Fortnightly bin collections, fewer councillors and reducing street lighting are among suggestions put forward in a district-wide public consultation to help Bradford Council cut costs.

A bigger role for community volunteers in delivering services was also among ideas being looked at by the local authority after a series of sessions across the district over the past six months, where people were asked for their views on how public services could be delivered in future amid public spending cuts.

The Council says it is seeking to strike a new deal with local people, communities, businesses and public service partners in the face of such cuts that have already seen it save £170m since 2011 with another £100m-plus cuts to come by 2020.

It says these significant cuts and increasing costs mean the Council will have to work differently to meet those challenges.

The new Council report said: "There has been a general sense from participants to date that a reduction to fortnightly bin collections would be welcomed and that recycling increases through education and enforcement, ich could be informal from neighbours, would help reduce costs.

"Other ideas given by participants included officer and Councillor expenses being reduced, more management reductions, a third fewer Elected Members and street lighting hours reduced."

The feedback also reveals that many people value council services and believe that resources need to stay focussed on care for the elderly, for young people and for the vulnerable.

However, many people also recognised that individuals and community groups could help by behaving responsibly or through taking on responsibility for some services which would ease the burden on public finances.

More suggestions included businesses doing more work with schools to support young people, share their skills, take a lead in cultural events and improve the environment around their sites and premises; communities and individuals improving their environment through litter picking and maintaining parks; supporting children with after school activities; running libraries; skills sharing and volunteering for youth activities.

There were also suggestions for income generation such as fees for some library services, and maximising advertising space on council vehicles, litter bins and the back of pay and display parking tickets.

The Council acknowledged that a limited number of people were able to attend the consultation events, and the views gathered did not represent the people of the Bradford district as a whole. It says it is committed to working with other local services and to continuing the conversation on an ongoing basis so that as many people can have their say on what services should look like in years to come.

The full extent of the feedback is in a report that is being presented to Bradford Council's Executive on April 14 and will be used to help plan the future delivery of services.

People can still have their say by going to bradford.gov.uk/newdeal or e-mail conversation.newdeal@bradford.gov.uk