Adjust
Adjust funding, saving, and spending options.Review
Review the consequences of your actions.Submit
Submit your choices to us so we can see what changes people want.How would you balance the Council’s budget?
Welcome to Trafford’s first web based budget simulator. The Council faces some difficult decisions and choices when balancing its budget. Budget savings of £16.1m are estimated to be required next year based on the best information currently available. The simulator is not intended as a budget decision tool, but is provided so that you can experience the issues surrounding setting a balanced budget.
On 3 October the Chancellor announced that Councils who do not increase their Council tax next year will receive additional funding equivalent to a 2.5% increase, which for Trafford is £2.2m. This simulator has therefore set as its goal to keep the Council tax increase to 0% in order for the Council to take full advantage of this additional funding.
Costs are increasing in areas such as inflation, transport and waste levies, and demand for social care services, both children and adults. Funding continues to reduce as the government tackles the national budget deficit.
This web tool simulates the decisions and consequences facing the Council as it balances the budget for 2012/13. You can adjust spending levels in key service areas and see the consequences on service provision before you submit your choices. The number of choices has been kept to just a few for each service area to keep the simulator simple and easy to use. Equally the consequences are at a high level and do not directly correspond to budget reductions at a detailed level.
The Council is already looking at increasing funding through fees and charges at £1.9m, and through efficiencies at £6.9m. These block options can be accepted at stage 2 and 3 of the simulator respectively.
At the very end of the simulator there is an opportunity to provide feedback and comments, as well as any ideas or suggestions you may have.