John with Liam Fuller from Rugeley and Natalie Hall from Stone at the young people's consultation

Consultation exercises will help shape spending priorities

It is more important than ever for us to target our resources where they are most needed.

That is why the county council goes to so much trouble about budget consultation, in order to find out what residents think spending priorities should be.

Ive been involved in two major consultation exercies in County Buildings, including one last night with a cross section of young people.

They were really enthusiastic and provided a lot of input. I'd like to thank everyone who took part.

Extracts from the other major consultation carried out earlier this month are now available on-line. This makes the process completely transparent and we would welcome your views on how we have carried this out.

Thirty five residents drawn from the Staffordshire People's Panel had an opportunity to plan their own budget at this event and decide where their spending priorities lay. The whole process was as realistic as possible and they had expert advice on-hand throughout.

We are now analysing the results of both exercises. The on-line information includes briefings by officers and members which allowed participants to role-play the aprt of councillors have to wrestle with vying spending priorities.

No-one wants to pay more tax than absolutely necessary, but providing quality services costs money. As an authority we have concentrated our money on services for the most vulnerable in society, including the young and elderly people.

These consultation exercises allowed people to tell us where their priorities lie and aim resources at the areas the public feel most strongly about.

The process also worked on an assumption that our spending will rise by no more than four per cent in the next financial year as we realise that people feel strongly about the level of Council Tax.

 

Page Last Modified: 14/11/2007 10:48:41

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