York's finance leaders have thanked members of the public for their contribution at City of York Council's budget summit last week.

Over 50 people representing a wide variety of community, business and voluntary organisations attended the seminar, including 26 members of the council's 'Talkabout' residents' opinion survey.

The forum, which was held on Thursday, 13 December, provided a unique opportunity for residents to engage in a real debate about how the council should be working and which services are priorities for funding now and in the future. 

They were asked about were the relative priorities for spending on services such as travel tokens for the elderly, subsidised bus routes, eligibility criteria for social services, parking charges and additional kerbside recycling.

Simon Wiles, the council's director of Resources, said: "In the past we have undertaken surveys with residents and face-to-face meetings with the voluntary sector and business representatives. However, as we move forward, the council faces ever more difficult decisions and we feel that it is right that members of the public should have the chance to understand and engage with this process. 

"The open session provided people with an opportunity to comment on some of the options that could be considered by the council over the next few years.  We are particularly interested in understanding how residents, businesses and the voluntary sector view the conflicting pressures facing the council and how we should address them."

Colin Stroud, chief executive of the York Council for Voluntary Service, said: "I thought it was a very interesting and worthwhile exercise which helped me to understand the difficult choices that faced the council and was grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the discussion."

The council is be asking all residents for their views on the budget with the distribution of a consultation leaflet in January.

The council will be asked to set the authority’s budget for 2008/09 at a meeting on Thursday, 21 February.