You pay, you have your say budget consultation

The month-long public consultation exercise. which East Lothian Council ran from early November through to 4 December, encouraged many local residents to express their views about the forthcoming Council budget. Consultation was based on a number of specific options, contained in a  'Spending Options' paper and the results help to demonstrate people's views about the proposals outlined.   

Responses were made in a number of ways including:

• Pre-paid postcard - 94
• Letter - 146
• Petition - 2066 (5 petitions, all about local libraries)
• Email -  184
• Blog entries - 171
• Attendance at public consultation events - 135.

The full results are available on the Council's website, in two reports. 
 
The first report covers the general consultation and can be accessed here.  It shows the least-preferred options as:

• extending the opening hours of six main libraries and closing smaller libraries
• reducing primary schools' staffing
• reducing secondary schools' staffing.

The same report shows that respondents objected least to the idea of:

• replacing the current provision of annual bedding and hanging basket displays with more sustainable planting
• increasing burial charges to the national average
• introducing charges for off-street car parking and events, and for coastal car parking.

The second report deals solely with the public consultation events that took place in each of the six main towns in late November/early December and can be accessed here.  Structured exercises were designed to get participants to weigh and discuss the various options.  The results showed a dislike for the idea of reducing school staffing, and a tendency not to favour restrictions on adult social care.  Options for general service rationalisation and redesign found more favour.  The 'top three' preferred options were:

• freezing the Corporate Resources and Chief Executive's Office budget
• replacing the current provision of annual bedding and hanging basket displays with more sustainable planting
• introducing coastal car parking charges.

Initial reactions at the consultation events favoured ending the Council Tax freeze which has been in place for two years but a more detailed examination of the issue delivered a different result - with a  majority in favour of continuing the freeze.
 
Depute Leader of East Lothian Council, Cllr. Stuart MacKinnon, said:

 "Although the administration will make the final decision on the budget this exercise will help to inform councillors as they put together their budget proposals. There are some interesting results and I would like to thank everyone who took the trouble to participate in this innovative process."
 
Full reports on the public budget consultation are available on the Council's website. 
 
The Council will hold a special meeting on Tuesday 9 February to decide its budget.