RESIDENTS of Allerdale have one last chance to give their views on the borough council's budget for the next financial year.

Allerdale Council is seeking opinions in relation to the upcoming 2018/19 council budget.

The issues they are looking for opinions on include:

  • The council services residents deemed most important and most in need of improvement
  • The services which residents would like to see more of and which they would like to see less of in the future
  • The level of support for various methods the council could adopt to help it to reduce costs and/ or increase income
  • Whether residents would be prepared for the council's share of council tax to go up to protect services.

In a statement on Cumbria Citizen Space, the county's consultation and engagement database, Allerdale council spoke of the challenges it now faces.

The statement reads: "Every year the Council has to agree a balanced budget – this means we must balance our income against our expenditure.

"Government grants, which used to make up a significant proportion of our income, have been reducing year on year.

"The simple fact is that as the income we receive from central government reduces we either need to reduce our spending, which could involve changes to the services we provide, or find new sources of income."

The consultation was set up to give people the chance to air their views on a range of subjects.

Residents have until January 19 to give their opinions.

To take part in the online survey visit, cumbria.citizenspace.com/allerdale-borough-council/budget-consultation-2018-19/