The Isle of Wight Council has launched an online budget simulator to help gather views as part of the 2010/11 budget consultation.

The simulator enables residents to identify their own spending priorities and see how their decisions affect other services currently provided by the council.  Additionally it provides residents with the opportunity to leave comments, which will be considered as part of the budget consultation process.

Some of the services the council provides are statutory and cannot be reduced, but some can be influenced locally and are included in the simulator.

The impact of the credit crunch and economic downturn in the national economy means that the council needs to make savings in order to keep council tax increases to a minimum. The online tool takes this into consideration and challenges users to find savings, either through reducing spend or increasing charges of at least £5m.

Cllr David Pugh, Leader of the Isle of Wight Council said:

“The online budget simulator is an excellent way for residents to have their say on how the council’s funds are allocated. We are going to have to make some difficult decisions regarding the budget this year and it is important for us to gather views from as many Island residents as possible.”

The results of the online budget simulator will be reported along with the results of other consultation exercises to councillors at the January Cabinet meeting before the budget is set in February 2010.

The online budget simulator can be found at www.iwight.com under ‘Consultations’.