04 December 2018

Aberdeenshire residents to give their views

Residents, community groups and businesses around Aberdeenshire are being encouraged to give their views, as financial plans for 2019/20 are discussed.

In February, Full Council will meet to agree the budget for the coming year. To help inform that decision, a budget conversation is being launched today, designed to get a sense from the community on work done so far and what the next steps may be.

This year, an infographic has been produced which shows what the Council has done with the feedback received over the past few years and asks people for their views in a short survey.

The results of this dialogue will be turned into a report that councillors will consider alongside the financial position for next year.

Cllr Jim Gifford is the Council Leader. He said: “Everyone is aware that public sector finances are tight, and in Aberdeenshire this is no different. From what we already know as a result of resident research, the people of Aberdeenshire agree that we manage our finances properly. However, we know that they may also have good suggestions about things we can do differently, or together, and as we prepare our plans for the coming year it is right that those suggestions should form part of the decision-making process. I encourage everyone to tell us what they think, using the official survey. If they do this, they can be sure that their input will be part of our plans for next year.”

Cllr Peter Argyle is the Deputy Leader. He said: “This year, we wanted to find out how people feel about the work we have done so far. Over the past few years we have carried out a lot of engagement, taking time to ask people how they feel about issues such as fees and charges and our approach to core services such as waste collection. I am confident that we use the feedback from communities to shape our services and we wanted to use our budget preparation to help illustrate that. We do find the feedback useful and this is our chance to make sure that we are still on the right track.”

The engagement information and links can be found on the Council Facebook and Twitter pages. Copies are being provided to Aberdeenshire Council Service Points or on request from our contact centre on 03456 08 12 08 for those without access to these platforms. The opportunity to give views will stay open until 3 Jan 2019, to allow time for the results to be considered before the budget setting meeting.