Members of the public are being asked to have their say on the budget for next year, and into the future, at a series of public events taking place across Cornwall over the next few weeks.

Earlier this month the Council published its proposals for saving £196m over the next four years. The unprecedented scale of the savings required means that all areas of the Council are affected by the draft proposals.

However, rather than simply ‘salami slice’ every service, the authority claims it has developed a four year plan which will help protect the three key priority areas identified by the public and members during last year’s budget consultation.

These are services for the most vulnerable in society, including vulnerable adults, children, older people and the poorest, public transport, and road repairs and maintenance.

The budget proposals are currently being considered in detail by members at meetings of the council’s portfolio advisory committees.

The authority will also be holding 19 consultation events across Cornwall during October to find out the views of local residents, businesses and partners on where cuts and savings could be made and to come up with any suggestions for increasing income.

Alex Folkes, the council’s cabinet member for finance and resources, said: “Over the past few months we have looked closely at everything we do to see how we can protect services by becoming more efficient and changing the way the Council is run.

"We started with the money we spend on ourselves and have already identified more than £30 million of savings through a radical restructure of senior management, reducing the use of consultants and agency staff by 59 per cent, and a local pay agreement with staff.

"This work is continuing, with further savings due to come from ongoing restructuring and the sale of surplus buildings, but the sheer scale of the savings we need to make means we cannot rely on these actions alone.

 "We are looking to work much more closely with the rest of the public sector and the voluntary and community sector. We will be seeking to integrate our services and to share support functions and buildings wherever possible. But we know that front line services will also be hit and so we have worked with elected members, with partners and with the public to understand where they feel savings can be made and which services should be protected."

“The draft budget proposals include some things which we would want to do regardless of the need to make savings. These include further reducing the number of buildings and working more closely with partners to share costs. Others are savings we would prefer not to have to make and which we know will have a significant impact on the people who use these services. But, faced with the need to save £196m from our budget , we have very little choice.

“However even implementing all these proposals will still leave us with a £6 million shortfall and this figure could rise depending on Government funding decisions. We have already ruled out a number of options as unacceptable in the current circumstances and, rather than have to revisit them in the future, are asking people to come forward with any ideas on areas for savings we might have missed or where we could go further than we are currently suggesting.

Dates:

Wednesday, October 8, 7pm, Penzance One Stop Shop, St Clare, Penzance, TR18 3QW.

Wednesday, October 15, 7pm, Pool Innovation Centre, Trevenson Rd, Pool, Redruth, TR15 3PL.

Thursday, October 16, 6.30pm, Perranzabuloe Parish Rooms, Chyanhale, Ponsmere Valley, Perranporth TR6 0DB.

Tuesday, October 21, 4pm, Falmouth Town Council Office, Municipal Buildings, The Moor, Falmouth TR11 2RT.

Tuesday, October 21, 7pm, County Hall, Treyew Road, Truro TR1 3AY.

Tuesday, October 28, 6pm, Helston Community College, Church Hill, Helston TR13 8NR.

Wednesday, October 29, 6pm St Uny School, Polmenor Drive, Carbis Bay, St Ives TR26 2SQ.