The council continues to face a difficult financial situation and the survey is in the context of a further £12.7 million of savings being needed over the next two years.

Elected members are currently considering a range of measures to reduce spending and increase income to balance the budget, and stop the need to use reserves to set the budget, within the next two years.

In the context of the changes already made, residents are now being asked to rank the services most important to them. The survey takes around 10 minutes to complete and is open until Sunday 3 November 2024 and can be accessed here.

There is also an opportunity for members of the public to attend an in-person drop-in on Tuesday 12 November to discuss their priorities and ideas with members of the council’s senior management team. Sessions will run 2-5pm and 6-9pm at St Giles Church in Elgin. Places must be booked in advance online and participants will be asked to choose three services they’re most interested in speaking about. Every effort will be made to allocate attendees their preferred service, depending on capacity.

In February this year, Moray Council was able to set a balanced budget following engagement with staff and residents. Feedback was provided on what the priorities should be in the local authority’s new Corporate Plan and used residents’ input to shape this year’s budget.

Council leader, Cllr Kathleen Robertson, said: “As we look ahead to 2025/26 and 2026/27, there’s no doubt challenges remain as we need to make further savings of £12.7m over the next two years. While there’s still considerable uncertainty around budget settlements, we’ve already approved £1.1m of savings with £0.4m more indicated. Leaving us £11.2m to find. The council has already delivered recurring savings of almost £80m since 2010/11.

“While charges and income generation will help, we now need locals’ input again to help focus our attention on areas of service they would like to see prioritised. This short survey is open until midnight on Sunday 3 November 2024 and will indicate willingness to see increases to charges and council tax rates, in order to protect services.

“We were somewhat hampered in our efforts last year by the council tax freeze, even though respondents to our survey said they were willing to see council tax rise by an average of 5.9%. I hope residents will be as honest again this year and engage with the process to set the budget for years to come.”