Budget consultation dates. click to enlarge
The Council have announced a series of meetings at which residents will be able to discuss how taxpayer’s money should be spent in future.
They are nothing new.
Focus groups and the like have been tried in the past.
Residents top priority will be improving street level services like maintaining roads and footpaths. But Labour have already cut those.
In any event, the Council has already agreed its budget for the next financial year – they are cutting grants to community centres etc – so what information Council officials hope to wrest from residents is unclear?
As anyone who has had anything to do with preparing a budget of £400 million will know, several months work goes into preparing and evaluating options.
Residents have been given no background information, yet the first meeting takes place next Wednesday.
It is likely that few will attend.
Leader prepares to meet residents
York” a small market town”
Those that do, will either be bemused or have an axe to grind.
The Councils capital expenditure plans (Arts barges etc) will get a hammering, high profile – dogmatic & unpopular – policy decisions (20 mph speed limits, use of ANPR cameras etc) will get a shellacking while Councillors allowances and higher management pay will be predictably popular cuts.
None of this will be the slightest help in addressing issues like demographic changes (an aging population) which heavily influence long term budget planning.
The events are likely to cost around £1000.
Better value for money could have been achieved – and a much more informed response obtained – using web based techniques.
Unconnected (apparently) the Council Leader has said that he will be organising a series of “meet the people” events.
In a Guardian article he recently described York as being a “market town in North Yorkshire” before he arrived to save it.
Quite why he has waited for nearly 3 years before venturing out into the City to talk to the natives is a mystery.
