With just over a fortnight left to run, Borderers are being urged to take a few minutes to complete the ongoing Council budget and Council Plan survey.
Over 700 responses have been submitted since the survey was launched at the end of November, with the responses received so far shared with Elected Members as they continue to consider budget plans for 2024/25 and beyond.
The survey, which is open until midnight on Wednesday 31 January, can be completed online via www.scotborders.gov.uk/budgetsurvey
To date, just 25 responses have been received from residents in the Hawick and Hermitage ward, and 26 from Hawick and Denholm. Only 33 responses have been received from the Jedburgh and District ward. In East Berwickshire, 177 residents have completed the survey.
Councillor Euan Jardine, Leader of Scottish Borders Council, said: “The Council’s budget impacts on every area of our region and on every resident, and that is why it is so important that we hear from as many people as possible through the ongoing survey. Our budget will be set at the end of February and the feedback received already is being considered by the cross-party Budget Working Group and has been shared with all Elected Members, to ensure that we can best represent the views of our constituents as we make important financial decisions for the future. The financial pressures facing all local authorities continue to increase and the decisions we have to take get harder and harder. There is simply not the money available to do everything we’ve done in the past and that is why we must prioritise our spending to have maximum impact.”