Last chance to have your say as Hartlepool Council faces £9.8m funding cut

Your Say, Our Future is a council-run initiative which runs until early September.

It has involved a series of town-wide meetings, online information and a questionnaire which has already been completed by around 700 people.

The meetings come as Hartlepool Borough Council faces further Government cuts of £9.8million but authority chiefs say they remain positive about the future.

Gill Alexander, the council’s chief executive, said: “Despite the ongoing financial pressures, the council remains very ambitious for what it wants to achieve for the town.

“Your Say, Our Future is a town-wide conversation about the kind of place we want Hartlepool to be and how we can work together with staff, local residents and the business community to achieve our shared ambitions for the town.

“The response so far has been really positive.

“We’ve had around 700 questionnaires completed and the comments and suggestions from the meetings have been constructive and really helpful.

“I would like as many people as possible to get involved and there is still time to complete the questionnaire.

“I really want to hear what people have to say so please take the opportunity if you can.”

Information and feedback from the exercise will be collated and reported to the council’s Finance and Policy Committee meeting in the near future.

It is intended that the responses from Your Say, Out Future will then be used to help the council set its future priorities.

The council has said it is keen to ensure that the exercise is not a one-off but the beginning of an ongoing dialogue.

Further details will follow in the autumn.

For further information, including details of the survey, go towww.hartlepool.gov.uk/your-say-our-future.