We Are Listening

The budget consultation of Suffolk

We are listening

A message from the Leader of the Council

The financial challenges we are facing in Suffolk are significant, but I’m determined that we must find a way to meet them while protecting the services we all value.


Any decisions about how we spend money and where we make savings must be in consultation with the people of Suffolk, I want to hear your views. During September and October 2011 we gave you the opportunity to tell us what services you most value and to hear about your ideas and suggestions for the future.


Thank you to all those who took the time to share their views by completing the survey.


We have shared with you the highlights from that budget consultation and detailed our budget proposals.

I can’t pretend that difficult decisions won’t have to be made. But, I want to ensure that the choices we make reflect not just my views, or those of other councillors, but the values of people across the county.

Cllr Mark Bee
Leader, Suffolk County Council

The budget challenge

Like many councils, Suffolk County Council is facing a difficult financial challenge. A reduction in the amount of money we receive from Government, along with increased inflation and demand for our services, means that we have to find considerable savings.

Progress so far

The council has already looked at how it can save money through staffing re-structures and reducing back office costs and we have made significant savings. We will continue to pursue the search for savings in these areas as far as we can, but this may not be sufficient given the scale of savings needed. To help us meet the challenge, in September and October 2011, we asked for your views on which council services matter most to you. We also heard about your ideas and suggestions on how the council could save money.

Giving you all the information

Please have a look at the resources below. These will give you more information on what priorities the council currently has and a great deal of information about how much the council spends on running individual services.

We have also included a link to our demographic statistical data website, Suffolk Observatory.

Resources

How the consultation results be used

A final report which brings together all of the consultation results will be produced in December for Cabinet and Full Council to consider early in 2012.

The results will also be made available to the public at this time.

When will decisions be made?

The final budget will be agreed by Full Council in February 2012. Prior to this, the budget will be considered by councillors at a number of meetings. The consultation results will be fed into this decision making process.

  • End January - Final Local Government Finance Settlement 2012/13 known
  • 9 February - County Council – to agree the budget
  • Scrutiny, Cabinet and full council meetings are all open to the public to attend.