A ROADSHOW will give people the chance to tell Bradford Council how it should cut a third of its spending.

The authority will have a £130 million funding gap by 2020 if it does not make serious changes, its bosses have warned.

So they are travelling around the district to ask people how they think savings could be made or which services they value more than others.

The leader of the Labour-controlled council, Councillor David Green, said: "If we are looking at a £130 million gap, the reality is that if people want all the services that are currently offered, we have got to have a serious look at different ways of delivering them."

Government funding for the Council’s services has already been cut significantly.

But Council bosses say its budget is forecast to fall by a further third - from £420 million today to £291 million by 2020.

Money-saving ideas could involve communities running services themselves, or people doing more for themselves.

Or people could suggest ways in which the Council could join forces with other public services, like the police or NHS.

The results will be used to help shape a so-called 'New Deal' between the Council and the people of the district about what they can expect from local services.

Councillor Simon Cooke, deputy leader of the Conservatives at Bradford Council, said he agreed big changes needed to be made with Council spending in the coming years, and it made sense to ask the public what they thought.

But he said: "There is a certain amount of me which is incredibly cynical about this exercise and see it merely as an exercise in saying, 'We have been cut to the bone and we can't do anything and stuff has got to go'."

Cllr Green pledged the meetings would not be party-political.

He said: "I think that would do nothing other than get up members of the public's noses."

The first roadshow event will be in Bingley Methodist Church from 7pm next Tuesday.

Further meetings will be held at City Hall on November 6, Keighley on November 13, Shipley on November 20, Thornbury on January 14, Odsal on January 22, Clayton on January 28 and Ilkley on February 5.