice

We have a clear commitment to ensure services deliver the most appropriate combination of quality, value and choice to all residents.

We know value will be important for everyone; but for some who may not need or receive many services, it will be the overriding issue.

For those who may make a lot of use of services the county council provides, quality may be the central concern.

However, everyone who wants or needs services is increasingly seeking more choice in the services they can get and how they are provided.

Reviewing our services

Using this information we worked with our County Council Cabinet Members to develop our promise: 'With you, for you, making the most of West Sussex'.

This is our statement which tells you what we promise to do for you.

Behind the scenes our promise provides the basic philosophy for all our plans and activities.