MORE than 3000 Fifers got involved in the consultation to set Fife Council’s budget and their controversial proposals to plug a £77million gap.

It’s feared as many as 2000 council jobs will go while other measures to close Rosyth resource centre, increase the price of school dinners and slash the money spent on road maintenance will be decided next week.

The budget will be set on Thursday 12th February and other proposals include a new £20 charge for Blue Badges, parking charges at railway stations and park and ride facilities, increased class sizes and a shorter school week. Council leader David Ross said, “I’m pleased with the level of response to our budget consultation. It’s really important that we hear the views of people who use our services on how we should tackle this challenge.

“We will now review our budget proposals in the light of these comments before setting the final budget.” A total of 867 detailed returns were received to the council’s survey, around 400 people attended meetings and events since the consultation began in December and more than 3000 people visited their ‘Let’s Talk’ pages online. The survey revealed that education changes were the top concern and generated the most comments while three out of four respondents said the council should continue to run care homes and that a review of car parks was needed. The majority were willing to pay an additional amount in council tax, at a lower rate, if it was going directly to fund services for older people.

There were concerns about proposed cuts in music tuition but support for an increase in the charge for concessionary rail travel. Cllr Ross added, “What I take from these responses overall is that people very much value the local services the council provides and want to see these maintained. They recognise the difficult financial situation we face but on the whole think we are approaching this in a fair and responsible way.

“I am pleased to see there is significant support for the emphasis we are placing on prevention and early intervention.

“The consultation also confirms my view that people would be willing to pay a little more to protect vital local services like education and home care.” The full results of the consultation can be found online at http://bit.ly/1BV8JWD