Aberdeen council chiefs insist an online survey designed to inform looming cuts had various “safeguards” in place to prevent it being tampered with.
The local authority launched the interactive process last month.
It was designed to gather the thoughts of residents far in advance of difficult spending decisions being made next year.
During the first phase, which was carried out throughout July, people were asked to indicate which services they value the most.
Participants’ views will be presented to councillors before they swing the axe next March.
But it has attracted some cynicism…
What were the claims about the Aberdeen budget survey?
Former city councillor Len Ironside dismissed the scheme as “little more than a gimmick”, adding that leaders were “passing the buck to blame the public”.
Aberdeen Labour blasted it as “outsourcing decision-making”.
This is @AberdeenSNP choosing to outsource decision making and pass the buck for cuts to our city on to the taxpayer.
They should do their jobs, stand up to Humza Yousaf and demand a better deal for Aberdeen. https://t.co/PSZ2CFH1Ch
— Aberdeen Labour (@AberdeenLabour) July 1, 2023
And one reader got in touch with us, and elected members, to flag some concerns.
Data analyst Kathy Findlay recently took part in the survey, and criticised the “invalid methodology used”.
She found she could “make multiple submissions”, which she said would make it “very easy” for individuals to skew figures.
And although people were asked to identify which area of Aberdeen they are from, anyone from “London, Paris or New York” could be trying to influence spending decisions from afar.
Could ‘form bots’ be used to alter findings?
Most concerningly, she worried that unscrupulous IT wizards could deploy “form bots” to “repeatedly populate and submit surveys”.
This, the expert argued, would mean “this survey would fail an audit at the first hurdle”, and should not be used to inform decisions “even at a minor level”.
Why does council say Aberdeen budget survey was valid?
A running tally of 3,179 responses has so far been confirmed.
The total figure is expected to be higher as scores of paper submissions are still being validated.
And the council has insisted that the budget survey was suitably robust.
A spokesman said: “There are safeguards in place to ensure that results are representative, and in addition the raw data is checked for anomalies.
“The simulator has been used by organisations around the world for similar consultations.”
Did you take part in the online process, and how did you feel about it? Let us know in our comments section below
What next in Aberdeen budget process?
SNP finance convener Alex McLellan explained that the next step will “allow for a much greater level of public engagement”.
In the autumn, individual potential cuts will be made public, with people being asked how they feel about each option before efforts are made to balance the books.
People will also be able to advise on how much of a council tax increase they would be willing to put up with in the years ahead.
