Rochford District Budget Survey - Have your Say
We want your views on what YOU consider are the priority
services of your local District Council and how you think the
available budget should be spent. Your views will be taken into
account when the Council considers its future spending
priorities.
Over the next few years, Rochford District Council, like public
bodies across the nation, is likely to have to make major changes
to the way it works, as as we deal with the reductions in our
funding from Central Government.
Following cuts to our Government grant of 17% in 2011/12, our
grant for 2012/13 will be cut by a further 11%. This means that we
will need to find a further £0.7million in savings or additional
income for 2012/13.
In 2011/12 the Council is reducing expenditure by £1.2million,
which is in addition to the £0.9million cost reductions we
delivered in 2010/11.
Some of the tough decisions made for 2011/12 were helped by the
feedback received from the budget survey carried out in 2010. This
identified what services were considered to be particularly
important and should be protected from cuts and which services were
seen as lower priority by residents.
As there are going to be few ‘easy’ choices again this year, the
Council wants to find out what’s important to you before
Councillors decide where any further reductions will have to be
made. So we are looking for your views about the District as a
whole, based on your day to day experiences and what you would like
to see as the priorities for services over the next few years.
Please remember that although the Council provides many services
for residents, there are other public service providers too, such
as the County Council, the Police and the Primary Care Health
Trust, who are all responsible for providing services in the
District.
In the survey we have provided some information about the high
level spend or, for example the income from car parking.
Thank you for taking the time to help.
Councillor Terry Cutmore
Leader, Rochford District Council.