Via email, facebook or twitter!
Residents and businesses are being invited to have their say on the council's spending plans for 2010/11.
Hounslow council is setting its annual budget in March and wants to hear views on the proposals from as many people as possible.
This year, questions can be sent to the leader of the council, Cllr Peter Thompson, or relevant executive member, who will record answer sessions for posting on the council website.
Cllr Thompson says:
"Public services across the country are facing uncertainty as the recession threatens much of the funding received from central government, meaning that existing cash will have to stretch even further.
"For the last few years we have received the lowest increase in funds from central government in the country, and recent government statements show that this poor position is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.
"This leaves tough choices to be made. We have already done a lot of work to make sure services are being delivered as efficiently as possible, and there are no easy options open to us.
"We're going the extra mile this year to encourage people who wouldn't normally get involved in council consultations to have their say.
"We want our local residents and businesses to get involved and help us shape final spending decisions in March.”
To help as many people as possible get involved, and to make sure we get as many views as possible on how local services are paid for next year, all the information about the proposals has been put together at www.hounslow.gov.uk/budget.
People can look through the proposals and send feedback to us by emailing budgetconsultation@hounslow.gov.uk. They can also get involved on Facebook at www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=247990303874 and get updates via Twitter by following www.twitter.com/HounslowBudget.
Presentations on the proposals are also being shown at local area committees. These are:
Central Hounslow 4 Feb
Chiswick 27 Jan
Heston and Cranford 11 Feb
Isleworth and Brentford 4 Feb
West 11 Feb
To find out more, visit www.hounslow.gov.uk/budget
Lead Member for Finance Cllr McGregor will be doing the presentation at the IBAC (Isleworth and Brentford) Meeting on the 4th February. This is a Planning Meeting but it has been agreed that this will be taken as a Monitoring Item which allows the public the chance to speak and make comments.
January 29, 2010