Big decisions ahead as Falkirk Council considers rejecting the council tax freeze and changing the school week

Big decisions ahead as Falkirk Council considers rejecting the council tax freeze and changing the school week

Rejecting a council tax freeze, changing the school week so pupils would be off on Friday afternoons and increasing garden waste charges are among the huge decisions Falkirk councillors will consider when they set this year’s budget.

While no decisions will be taken until Falkirk Council meets next Wednesday (February 28), members are being warned that the council is “facing a budget cliff edge”, with a £60 million shortfall over the next five years if nothing changes.

The Scottish Government says it is funding a council tax freeze to a level of five per cent – but cuts to other funding means Falkirk’s share would equate to an actual increase of 3.3 per cent.

With Falkirk’s council tax currently the sixth lowest in mainland Scotland, the council’s financial strategy is reliant on an increase of five per cent at the very least.

On Wednesday, the budget papers reveal that councillors will be asked whether or not they should accept the Scottish Government funding to freeze the council tax, or turn it down and increase the charge.

Modelling several possibilities – which the report stresses are just illustrations – the common thread is that a freeze this year would mean an increase next year – and for the next five years – of around 10 or even 11 per cent.

The council tax freeze will also mean a far greater use of reserves that the council had hoped for.

The report states that the bottom line is that there is “not enough money on an annual basis to pay for the services as they are currently delivered”.

In 2023/24, Falkirk Council used £18.7 million of reserves and service concessions (money available from changes in how PFI schools are paid for) to balance the books.

This year, members are being warned that this source of funding will soon run out.

Whatever happens with the council tax, however, it accounts for just one-fifth of the council budget and more savings will still be needed.

Papers published ahead of the meeting say that major changes in education could save the council more than £5 million every year.

The report says, however, that no changes will happen before they have been discussed with parents “on an individual school basis to ensure parents are able to hear how this change will look in their school, for their child and their family”.

In previous years, suggestions of changing the school week were met with outrage, but the report says that the only alternative will be to cut jobs and services.

The budget could also see big increases in fees and charges as the council seeks to increase its income.

If councillors agree, that could mean increasing the brown bin charge for garden waste to £45 and increasing the charge for bulky uplifts to £45.

But if reserves and service concessions are not used to plug holes in the budget for the next five years, council officers suggest the cash could be used to make improvements across Falkirk.

Suggestions include improving school buildings, maintaining digital devices for pupils and perhaps building a new leisure facility for the whole area.

Some of the money would also help with building the new town hall and theatre planned for Falkirk town centre.

Falkirk Council meets to set its budget on Wednesday, February 28, at 10 am in Grangemouth Education Unit, Abbots Road. The meeting will also be live streamed.