Sutton students try their hand at setting Nottinghamshire County Council’s budget

Pupils from Sutton’s Quarrydale Academy tried their hand at setting next year’s Nottinghamshire County Council budget as part of the authority’s Budget Conversation on Thursday.

The sixth form students used the County Council’s online budget simulator, which puts them in the shoes of finance chiefs at the authority and shows the consequences of increasing and decreasing the amount of money spent on each service.

Counc Reg Adair, chairman of the Finance and Property Committee at Nottinghamshire County Council, helped guide the pupils through the budget setting process.

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Speaking after the event he said, “The budget simulator is an interactive way for people to give their views on how the Council should prioritise its spending, whilst showing the impact of the decisions they take.

“It helped bring the budget setting process to life for the students and made them realise that the Council has difficult decisions to make because it does not have an infinite amount of money.

“We are keen to hear from people of all ages. Hosting events like these in schools helps to engage younger people in the budget debate, raises awareness of council services and how much it costs to provide them. There’s not long left for people.”

The budget simulator forms part of the County’s Council’s consultation on its 2013/14 budget which runs until Friday. Anyone can use the simulator by visiting www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/budget