Bucks residents asked for views on council tax as authority plans to save £41.3m

Council leader Martin Tett confirmed the savings target this week, explaining that the unitary authority had already saved £75.4 million in its first four years and that budget setting has become ‘extremely difficult for all councils’.

He said: “This means we’ve taken more than £100 million out of our budgets over the first five years as a council to deliver efficiencies and to pay for key services for our most vulnerable residents.

“The cost of providing these services – namely social care, temporary housing and providing school transport for children who need it – eats up around 71 per cent of our entire budget, leaving us with less than 30 per cent of our expenditure available to pay for everything else that we do.

“Therefore, it’s never been more crucial for our residents to tell us where they want their money spent – please let your friends and family know too that they can have a say.”

Cllr Tett made the comments as the council announced a new public consultation on how residents want their council tax to be spent, which closes on October 13.

Council tax is the main way that local council services are funded – from bin collections to road repairs to looking after adults and children who need care.

The council’s ‘Money Matters’ survey takes around 10 minutes to complete and is available here.