Having access to local services and facilities is vital.

Having easy, reliable access to child care, schools, surgeries, shops and jobs provides core opportunities and benefitsfor every generation. Being able to access a park, a gym, swimming pool, musuem or community centre not only provides intrinsic benefitsbutcan impact onwider issues - for example,reducing levels ofanti-social behaviour and obesity and increasingtourism and inward investment.

At parish, ward, district and county level and across every service area, accessing services is a key priority for Leicestershire Together.Leicestershire needs good quality market towns and rural centres' which its people can get to through‘improved public and rural transport'.

And these services must be efficient. Value for money and efficiently delivered public services are important to the people of Leicestershire. This is borne out by public consultation on budget decisions and surveys of customer satisfaction with public services.

Public expenditure will not grow very fast in relation to demand in the next three years which means that the achievement of efficiency savings is essential if funding is to be made available to invest in priority services and if council tax increases are to be restricted.

The delivery plans for how Leicestershire Together aims to increase access to more efficient and effective services:

• How we are improving rural transport (LI 13)
• How we are improving market towns and rural centres (LI 14)
• How we delivering better value for money (NI179)