BORDERERS are being given the chance to say where they think money should be spent in the region.

Bosses at Scottish Borders Council want to hear what the priorities should be for the upcoming year and how they can generate additional income and make savings. 

A public consultation is currently under way, until the end of January.
And all ideas received, will be put forward to the elected members who will consider them ahead of the draft budget plan at full council meeting on February 8.

Following the Scottish Government’s local Government Finance Settlement, SBC is anticipating a 1.5 per cent reduction in grant from the Scottish Government, with a revenue grant allocation of £199.095m for 2018/19. 

The local authority will also see a reduction of around £2.4m in the general capital grant next year.

Councillor Shona Haslam (Cons), leader of SBC said: “The budget settlement represents a significant cut in our revenue budget and an even larger cut on our capital budget. 

“Money we rely on to deliver essential services.

“We continue to be faced with a challenging financial situation but we have been planning for this well in advance. We are continuing to look at all of our options while being mindful of the pressures that households in the Borders continue to face.

“As part of this, we continue to ask for the ideas and suggestions from our residents on what our priorities should be and how we should do things differently whilst continuing to improve services. We will look at and consider every suggestion that is put forward. 

“While we cannot promise that we will do everything that is suggested – we will carefully consider every single one.”

And councillor George Turnbull (Cons), who is responsible for finance at SBC, is also urging locals to get involved. 

He added: “You can provide your ideas by visiting our consultation tool Dialogue, which is available at http://scotborders.dialogue-app.com or by using #bordersbudget on Twitter or Facebook.”

As well as submitting views via the online tool, Borderers can also write to: The Budget Team Scottish Borders Council, Newtown St Boswells, TD6 0SA or Email budgetteam@scotborders.gov.uk