Low response to Brighton and Hove budget simulator

Since it went live on Brighton and Hove City Council’s website on October 1, less than eight people a day have attempted to balance a virtual budget.

And a report on the first month’s responses shows people have been unable to find the £20 million of savings required – and instead suggested increasing budgets in key areas.

The Green administration has insisted the trial was worthwhile and is likely to be repeated in future years.

The 437 people who took part in the exercise in its first month had to find a way to tackle a £7 million budget black hole, equating to a council tax increase of 6.2% to balance it.

The only departments where people wanted to reduce spending were in finance and resources, where a 3.15% decrease was suggested.

In adult services, where the council is proposing a 4% reduction to the £79 million budget, the average member of the public wanted a 5% increase.

Similarly in children’s services, where a 4% cut is proposed by the council, people wanted a 5.6% rise in the budget.

Expanding

Finance Cabinet member Jason Kitcat pointed out that while only 727 people had completed the simulator almost 3,000 people had accessed it.

He said: “A lot of people used as a research tool to find out more about the budget.

“This was the first step of a trial and I would probably want to look at expanding the information available, but I think it’s something we would look at again.”

But Labour group leader Gill Mitchell said: “It has all been a bit of a gimmick. If you are going to do something like this then you need to make sure you get a representative pool of opinions.

“What is clear from these results is that people want the cuts to come from back office not people-facing services.”

The simulator will still be accessible for the rest of January at www.brighton-hove.gov.uk.

More news from The Argus

Follow @brightonargus

Like us on Facebook

 Add us to your circles on Google+