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Falkirk Council has agreed to a 3% increase in Council Tax for 2017/18, a first for the area in nine years and that will see an average ‘D Band’ Council tax figure increase by approximately £0.61 per week or £32 a year.

The Council set its c£330m budget following the local government revised settlement made by Scottish Government at the beginning of the year that has allowed a reduction in the original funding gap made from £20m to £14.4m.

Approximately £87m over the next three years will be spent on a variety of improvements to services and projects aimed at benefitting local communities and an estimated £104m spent on improving existing housing stock and providing new build properties.

The Integrated Joint Board (a Partnership with NHS Forth Valley) will see a budget allocated of c£60m to allow it to deliver adult social care and health services across the area and Falkirk Community Trust will receive c£11m to provide sport, recreation, arts, heritage and library services.

Councillor Craig Martin, Leader of Falkirk Council said: “This has been a difficult budget to set  however we have managed to keep any reduction in our services to a minimum and maintain high levels of investment for the future.

“We can balance our finances however around 80% of our funding comes from Scottish Government and we have had to be mindful of this.

“The options we put out for consultation last year gave details of the kind of savings we thought we were going to have to make and that included a reduction in staff at that point. Thankfully we are not being forced into making compulsory redundancies however a number of senior posts are going and will not be replaced.

“As with all Councils across Scotland we are doing what we can to minimise the impact on communities however it is inevitable that some groups that we work with will be affected and funding will have to be reduced.

“Our budget consultation last year was a very worthwhile exercise and showed where communities had real concerns – we listened and made sure that wherever possible, we reappraised our thinking and looked elsewhere for savings.

“We have set the budget with our major priorities in mind, including maximising job creation and looking at the impact of poverty on children.”

Capital Investment Plans

Investment programmes across the Falkirk Council area will continue over 2017/18 helping to fund major projects and work to improve the area and invest in services.

Approximately £30m will be invested in the next year including:

  • £14.3m for Development Services (including roads investment and flood prevention work)
  • £7m for Children’s Services (including property extensions and new build)
  • £5.6m for the (TIF) Tax Incremental Finance Scheme (including roundabout works)
  • £3m for Corporate and Housing Services (including technology improvements to bring efficiency gains)

Specific investment plans include:

  • £5.6m for TIF project progressing the plans to bring more than £400m investment and 6000 jobs to the area over the next 25 years
  • £5m for roads and street lighting improvements
  • £3.7m for completion of a new school for children with additional support needs
  • £2.5m for technology improvements to deliver more efficient services and education
  • £1.7m for Grangemouth flood prevention work
  • £1.6m school improvements
  • £1m in Falkirk and Denny town centres
  • £810k for the continuation of the Denny Eastern Access Road

Councillor Craig Martin, Leader of Falkirk Council said: “Our investment programme ensures that we can bring long term stability to the area and enables us to support our longer term ambitions.

“Long term investment also means that the pressure is reduced on our everyday activities in order to maintain and improve services.

“The investment programme is ambitious and we have focussed on making the biggest impact from very tight resources.

“We’re continuing to prioritise projects such as the TIF scheme that could deliver thousands of jobs locally as well as significant investment in schools, roads and technology.”