Have your say on council budget cuts

Questionnaires are being sent out to households as part of the council’s public consultation on where to brandish the axe and balance the budget.

They are also available online and at council offices.

Council leader Rhondda Geekie said: “Our budget consultation has been far reaching and the views coming from our wide ranging engagement workshops are now being tested across the whole of East Dunbartonshire in this household questionnaire.”

The savings need to be made over the next three years and with £40million already cut over the last eight years, councillors have warned that the decisions are set to get harder and harder.

The consultation entitled Your Services, Your Choices, has included five budget workshops across East Dunbartonshire and discussions with council employees, young people, various forums and community councils.

To help people see the consequences, an ‘online budget simulator’ was launched in April to show the real world impact specific cuts would have on frontline services in 2015/16 and beyond.

Councillor Geekie added: “The questionnaire will test how acceptable the views are that have been coming through the simulator and the discussion workshops we’ve held.

“People still have the opportunity to suggest how they would balance the budget for next year and beyond through this online tool, in addition to giving us their views on some of the proposals coming forward.”

The closing date for responses to the household Questionnaire is Monday 30 June and the online Budget Simulator has also been extended until this date.