The online tool, YouChoose, enables residents to consider the effects of reducing or increasing spending on different council services, and then have their say on how they would spend money or make savings. It will give local people the chance to actively engage with the council’s priorities in a more sophisticated way than in previous budget consultations, allowing them to appreciate and assess the impact of spending changes within the overall context of Cambridge City Council’s financial situation.
It wis now available via the council’s website www.cambridge.gov.uk, and residents’ input will help councillors make decisions about the forthcoming council budget.
Cllr George Owers, Executive Councillor for Finance and Resources, said: "We are taking a new approach to the council’s budget consultation this year. YouChoose allows local people the chance to play the role of a council member, and suggest where they think money should be spent on council services.
"The choices will be tough, because we are faced with significant spending reductions imposed by central government. The council will become more efficient and we will be exploring how we can do things in different ways.
"We want to hear from local residents about which services they think are most important and should be prioritised in the future.
As well as giving the opportunity to anyone to complete YouChoose through the link below, the council will also be collecting a representative sample of people in Cambridge during September. A company called MEL Research Limited will do some household interviews and will in particular target local people who find using the internet and online tools difficult. Each survey should take about 15 minutes to complete.
Please follow this link to find YouChoose
The findings from the YouChoose consultations will be published in December 2014.
The council’s Mid-Year Financial Review, showing the financial challenges it faces, will be published on 8 October 2014, for discussion at the council’s Strategy and Resources committee on 20 October 2014.
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