800 Complete Budget Survey With One Day To Go

There’s just one more day to go for members of the public to have their say on Wrexham Council’s budget proposals for 2015/2016.

The “Difficult Decisions” consultation comes to an end at midnight tomorrow (Friday – 24 October) after a six week consultation.

It is the largest budget consultation the Council has ever undertaken in an attempt to get members of the public to give their input into what services are most important to them. So far 800 people have taken part.

The Council faces £45million budget cuts over three years, as government funding is reduced dramatically, with many services in Wrexham under threat of closure or reduced funding.

Within the consultation members of the public are asked to make £3,669,000 of potential savings. Options include the closure of Bersham Heritage Centre, transfer of libraries over to community trusts and a review of Wrexham’s Mayoral service.

Two consultation sessions have also been organised with representatives from local community councils attending on Tuesday. Tonight representatives from Senedd Yr Ifanc, Wrexham over 50s Forum, members of the People’s Voice citizens’ panel, the Diversity Forum, the Tenants Forum will take part in a consultation with councillors and senior officers at the Guildhall.

Leader of Wrexham Council, Cllr Mark Pritchard attended the consultation event with community councils on Tuesday and was delighted with the debate and exchange of views that were discussed.

He said: “There were some lively debates around the budget from everyone who attended which was fantastic to experience. The more views we get the more we can gauge what services people want to see delivered by Wrexham Council.

“These are exceptional times of austerity for local government as we face yet another poor settlement here in Wrexham. I think we need to be mindful that this situation will be with us for the next six to eight years.

“I am delighted that so many people have taken the time to participate in the Difficult Decisions consultation and I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone. It’s really important that as many people give us their views as possible.”

The outcome of the consultation will be taken to the Executive Board in January and Full Council in February 2015.

If you want to take part in the budget consultation – more details can be found on the Wrexham Council website here.