Have your say on the future of local government services in Aberdeenshire

Have your say on the future of local government services in Aberdeenshire

Council employees, residents and people who work in Aberdeenshire are being encouraged to give their opinions on the future of local services.

The engagement exercise outlined in last week’s All Go asks for people’s views on how best to address future funding gaps and is now live at http://bit.ly/BudgetHelpUsHelpYou

The council provides a range of services for local people, costing around £530million annually. Around 260,000 people live in the area which is geographically and economically diverse, and demands on services can vary greatly from location to location, so please encourage your friends and family across Aberdeenshire to take part too.

Councillors will meet in February to formally set the budget for 2016/17 but want the views of local people to inform the process.

Co-leader of Aberdeenshire Council, Richard Thomson, said: “The council’s funding is reducing at the same time as demand for services increases, meaning we have to consider delivering services differently and more efficiently.

“We are asking local people, whatever their interest, to have their say on how our funding should be spent for the coming year and assist us in making decisions about the future of services.”

Co-leader, Martin Kitts-Hayes, said: “We need to find £18million in order to maintain services at the current level and will be identifying ways to make savings across all services.

“We know many people have ideas about how councils could or should do things differently – this is their chance to have a direct impact on our work.”

The engagement process is designed to help inform the decisions made by Aberdeenshire councillors in setting a balanced budget.

The survey is running online from today (November 25) until Christmas. The information collected will be analysed and presented to councillors to help them make decisions in the run up to budget setting in February.

Hard copies are also being made available in local libraries, which also offer internet access to members of the public.