Welcome to the Oldham Budget Simulator

Welcome to Oldham Council's budget simulator, where you can tell us about your priorities for Council spending in 2009/10 and beyond. Your responses will help influence and inform decisions about Council spending.

If Council Tax increases by 2.5% in 2009/10, the Council will have to close a budget gap of over £17m, requiring substantial reductions in overall spending. More efficient working will achieve some savings, but this alone will not be enough. We are reviewing services in order to focus resources on the services that residents have previously told us are their priorities. and are committed to continuing to provide quality, value-for-money, services. We are also developing plans to allow extra spending on high-priority services in the medium term.

Oldham Council provides many services, including education, social care, transport planning, highways, consumer protection, waste collection, libraries, building regulations, environmental health, and leisure and recreation. Some Council services are not included in the budget simulator. This is because:

• Some services must be provided by law
• Some services, (e.g. schools) are funded by separate government grants
• Some savings can be made through efficiencies (e.g. where using more efficient technologies reduces service costs).

We have focused the budget simulator consultation on the many areas where there are real opportunities for your views to influence the decisions made in setting the 2009/10 budget and in the next two years.

How to use the Budget Simulator

The budget simulator provides information about Oldham Council services. You choose how to allocate money to these and can see the potential impact of your choices on the overall budget and on Council tax. The budget gap in 2009/10 means that we will focus on preserving and maintaining services identified as high priorities. In 2010-2011, we anticipate more opportunities for additional investment.

As you complete the simulator, please note that the £17m budget gap already assumes a Council tax increase of 2.5%. Choosing a reduction of 2.5%, for example, would be equivalent to no overall Council tax increase. A 2.5% increase would be equivalent to a 5% increase overall, the maximum government allows.

After making your initial choices, you can read about their potential consequences for Council services. If you wish, you may then make changes before sending your budget. You may also add any comments you have about your spending priorities or the budget options being considered.

After sending your budget and comments, you will be asked a few questions about yourself. This information will be used to see how residents' council spending priorities vary (for example, to let us know whether or not older residents have different priorities from younger residents). All the information you provide will be kept confidential and will not be linked back to you as an individual.

Please take some time to complete this budget simulator. We need your views to inform our spending priorities. Thank you in advance for your time.