Wirral Council launches budget simulator

An interactive budget simulator will allow people in Wirral to say what council services matter most to them in the run-up to setting the authority’s budget for the coming year.

It is a legal requirement for the council to set a balanced budget, and the online simulator would give those using it the chance to have a go at doing just that. 

It would also allow them to say what are their priorities for the authority’s spending and where they would make savings to balance the council’s budget for next year, 2023-24. 

The council’s budget for the current financial year is £330.6 million, which comes from council tax (49%), business rates (42%), and government funding (9%).

It is divided between services such as adult and social care; children, families and education services; Regeneration; Neighbourhoods Services which includes recycling and waste, parks and countryside, highways management and infrastructure, and leisure, libraries and customer services, as well as the council’s law, governance and corporate offices and functions such as human resources and finance.

However, Wirral Council, like the majority of councils across the country, is seeing the costs of providing some of these services increase, at the same time as demands for many of those council services are also rising, stretching the limited budget.

The simulator breaks down the council budget into these broad council services and then allows a series of budget reductions to be tried, advising on the expected consequences they would have on council services.

The target in the simulator is to save £38 million, based on the Council’s current budget projections. The simulator does not take into account any savings the authority is currently looking at in order that those taking part have wider opportunities to choose where savings could come from.

You can find out more about the council budget simulator at the HaveYouSay page here: https://haveyoursay.wirral.gov.uk/budget-2023-24-simulator