WORCESTERSHIRE people have the chance to take control of the county council’s purse strings and show officers how they would save millions of pounds.

A new online budget simulator has been launched allowing people to play around with County Hall’s budget of about £300 million.

We previously reported in your Worcester News that the county council is preparing for reductions in government funding and is planning to make about £45 million savings through efficiencies and cuts between 2011 and 2014 The exact amount the council will need to save will become clear later in the year.

An extensive programme of service changes and reductions is already under way, known as Better Outcomes, Lean Delivery (BOLD).

The programme is trying to find more efficient ways of working to limit the need to make cuts.

Members of the Worcestershire Viewpoint research panel have already had the chance to tell the council what they think about future funding for services. The budget simulator, available online at budgetsimulator.com/worcestershire until Monday, August 2, is a way for people to have their say.

Seventeen key services, ranging from social care and transport to libraries and childcare, are included and as people allocate funds to one area, the simulator will show how much is left for other services and where cuts might have to be made.

Councillor Adrian Hardman, the county council’s cabinet member for finance, said: “We’ve been preparing for funding cuts for a while now, which we believe puts us in a strong position to adjust to these financial challenges.

“There will be tough decisions and difficult days ahead.

“We need to know exactly what our 550,000 residents expect us to protect and what they think could be reduced.

“We will, of course, do everything we can to limit the reductions.

“We’re fully committed to identifying more efficient ways of doing things so we can provide a council that’s fit for purpose and maintains high standards of services with less money. I encourage everyone to tell us what they think.”

Council chief executive Trish Haines said: “The simulator is a helpful and easy-to-use way of gathering public opinion about funding reductions facing the council.

“It’s a simple and effective method for people to tell us how they want our budget to be spent, which also illustrates the effect that individual spending decisions have on the rest of our services.

“I hope we’ll get a great response so we can make the most well-informed decisions.”