How would you balance the Somerset county council budget?

Somerset County Council will be on the road in Mendip asking residents to try their hand at balancing its budget while gathering views and priorities to help plan for future challenges.

The ‘Listening, Learning, Changing’ roadshows will be visiting Frome, Shepton Mallet and Wells, asking  people to give their views as the council addresses the difficult reality of increasing demand for its services with significant reductions in funding.

The Frome roadshow will be held on Saturday 13th September at the Frome Cheese Show, West Woodlands, (BA11 5ES) 8.30am to 6.00pm.

Leader of Somerset County Council, cllr John Osman said, “This is a great opportunity for the residents of Mendip to give us their views and priorities as we face up to the challenges of the future.

“We calculate that we will need to make around £30m of savings for the next financial year if we are to balance our budget. It’s difficult for the council to be everything to everyone in these tough financial times.

“I am committed to making this a council that seeks people’s views and listens to them when making some of the difficult decisions that we face and wherever possible we want to reflect what our residents want.”

The council ran the Listening, Learning, Changing roadshows for the first time last year and they attracted more than 5,000 people who came along to share their views.

Visitors can have a go at balancing the council’s budget on a giant set of scales, with weights representing income on one side and services on the other. There will also be a short questionnaire for people to answer. The same questionnaire will also soon be available online at www.somerset.gov.uk/listening

Representatives from the council will be on hand to answer questions and fun activities will be available to keep children entertained.