Like all councils across the country, Cambridge City Council is facing a major challenge. Its budget is being significantly reduced by the government at a time when costs are rising because of increasing demand for services, extra responsibilities, the growth of the city and the pressures of inflation.
Despite the savings already achieved the council still needs to make more savings. Financial planning assumptions are that the Council needs to reduce its net annual spend by approximately £6 million over the next five years, subject to any changes in government funding or other financial factors.
YouChoose is an online tool that allows you to adjust spending headlines and keeps you informed about possible consequences so that you can make more informed choices. It doesn't reflect everything the council does and the spending totals do include on-costs, to try and reflect the true costs of services, but it does provide a feel for some of the real financial challenges the council will face over the next five years. Your contribution will help inform councillors when they make decisions about the council's budget.
The council wants to protect services that meet the needs of vulnerable people. It is looking to become more efficient in what it does and work in a different way to make savings, but the choices will be difficult. It says: "As a part of our budget planning process we are consulting residents to learn more about their views on what should be considered priority areas for our spending. You are asked to find £6 million of savings in this consultation. The responses you give will help inform the savings to be made in the future."
The consultation closes on 3 October 2014.
The financial challenges will be set out in more detail in the council's Mid-Year Review, which will be published on 8 October 2014.
About You Choose
You Choose was originally developed by the London Borough of Redbridge to engage its citizens in the difficult decisions that may arise from a potential £25 million reduction to its revenue budget.
In partnership with YouGov and the Local Government Group, You Choose is being made available to other councils, so they too may engage their citizens in decisions about how they spend their revenue budgets, and help their citizens understand the tough choices the council faces.
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