Council publishes budget consultation feedback

The Highland Council is today (Monday 21st March) publishing the feedback to its Budget Consultation, which took place between March and June 2010 and was in response to the significant savings that required to be made to meet the budget gap of £60 million.  It was felt important to gather the views of the public on a range of issues to assist in making these decisions. 

The consultation used a variety of methods to encourage as many people as possible to take part.  This included ward forums, professional and stakeholder forums, a budget blog and through a Citizens’ Panel survey.  These assisted in generating over 8,000 separate points on the budget questions. 

The Council has since set its budget for the next year and agreed savings for the next two years.  The consultation feedback supported the Council in this decision making.   

The publication today summarises what the Council asked the public, what the responses were and what decisions were made on these budget savings ideas.  The Budget Consultation summary can be accessed here. 

The full analysis of consultation responses, from both the Citizens’ Panel and the other methodologies, is also published today and can be found on the Council’s website at /yourcouncil/news/blog/  

Budget Leader Councillor David Alston said: “I thank everyone who took part in the budget consultation. For the first time in more than a generation the Council has had to deal with a cash cut in its grant Government and, in these circumstances, no decisions can be easy. However I believe that the participation of so many people has helped us to make better decisions.”