West Lothian Council recently carried out a public consultation to gather views on how its budget gap could be addressed. The consultation saw significant engagement, with over 10,000 responses submitted by residents, community groups and stakeholders across West Lothian.
This high level of participation highlights the importance people place on local services and spending decisions, and the value of ensuring community voices are heard in shaping future priorities.
What happens next?
Now that the consultation has closed, detailed questions, feedback and proposals will be considered through the Council’s Policy Development Scrutiny Panels (PDSPs). These panels play a key role in reviewing information, exploring options and informing decision-making.
PDSPs bring together Elected Members and representatives from different sectors, including the third sector, to allow for informed discussion and scrutiny of policy and budget matters.
How the third sector can be involved
Third sector organisations in West Lothian can continue to have a voice in this process. If your organisation has comments, questions, or concerns about how budget decisions may affect the sector or the communities you support, you can raise these through your Third Sector PDSP representatives.
A list of Third Sector PDSP representatives, along with links to meeting papers and further information, is available here:
https://www.voluntarysectorgateway.org/working-together/policy-development-scrutiny-panels-pdsp/
Engaging through your representatives helps ensure that the experiences and needs of the third sector are reflected in ongoing discussions.
Consultation report
West Lothian Council is expected to publish a full report in February. This report will summarise responses to the consultation and outline the feedback received across the various questions.
Stay engaged
We encourage third sector organisations to remain engaged with the process and make use of their PDSP representatives where relevant. Continued dialogue helps ensure that the sector’s knowledge, experience and community insight contribute to local decision-making.
If you are unsure who your representative is or how to get involved, you can find full details via the link above or contact our team for guidance.
