Published on Tuesday 04 February 2025

Councillor Millie Earl, the Leader of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council, will answer questions from residents during a live Question and Answer (Q&A) session next week.
The session will be broadcast on BCP Council’s social media channels from 12.15pm on Friday 7 February.
The Leader will be joined by Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance, Cllr Mike Cox, to discuss BCP Council’s proposed budget for the next three years.
BCP Council has produced a budget that protects the most vulnerable and provides a sound, stable financial future for the Council to deliver its priorities for residents, businesses and visitors.
The budget will be discussed next week at our Full Council meeting on Tuesday 11 February, and this Q&A session is an opportunity for residents to ask any questions they have on the proposals and the process ahead of the meeting.
Council Leader, Millie Earl, said: “Like all councils, we are facing financial challenges as demand for our services, especially adult social care and children’s services, increases dramatically. This in turns puts more pressures on our budgets after years of austerity, rising inflation and increasing costs.
“In setting this year’s budget, we have worked hard to protect essential services for the most vulnerable in our society, continue measures that keep our communities clean and safe and enable projects that encourage our towns to thrive and flourish.
“It’s really important that this budget is scrutinised by residents, and I welcome the chance to talk live about the work we’ve done and choices we’ve had to make to achieve this balanced budget.”
Questions can be submitted in advance of the live session on BCP Council’s social media channels.
There will also be the opportunity for people to ask questions during the Q&A within the comments section. As many of them as possible will be answered by Cllr Earl and Cllr Cox during the session.
The session will be broadcast across the council’s main social media channels including on youtube.com/bcpcouncil and is available to watch later for those unable to tune in live.