Babergh Offices Flag

Like many councils, Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils are facing severe cuts in their budget for next year.Reductions in the amount of money  received from the Government; increases in inflation and demands on their services mean that together they need to find up to £2.8m in savings in order to balance the books for 2012/13. This could come from making savings or by looking at ways to increase income.
In 2013/15 both Babergh and Mid Suffolk councils need to find an additional £4.6m worth of savings in total from a combined budget of £20m.
It will be a tough challenge and they have consulted residents  to find out what services are valued and where people think things could be done differently.
I’m not usually a responder to consultations except where the thinking has been done for me and all I have to do is to tick boxes. However this time I thought I should get my act together and provide a proper response which is attached.
If any of my readers agree with my sentiments they might like to contact Babergh and express their opinions.  http://www.babergh.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/02F42436-0C12-4B57-B8F6-C98C5D09745E/0/BudgetChallengeleaflet.pdf is a good place to start. I don’t think time constraints matter too much in these situations.