Residents are being asked for their views on ways in which Boston Borough Council can save a further £1 million over the next four years.

The council has had a transformation programme of savings since Government introduced austerity measures.

Traditionally, funding for the services local government provides has come from the Government’s revenue support grant, council tax (in Boston’s case the borough council only retains 5.1p in every £1 collected, the rest going to Lincolnshire County Council, for Lincolnshire Police, parish councils and internal drainage boards) and income from charged services, such as car parking.

Savings by the council now exceed £2.5million and the proposed transformation programme refresh seeks public comment on ways in which further savings of £1 million can be achieved.

Council Leader and finance portfolio holder Cllr Aaron Spencer said: “This shows how the council intends to meet future financial challenges, demonstrating it has plans for the coming years to meet projected budget gaps.”

The proposed transformation refresh has four main themes: Commercialisation, service modernisation, income generation and policy changes.

You can see the detailed proposals at Proposed Transformation Programme 2020-21 to 2023-24 and have your say on the proposed savings at https://www.snapsurveys.com/wh/s.asp?k=156337199142

The consultation will last from July 17 until August 23 with a report back to Cabinet and final decisions by full council in September.

At Tuesday’s first meeting of the council’s new Cabinet under the leadership of Cllr Spencer he asked for an all-member cross-party meeting to present the draft transformation programme refresh.

He said: “We are between a rock and a hard place but we need to make £1million savings with all-member agreement.”