THE LEADER of Wirral Council is writing to residents asking them to help balance the council’s budget.

Last year, the Council lost £51 million of government funding and now faces a gap of £25m between its income and projected spend this year.

To help find a solution, Wirral Council is now asking the public how they would control its finances through an online budget simulator.

Cllr Steve Foulkes has written to every household in the borough to find out where they would make the savings and where they would invest Council funds in 2012.

He said:

“We need to have a real open, honest conversation with local residents about how we deal with our financial situation.”

The simulator shows what the council will spend next year. The money is broken down into five different areas: neighbourhood, children and young People, adult social services, economy and council.

People can look at each of the budgets and decide to reduce them, increase them or leave them unchanged after considering the consequences of each option. They can also make suggestions on how to increase income.

Feedback from the simulator will be reported back to cabinet in December and used to help identify priorities for saving or investment in the budget.

Other councils have taken similar including Liverpool. Access the simulator at www.wirral.gov.uk/budget2012.