The City of Edinburgh Council has published its draft budget for 2014/15 which is now available for residents and key stakeholders to give their feedback on. This is being published five months ahead of the proposals being finalised which will be in February 2014.
At a meeting of the Finance & Budget Committee last week, a report on the draft budget was approved by councillors.
Councillor Alasdair Rankin and Councillor Bill Cook, Convener and Vice Convener of the Finance and Budget Committee, issued a joint statement following the publication of the proposals.
Councillor Alasdair Rankin said: “Today we start the process of extensively engaging with the public on our full budget proposals. With a one billion pound budget it is only fair that the people of Edinburgh get to have their say on where the money should be spent and we’ll be actively trying to seek feedback from the city’s residents, local groups and stakeholders.
“Despite the obvious challenges we face with the economic downturn, welfare reform and reduced funding from central government, the Council is still committed to delivering high quality public services that improve the lives of the city’s residents. Our commitment is to protecting frontline services and investing our money wisely in those core areas set out in the Capital Coalition pledges.”
Councillor Bill Cook said: “This is the chance for the public to tell us what is important to them. We are setting the bar for all other local authorities by publishing the draft budget even earlier – giving us more time to listen to the views of residents, the local community and other interest groups.
“Several budget decisions which we made in February of this year for the 2013/14 budget – such as doubling funding in roads and increasing our investment in education were influenced by feedback we received from the public.”
The full budget proposals can be accessed at www.edinburgh.gov.uk/budget
In addition a public facing campaign informing people of the draft budget and its impact on them and their services will be launched next week.
Feedback can be given in a number of ways:
– fill in the simple online feedback form
– email councilbudget@edinburgh.gov.uk
– Write to the council at Freepost, RSJC-SLXC-YTJY, Budget, Council Leader, City Chambers Edinburgh EH1 1YJ
Or:
– talk to a local councillor.
– tweet using #edinbudget
– comment on Facebook
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