COUNCIL leader Allan Burgess has quashed rumours that the public consultation over next year's budget was under threat.

For the last four years questionnaires have been delivered to all 92,314 private addresses in the borough asking what people thought should be treated as priorities in the council's budget.

This year's budget proposes saving £15,000 on the consultation exercise through 'removing the requirement to separately consult hard to reach groups', and speculation centred on the mail drop.

Cllr Burgess said: "Eighty three per cent of people who responded to the leaflet drop said they wanted it repeated and I would not cancel it with that much support for it."

Redbridge Conservatives' publicity officer Cllr Aaron Powell explained that the savings would be made by not employing an external company to carry out consultations with hard-to-reach groups such as single mothers and Asian women.

He said: "We now have our citizen panels and we are able to reach the hard-to-reach groups through these."

In this year's survey support for the elderly and vulnerable children came top followed by community safety, the environment and schools.

By far the biggest proportion of responses came from the Area One wards of Roding, Snaresbrook and Wanstead.

The next stage of consultation will take place in February when the proposals are discussed at public area committee meetings.