A budget consultation has been launched as Cheshire West and Chester Council faces a funding gap of around £40m.

The council is asking the public for their views on local spending priorities over the next six weeks.

Open until Wednesday 2 December, it will help to inform decisions that councillors will make next year regarding the overall council budget.

Each year, the council spends around £1bn on services such as emptying bins, improving parks and green spaces, and regenerating local areas.

However, the majority of the budget funds vital services which provide help for peoples who need additional support, such as those relating to social care, mental health, domestic abuse, and homelessness.

Cheshire West and Chester Council continues to face significant financial pressures, as demands on services and the costs of providing them continue to increase.

"Budgets are always about choices," said Cllr Louise Gittins, council leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council.

"This means making decisions about how the budget is spent, the services we run, and how the communities you live and work in are supported."

Cllr Gittins said despite making "significant and ongoing investments" in the borough's care for vulnerable adults and children, and regenerating local areas, the council continues "to face huge funding challenges".

She added: "This is the case nationally, and Cheshire West and Chester is no different.

"Difficult decisions still need to be made. More and more people are looking to us for support, and the costs of providing it are increasing, putting considerable pressure on our finances."

The council leader outlined a funding gap of around £40m facing the council over the next four years.

She said: "Unlike most other organisations, we also have a legal obligation to set a balanced budget. This means we cannot spend more than we receive through national funding and local income.

"We will continue to focus our efforts on providing the best services and support for people that we possibly can within the resources we have available.

"We want to continue to protect services for the most vulnerable people in our borough, and continue to invest in the borough's future as we have done - but the views of our communities have never been more important."

She urged residents to take part in the consultation, arguing the project was as much about the future of communities as the "financial sustainability of the Council".

Cllr Carol Gahan, cabinet member for legal and finance, described the budget challenge facing the council as "significant".

She added: "A number of other councils have reported huge concerns about their ability to maintain levels of service delivery; and several are already receiving additional financial support from central Government.

"We are not currently in that position, but we must do everything we can to make sure we continue to live within our means."

The opinions and ideas of the community will be "absolutely vital", Cllr Gahan explained, to helping the council develop a budget that protects key services, prevents needs from escalating, and ensuring "every pound we spend has a positive impact".

People can share their views by phone, email, in writing, by completing the budget survey, or by using the budget simulator which helps people consider how they would spend the council's budget if it were up to them.

You can visit here for more information, to complete the survey or take part in the budget simulator challenge.

Written feedback can be sent to Let's Talk Budget, Communication and Engagement, Cheshire West and Chester, The Portal, Wellington Road, Ellesmere Port, CH65 0BA.

Residents can also contact [email protected] or call 0300 123 8123 to speak to the Council's Contact Centre, quoting 'Let's Talk Budget'.

A paper copy of the consultation is also available in local libraries.