Falkirk Council: Braced for being worse off as budget looms

At next week’s full council meeting, members will get an insight into what the Scottish Government’s budget is likely to mean here in Falkirk.

And while the council had been expecting challenging financial times ahead – estimating a gap between income and spending of £65 million over five years – the latest figures are more than £1 illion worse than anticipated.

However, the report going to councillors on Wednesday stresses that things could still change before the final settlement is announced.

The Scottish Government says £144 million will be available to councils if they agree to support a council tax freeze, which they say is the equivalent of a five per cent rise.

But CoSLA, the body that represents councils, has argued that because there has been a reduction in the overall money given to councils, the freeze is not fully funded, and the money has simplyswapped from one part of the settlement to another.

While the actual amount of money being given to councils has increased, CoSLA has calculated that pay awards for council staff and a host of other economic pressures mean the cash is ignificantly less than is needed.

The Scottish Government in turn says that its budget is also being squeezed and more cash for councils is simply not available.

The council tax freeze, however, removes one of the tools Falkirk Council had planned to use to help it balance the books.

Last September, councillors were told that raising council tax, cutting services and increasing fees and charges were all very likely to be needed to meet the scale of the council’s deficit.

Falkirk was badly impacted by the Scottish Government’s original ten-year council tax freeze as it was set very low when first applied.

Council officers had gradually hoped to reduce the difference between Falkirk and other similar authorities but that is very unlikely now.

However, council tax is a small proportion of council income, while the grant from the Scottish Government is 80 per cent of its funding.

Some of this will be used for things such as delivering pay rises to workers, including a £12 per hour minimum pay rate for adult social care staff in commissioned services.

The report notes that Falkirk Councils share of adult social care funding has reduced and therefore the maintenance of the budget at 2023/24 levels will effectively mean reducing funding for another area of the council.

Things are also looking particularly bleak for the council’s capital budget, with its grant expected to be £9.446 million – more than £800,000 lower than last year’s.

The report warns councillors that the 2024/25 capital programme will need to be reviewed and adjusted accordingly as part of the budget setting process.

While this month’s report is just for information, in February, councillors will meet to agree the council’s own budget for the year ahead.

Falkirk Council meets on Wednesday, January 31 in Grangemouth Community Education Centre, Abbot’s Road, at 10 am. The meeting will also be livestreamed.