Councillors will be asked to consider several reports at the last full Council meeting of 2022.
At the meeting, to be held on Wednesday, 14 December, discussions will focus on:
- additional support for low-income households
- support for voluntary arts following FTH closure
- an update to our Financial Strategy
No decision will be made on any of the recommendations made within the reports until the day of the meeting. You can
watch the meeting live from 10am on 14 December.
Below you’ll find summaries of the key reports listed and links to the full papers.
Tackling poverty in Falkirk – additional support to low-income households
The Tackling Poverty in Falkirk report will ask members to approve a further £190k be added to the Household Support Fund to support low-income residents struggling with the cost of living.
The report also recommends free school meals and bridging payments continue at the current funding levels for December 2022 reverting to Scottish Government eligibility criteria for the remainder of the financial year.
If approved, plans for further action building on the range of support members agreed earlier this year, will include support for unemployed parents, extending and maximising the help available from our advice services and libraries as well as additional staff training.
FTH closure: Voluntary Arts support
The report sets out the positive progress made to relocate hall hires for Falkirk Town Hall (FTH) next year once the venue closes permanently.
The FTH will shut its doors for the last time on 7 February 2023 after the performances by Big Bad Wolf and McKechnie School of Dance.
Officers have been busy working through bookings at FTH to find alternative venues and so far nine out of 12 groups have been settled into other venues including Grangemouth Town Hall, Bo'ness Town Hall and Larbert High School. Work continues to find suitable alternatives for the remaining three groups. Other non-Council venues which have offered availability include the Beancross, Trinity Church and the Dobbie Hall.
The report also proposes to increase the £10k voluntary sector fund to support local groups as required on a value for money basis from the £50k fund that had been set aside to use for bids for external grant funding for the annual arts and performance programme.
Work will continue to relocate bookings in the latter half of the year and funding would be used to support groups with alternatives.
Budget report
The report will update councillors on budget-related matters since the Financial Strategy was approved three months ago. At that time, the strategy highlighted that the extreme volatility of the economy made it difficult to make accurate projections and estimates, and that continues to be the case.
In the September report, the Council’s budget gap for the next four years had risen from c£52m in March 2022 to c£69m. The latest estimates highlighted in the updated Financial Strategy being discussed next week, sits at c£67m. However, there are still several outstanding factors that will impact that figure, including:
- Scottish Government grant confirmation to be published on 15 December
- Future years pay award settlements
- Integration Joint Board funding settlement
The report also highlights that the Scottish Government will make an announcement on rent freezes on 14 January 2023. Due to the timing of this announcement, the housing rent setting paper and the housing investment programme will now be presented to Members in February 2023.