When funds are a little tight, sometimes it’s good to ask for other people for advice. And it seems that applies even on an urban scale. Facing a shortfall of £156 million over the next three years, the City of Liverpool in the UK has created an online budget simulator, asking citizens and interested parties to adjust the City’s spending and find the necessary savings. The tool explains:
Every cut we make will have an impact upon what we can deliver for our service users, residents and stakeholders. Which services do you think we should concentrate spend upon? Which services do you think we could reduce, or stop all together? This is YOUR opportunity to have your say and experience for yourself the challenge the council faces.
Users will find the council’s spending broken down into seven areas:
- Children’s services
- Adult services
- Housing and neighbourhoods
- Culture, sport and leisure
- Roads and refuse
- Environment and regeneration
- Council support and public engagement.
Each section is further broken down into individual spending areas, with a little slider allowing users to demonstrate how much they would cut spending by. For the more generous user (or those in denial about the city’s financial problems) there is an option to maintain or increase spending.
A summary of the impact of the spending change is presented for every component. For example, a 10% reduction in spending on housing would result, amongst other things, in the “loss of a range of services to help older people maintain their homes including handypersons scheme, gardening scheme.” A 15% reduction in spending on refuse, recycling and street cleaning will result in “fly posting and graffiti [remaining] in situ for much longer periods as resources would be reduced” and “a reduction in the sweeping of residential roads and reduced regular sweeping in the City Centre and major routes.”
If it sounds grim, that’s because it is. Even a 5% cut in spending across every listed area will not be enough to find the savings Liverpool is looking for, meaning every single urban service is likely to face some kind of cuts in the next three years.
The twittersphere has reacted to this online simulator in the fashion you might expect – with a mixture of support and sarcasm:
Liverpool’s budget simulator. No facility to reduce executive salaries and pensions? HT @joeforliverpool @camdentheo http://t.co/JZo92sfFPo
— Mark Hardisty (@hardistymark) November 5, 2013
@joeforliverpool also, maybe a good place to start would be by not wasting public money on pointless budget simulators?
— Tomo (@ScousaTomo) November 5, 2013
@joeforliverpool Joe just coming up to our 1st fortnightly bin collection an have to say it works, am a family of 4 and have coped well.
— Scouse Dog BitesBack (@alidan51) November 5, 2013
But like it or not, Liverpool has savings to make. Though it’s online budget simulator may not be perfect, it’s an interesting way of engaging with citizens and demonstrating the scale and impact of financial challenges ahead.
