Make sure you have your say on our new budget

Our annual survey has been launched to ask you what you think the important budget priorities across Blackburn and Darwen should be for the next financial year.

Your views matter – and we want to hear about them. So we are asking residents, local businesses and local partners to tell us what they think about spending across 2025/2026.

You can take part as long as you are over 16 and if you live or work in the borough.

The survey can be found online, and it goes live today – Friday, November 1. The short survey takes around five minutes to complete and can be found here: Budget Survey – have your say

There will also be a face-to-face survey sessions running at the same time as the online survey, using the same questions, and carried out at key locations across Blackburn with Darwen – we will let you know when these are taking place.

The survey is running to Friday, December 13.

Last year, your responses showed that there were some clear priorities, including boosting our parks and green spaces, building on the town centre improvement and investment, our response to the rise in the cost of living.

We listened to this and started to build on the work being carried out in these areas, including multi-million pound work on King George’s Hall and The Exchange building in Blackburn town centre and the ongoing work on the Blakey Moor Townscape Heritage Project.

There is also huge investment into our parks in the borough, including new playgrounds in Darwen’s Bold Venture Park and Whitehall Park, and Blackburn’s Corporation Park and Witton Park.

We also continued to work hard to support residents who were affected by the rise in the cost of living, through our distribution of the Household Support Fund for people who needed it most, and by lobbying the previous Government to extend the scheme in Autumn last year.

So if you are a resident, or if you work here, we need your feedback on what the Council’s spending priorities should be as it makes progress on delivering the four core missions in its corporate plan – and helps to shape the future of Blackburn with Darwen.

These are:

• A more prosperous borough where no one is left behind
• Every child and young person to have opportunities to fulfil their potential
• Deliver our climate emergency action Plan
• Build happier, healthier and safer communities

You can read more about each mission here: www.blackburn.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/our-vision-missions-and-strategies/our-vision

The Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, Councillor Phil Riley, said:

We are always working incredibly hard at the Council to make sure we can provide the vital services our residents need. But some targets and priorities do change in different years and any feedback we get from our residents is really important to help us make budget decisions for people living in the borough.”

Councillor Vicky McGurk, Executive Member for Finance and Governance, added:

As we know, Councils have faced austerity measures and cuts to funding over the last decade and a half, and this has caused considerable strain on our finances and has had to lead to some difficult decisions to deal with this. The rise in the cost of living has also hit the Council and residents in the borough which has brought more challenges.

These are still ongoing issues that we have to deal with and this survey is key to get our residents to have their say so we can deliver the best services we possibly can for everyone. Please take a look at the survey and take part if you can.”

Please take five minutes to take the survey and don’t miss out on making your voice heard – your feedback is important and can make a difference when our councillors meet in early 2025 to set the budget.