Published on:
29
October 2010
Over 1000 comments and suggestions were received during the Council's budget engagement process.
The Council organised a range of ways for local people to provide feedback on the forthcoming budget - from face-to-face events to dedicated email and freeposts addresses.
As well as raising awareness of the challenges the Council is facing, the exercise has gathered views on which services we can supply differently, which services the community can help to support and which services you value enough to pay for.
All the comments and suggestions received have been considered and many will be analysed and the results fed back into the decision making process. Some of the comments will ultimately help to substantiate those decisions that the Council will take in achieving the required savings.
A feedback leaflet, called 'Money Matters', which included a 12 question questionnaire, was one of the main ways the Council gathered feedback.
The initial analysis of the questionnaire responses show that there is clear support from the public to the Council taking action on schools with low occupancy levels. There was also substantial support for the Council reducing our capital project, such as refurbishing buildings and repairing roads.
Council staff were also asked about ways they could deliver efficiencies and over 70% said they would consider mobile and flexible working methods.
Council Leader Sam Ovens said: "I am delighted with the response we have had to this engagement process. The information we have received is likely to shape our decisions, although we've had to take some tough decisions already.
"It is inevitable that we will see a reduction in the total number of people we employ and we are trying to manage this by freezing vacancies and targeted voluntary severance."
The initial results of the budget engagement process will be reported to councillors in November with the full results along with initial proposed savings coming forward in December, once the Scottish Government has announced its funding for the public sector.
Then specific budget savings will be proposed and the 2011-12 budget will be presented to a full Council meeting in February for councillors to take a decision.