Falkirk Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) has laid down the estimated savings services need to achieve over the next five years to help bridge the projected £60m+ funding gap.

Based around net operating budgets, each service is now working on five-year business plans that will provide a range of options on how they will transform to meet the targets.

Options will include transformational projects, like those recently awarded funding through the Council’s Change Fund, which will become part of the Council of the Future change programme.

The estimated savings targets to be realised by 2023/2024 are:

• Children’s Services – £30m
• Development Services - £11m
• Corporate & Housing Services - £8m

Targets for the Health & Social Care Partnership and Community Trust will be highlighted in a further update to the MTFP, which is a crucial strategic document that provides the financial framework for the delivery of council services.

Bryan Smail, Falkirk Council’s Chief Finance Officer, said: “It should be recognised that these are not rigid and absolute targets, but realistic guides to the scale of savings options that need to be identified by each service.”

The MTFP focuses on revenue expenditures (the day-to-day running costs of providing services) and capital expenditure (the long-term investment in infrastructure such as schools and roads) which generate revenue costs.

It also reflects the Council’s corporate plan and strategy, and provides a strategic approach to manage services to ensure Council priorities are delivered at a time when resources are reduced.