Plymouth City Council Leader Nick Kelly is thanking the hundreds of Plymouth residents who took part in a public engagement on the how the authority should allocate its budget for next year.
Nearly 1,200 people gave their views in the Prioritise Plymouth’s Pounds engagement exercise aimed at getting feedback and ideas on the Council’s proposals to reduce costs so it can set a balanced budget.
“We had an excellent response with more people taking part than we’ve ever had for a budget consultation,” Councillor Kelly said. “Work is still ongoing in analysing all the feedback but we know we have a lot of really useful and thoughtful responses that we will consider as we make decisions throughout the budget setting process.
“We’re still facing considerable challenges in setting a budget for next year as demand for services and costs outstrip the resources we have, so we’ve still got a lot of work to do before we will be in a position to recommend a balanced budget in February. The views and ideas that we’ve received will be invaluable as we continue to work on it over the coming weeks.
“Listening to the views of Plymouth residents is one of this administration’s key commitments, so I’m really pleased that so many people took time to give their views and ideas and that we got a record number of responses.”
The Council is due to set the budget for next year in February after proposals, as well as residents’ feedback, are scrutinised by councillors in January.
A progress report on the development of the budget is to be considered by the Cabinet on 21 December. It says that due to the estimated reductions in income and rising demand for services being faced by nearly all local authorities, the Council started working on the 2022/23 budget with a shortfall of around £20.2 million.
Proposals that will deliver £6.7 million savings have been identified, leaving the current shortfall at £13.5 million.
Councillor Kelly said: “As a Council we are highly ambitious for the city and its residents and despite our financial challenges, we are determined to deliver our priorities to for a city that residents can be proud of. We are leaving no stone unturned as we continue work of identifying savings that will ultimately help us maintain and enhance those services and issues that residents have told us they value most.”