THE borough council says it must find £4 million of budget cuts and is launching a month-long consultation to allow residents to have their say.
Special drop-in sessions will be held across the borough during October. At each meeting, members of Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) will give a presentation outlining the challenge of creating a budget that saves money in the fairest way.
WBC says it has already saved £31 million over the past five years while protecting frontline services.
But the additional £4 million must be found and the consultations will allow residents to help discern which services should be protected and which can be trimmed or changed.
Options for discussion include youth service management changes and care and support for the elderly.
The council has an annual budget of £113million (2015/16) and the majority of its money is spent on statutory services – £90million (including adult social care, children’s services, waste collection and disposal, and highways). Some £23million is spent on other services such as leisure, parks and open spaces and bus subsidies.
Councillor Keith Baker, WBC leader, said: “If we are to set a robust and balanced budget next year and subsequent years as well we have the extremely difficult task of having to decide where and how we save money.
“To help us with this we’re holding a number of engagement sessions so we can talk to local people about the services they believe should be our priority.”
But, as Cllr Baker admitted, this is uncharted territory for WBC.
He said: “The council has not done anything like this before, nor have neighbouring councils. Online surveys have severe limitations — they’re not interactive and you can’t ask questions.
“Will [the drop-in sessions] work? We don’t know, but it’s absolutely the right thing to do.”
Cllr Baker also hopes that the process will help the council to work with residents.
“We’re definitely trying to be more open and transparent. The time is right for us to talk to residents about the hard decisions we will have to make.”
The sessions
(All sessions run from 7pm to 9pm)
Wednesday, October 7
Salvation Army Hall, Chalfont Close, Lower Earley
Monday, October 19
St Crispin’s School, London Road, Wokingham
Thursday, October 22
Charvil Village Hall, The Hawthorns, off Park Land, Charvil
Monday, October 26
Finchampstead Memorial Hall, the Village, Finchampstead
Wednesday, October 28
Oakwood Centre, Headley Road, Woodley
