Getting things right first time is top council priority for Nottinghamshire residents

Nottinghamshire Council has carried out a consultation with residents as it prepares to set its budget for 2024-25.

Nearly 4,000 people took part, with around half leaving suggestions on how the council should raise income or save money.

The council faces a difficult funding outlook, with a £60m budget gap over the next three financial years to 2026-27.

However, finance bosses have previously said work is already underway to start bringing down that number, whilst not affecting key services.

The most common theme was preventing waste by ensuring services got it right the first time.

Shortly behind was raising income from sources such as lobbying central government for more funding, encouraging business sponsorship, holding paid events and charging for events which are currently free.

Significant numbers also wanted to see better road maintenance to encourage investment in the region.

Others wanted the council to review the salaries of staff and councillors, or consider reducing the number.

Some suggested energy efficiency measures, such as turning street lights off at night where they weren’t needed.

Nearly half of respondents also agreed council tax should go up by 2.99 per cent next year (the maximum amount without a referendum).

Another 19 per cent supported a lower increase, while a third of people said it shouldn’t go up at all.

Residents were optimistic on the council’s performance, with 50 per cent saying they were fairly or very satisfied with it, compared to 31 per cent who were unhappy.

Respondents were also asked whether they would support cuts across a range of services.

All options were unpopular with the public, with the greatest opposition to care for vulnerable adults and the elderly (13 per cent in favour to 67 per cent against).

The most acceptable area for cuts in the survey was economic development and regeneration (30 per cent in favour to 32 per cent against.)

The results of the survey will be discussed at a cabinet meeting on Thursday, December 21, and the budget will be set in early 2024.