FIFERS are being urged to have their say on draft budget proposals and join in discussions on how to meet the challenge of saving £77 million from the council’s budget over the next three years.

A major consultation was launched on Monday following cross-party agreement last week and a series of meetings are being held in the Cowdenbeath-Lochgelly area to allow people to give their views following councillors agreeing that the public should be encouraged to get involved in discussions and debate around the challenges of changes to council services.

Council Leader David Ross commented, “We are already working differently and further changes to services that affect everyone in Fife are inevitable as we try to save £77 million over the next three years.

“We’ve now published our ideas for savings and investment and we need to know what you think. These are decisions that affect the majority of Fife’s population and we will not take them lightly.

“There are some big questions in our consultation that we’d like the public to consider. For example, how can we fund vital services? Should we increase charges for services? How can we make savings in education – a service that currently amounts to over half of the council’s entire budget of £748 million?

“We want to have a discussion about the future and how we can shape and change what we do – not just to save money but to improve and invest in key local services.” Final budget decisions will be taken in February. In the meantime the consultation will involve lots of opportunities to talk face to face with councillors at a series of public meetings and the chance to give views online at www.fifedirect.org.uk/letstalkbudget .

The local meetings started at Benarty Centre on Tuesday and followed at Lochgelly Centre with a Youth Event entitled Focus on Youth Provision in Lochgelly.

Then on Monday 8th at 1.30pm at Cowdenbeath Library a Pop-up Event at is being held at the Cowdenbeath Job Club Led by Cllr Erskine followed by Wednesday 17th at 9.30am at the Moray Institute, Kelty, there will be a Pop-up Event at Kelty Job Club, led by Cllr Erskine and then she will be at Bowhill Centre at 2pm for a similar event at Bowhill Job Club.

Councillor Ross (pictured) explained why it’s important that people have their say, “We are inviting all the political groupings represented on the council, local organisations, businesses, communities and individuals to talk to us about our proposals so that we can make a well informed decision when we finally set the budget next February. Most of the so-called ‘easier’ or more obvious savings have been taken in previous years. It isn’t a case of whether or not there are cuts in services. This is inevitable and we just have to do our best to minimise the impact of these cuts. It’s our task to reshape our services to ensure we are still able to meet our priorities and deliver positive outcomes for Fife.

“I hope that people across Fife will take the time to look at what we’re proposing and let us know if they think we’re saving and investing in the right areas.” The draft budget proposals include suggestions for: • reviewing music tuition in schools and potentially increasing charges • increasing maximum class sizes in secondary schools from 25 to 30 • reviewing how home care and day care services are provided • reviewing how car parks are managed • introducing a £20 charge for processing blue badges in line with Scottish Government guidelines and increasing charges for the rail concession scheme from 50p to £1 • as well as investment of over £4 million in a range of projects including: jobs and training initiatives, a new cycle circuit close to Lochore Meadows, befriending projects to help older people in communities, the popular Quid a Kid programme, and anti-poverty work in schools.