What happens next?

Aberdeenshire Council met on February 10, 2011 and agreed a budget of over £540million to deliver a range of vital services to the residents of Aberdeenshire.

At the moment, the focus is on financial years 2011 – 13 however the future financial position is likely to be equally challenging and further budget savings are expected in order to maintain a balanced budget position.

The future: Aberdeenshire Council

Aberdeenshire Council faces significant challenges ahead, but we are well placed to respond to them. Yes, our services will change and the council will have to work differently, but we are committed to ensuring that key services are maintained and deliver value for money.

The difficult time we face will also mean that some non-essential services may have to be reduced or withdrawn, yet we know that many of these services will play important parts in our communities. We are therefore committed to working with our local communities to help them take more responsibility for their local areas and issues that affect them.

In order to shape the council for the future a series of community engagement events were held in January to provide information to local organisations on the council’s financial position and discuss how communities might work in partnership with the council to more effectively deliver services.

Aberdeenshire Council is committed to supporting groups who may be affected by changes to budget allocations and the council already has examples of where this has worked in practice.