Wrexham’s ‘Extensive’ Budget Consultation To Launch This Month

Wrexham’s budgetary consultation for 2015/16 is set to go live this month – with school children offered the chance to give their opinions on proposals.

On September 15th Wrexham Council’s Budget Consultation for the next 12 months will go out to the public, with residents encouraged to give their feedback on financial proposals.

The consultation will allow Wrexhamites to answer questions either online or on paper and provide opinions on comments on the proposed budget cuts for the next year.

Over the past 12 months it has been well documented that Wrexham Council is facing an estimated funding shortfall of £60m over the next five years. Already financial cuts to services in Wrexham have seen libraries and community centres close, a reduction in grass cutting, an increase in car parking charges and the closure of Plas Madoc Leisure Centre.

Back in July’s Executive Board meeting the message ‘Prepare for the worst and hope for the best’ was sent out, with services such as adult social care, leisure, transport and the environment all facing further financial cuts.

In what is hoped to be the most extensive consultation process carried out by Wrexham Council, plans are currently in place to help improve public engagement with the upcoming consultation. Already on the Wrexham Council website there is a consultation page, with several questionnaires available for people to voice their opinions on. The current consultation list can be found here.

Last year’s consultation saw 631 residents fill in the feedback forms, along with 91 emails / letters sent to the Council. Along with this, Wrexham Council’s approach to consultation and engagement was highlighted as an area of improvement by the Welsh Government after figures indicated only 25% of people in Wrexham felt as though they could influence decisions.

However Lead Member for Communities, Partnership and Collaboration, Councillor Hugh Jones said a lesson had been learnt from last year’s consultation; with a ‘You Said, We Did’ approach being adopted for this year’s consultation.

Cllr Jones said: “This year will be significantly better on the online version, as people make choices, there will be a running total until they reach the target figure. There will be feedback boxes for each question and also an opportunity for people to add suggestions for making savings.

“In addition, once the information has been gathered it will be used to inform the decisions, this will be followed up with a ‘you said we did’ response. The aim is to make it clear how we have considered the responses in reaching our decisions.”

The consultation will also see school children have the chance to get involved in the process and have their say.

Cllr Jones said: “I made the decision to include both primary and secondary schools in the process and the exact how will be a matter for each school. Some schools may choose the School Council.”

In addition to the online forms meetings with groups such as Town and Community Council Forum, Senedd Y’r Ifanc and the Diversity Forum will also take place. Paper copies will also be in all public buildings and hopefully partner organisations.

The 2015/16 Budget Consultation is set to be released on September 15th. As usual we will be tweeting a link to the consultation as well as providing you with an insight on what to expect when you participate / breakdown of the consultation.