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APPENDIX 7: INITIAL THOUGHTS ON THE CHOICE SETS
Stornoway - Choice sets
The final exercise conducted at the workshops in the case study areas was designed specifically to test aspects of the choice experiment that constituted the next phase of the research. Accordingly, participants were presented with a number of choice sets and invited to complete them. All sets and the choices made are presented in Appendices 8 and 9. Figure A4 presents one of the choices as an example.
Figure A4: Stornoway choice set example
Afternoon
The group did not find this exercise easy. They felt that usually you would expect to start by thinking about the importance of a specific service. There was overwhelming agreement that you need to know which specific services you are talking about as this will strongly influence your answers, e.g. doctor, shop, specialist service, dentist etc.
The facilitator asked if there was one specific attribute that most strongly influenced peoples' choices. The response was that distance was crucial and whether staff were employed or voluntary. However, in relation to staff, the type of service was again crucial for choice. For example, having a volunteer local fire brigade was better than relying on one from Stornoway 26 miles away. But clearly certain highly qualified services such as dentist could never utilise volunteers.
The facilitator asked if there were any other attributes that ought to be included in the choice sets. It was reiterated that 'type of service' was crucial. It was also felt that the issue of accessibility was not covered adequately by attributes such as opening hours and distance. Issues such as transport, location, personal mobility, and home delivery - all of these things were considered important parts of accessibility.
There was a discussion about home delivery. For example some shops (such as Somerfield) deliver to some parts of Lewis (not Bernera). A local chemist used to do a local delivery service of prescriptions to some elderly customers - this was given as an example of a very good local service that went 'the extra mile' for local people. This service has been lost.
Another negative change is that the Royal Mail van used to pick up people or parcels (on a casual basis) - they can no longer do this because of health and safety rules and regulations. Health and safety have also cut down on butchers etc being able to do mobile delivery service. These are the kinds of informal networks and local services that help to keep rural areas going and that are being lost.
The loss of abattoirs was also mentioned. There is one in Stornoway that the council took over but after that the nearest one is Dingwall. It was felt that this is a problem on an island where there is still so much farming.
The discussion turned specifically to the issue of co-location. It was felt that regulations may be an issue for co-location as it affects who can come into school premises. There are also issues of confidentiality - e.g. for some services, such as drugs advice and counselling, people are likely to want it to be somewhere away from where they live, away from places where people know them.
Evening
The group did not understand exercise four. Like the afternoon workshop they felt that they needed to know what service each choice was related to. They also needed to know what information was referred to under service level.
The group was asked which of the attributes was most important for their choices. They stated that what was most important in terms of attributes is value for money.
There was a comment that opening hours may be important but that late opening hours of a service 10 miles away is no good if there is not a bus service. It was felt that accessibility is important.
Participants were also concerned about the use of council tax as a payment vehicle as some services are not paid for by council tax. Someone also commented that they would not want to pay £100 extra council tax for a service they use twice a year. Again the emphasis was placed on needing to know what services are being referred to.
In terms of staffing it was again felt that desired levels depends on what service we are talking about. Generally, people prefer employed staff and late opening hours. Having people employed full-time is obviously a preference. Staff probably need to be full-time employed but participants fel that you cannot generalise.
Eastriggs choice sets
Figure A5 presents an example choice set from the Eastriggs choice set exercise.
Figure A5: Eastriggs choice set example
Discussion after afternoon choice sets
People found this exercise confusing. Council tax was the most important attribute in choice making but also level of staffing. It was also felt to be important that there were actual services provided rather than just an information point. "Full service" meant different things to different people. It was pointed out that at a council service point there will be frequent low value usage for things such as paying rent versus less frequent high value usage for things like planning advice. So there is a need for greater definition and explanation of council services and/or level of service. Regarding staffing, the group felt that you cannot rely on volunteers to deliver services. Continuing the discussion around council services specifically, the group felt that people need to be able to choose their access channel - for example phone, internet, face to face - hence there is not necessarily a 'one-size-fits-all' solution. Also, people will choose different channels depending on the complexity of the issue.
Discussion after evening choice sets
Again participants found this exercise quite difficult to understand. Regarding important attributes they were concerned about staffing, specifically, the issue of who has responsibility for staffing a service outlet, and the need to know that they are capable of dealing with any problems. The group felt that level of service could include the option of a web-cam hence they were clearly thinking in more depth about how the service could be provided, rather than the level of service.
In terms of how people found the exercise - there were a few comments that some of it made sense but overwhelmingly people did not understand the choice sets.
Applecross choice sets
The choice sets used in Applecross (Figure A6) differed significantly from those used at the previous two case study locations. This time people were explicitly given the option of choosing their current service provision. This created an interesting outcome as everyone chose this option every time. When asked why, there were two reasons given. First, the positive view was that people are happy with what they have. The second, and less positive view was that people do not want to pay any more council tax because they already pay a lot.
Figure A6: Applecross choice set example
The group said that this exercise did not make sense. The choices did not offer anything that they did not already have, or offered something that they did not want. For example, the option of 'community group services' was not relevant as they already have these. The response to the possibility of a Council service point was not at all positive. There is already one in Lochcarron and as noted above there was not much any enthusiasm for it. These and other reasons help to explain why all choices were for existing service provision. However, the group was keen to emphasise that their responses might be different if choices were to offer something they needed. For example, it was felt that there is a need for elderly care in the village. Once people are no longer capable of living in their own homes they have to go to Inverness for nursing home care. There was a call for a couple of sheltered houses in the village. This was felt to be feasible and would prolong the amount of time people could stay in the village. There was a realisation that it is not possible to have 24 hour care for elderly in Applecross because of the expense. It was felt that services for elderly are excellent until you need full-time nursing care.
The facilitator tried to probe whether the amounts suggested for the council tax increase were realistic. However, people were clear that they were not willing to pay any extra for something they do not want. Nevertheless there were a few comments that £100 would be an amount that they would be willing to pay, for example, for good transport services.
Overall, there were concerns about the use of council tax as this is sensitive given the discussion around council tax increases anyway. Generally, the consensus was that they would need to know what the specific thing is that they pay more for to know whether the increase is acceptable. There was also mention of the importance of the volunteer force that helps keep many services going. The issue of council tax, or any other payment, was seen as irrelevant to this.
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