In 2020/21 we will spend around £355m providing services to our communities and invest £30m in large-scale projects across our services.
We need to produce a balanced budget each year. This means the money we receive from the Scottish Government, council tax and other sources must meet the cost of delivering services and ongoing investment to protect and improve our communities.
This is how we are going to achieve it this year
| Service |
2019/20 Budget
£'000 |
2020/21 Budget
£'000 |
| Children's Services |
197,382 |
206,244 |
| Social Work Adult Services |
3,718 |
3,734 |
| Development Services |
28,797 |
27,503 |
| Corporate & Housing Services |
28,424 |
27,204 |
| Trading Accounts |
-496 |
-502 |
| Sub-Total |
257,825 |
264,183 |
| Falkirk Community Trust |
10,853 |
10,896 |
| Integration Joint Board |
64,247 |
67,224 |
| Joint Valuation Board |
1,345 |
1,392 |
| Capital Charges |
11,487 |
11,058 |
| Total Net Expenditure |
345,757 |
354,753 |
| Aggregate External Finance |
278,203 |
285,263 |
| General Fund Reserves Applied |
950 |
|
| Council Tax (see below) |
66,604 |
69,490 |
| Total Income |
345,757 |
354,753 |
| Council Tax |
2019/20
£'000 |
2020/21
£'000 |
| Estimated yield of £1 Council Tax |
56,975 |
56,700 |
| Council Tax (Band D) |
1,169 |
1,226 |
| Product |
66,604 |
69,490 |
We continue to face a significant financial challenge over the next five years with a projected budget shortfall of around £76m. Significant work is underway to ensure we reduce the impact on services that this shortfall could have. This work includes:
- Involving our communities more in decision making and the design of future services so that they better meet their needs
- Continuing to change how we deliver services making them more efficient (savings projected for £9m next year)
- Increasing the number of online services offered, reducing costs for us and increasing options for you.
- Closing buildings that are no longer useful and selling them where possible
- Targeting services at the most vulnerable in society through new initiatives such as our Advice Hubs
- Reducing workforce numbers through voluntary severance and non-filling of vacancies
Council Tax
For 2020/21, your Council Tax will rise by 4.84% giving an increase of £56.58 a year for a band 'D' property.
| Band |
No. of chargeable dwellings |
%age of dwellings in each band |
Proposed annual increase |
Proposed 2019/20 annual Council Tax |
| A |
21,159 |
28.86% |
£37.72 |
£817.05 |
| B |
18,872 |
25.74% |
£44.01 |
£953.23 |
| C |
6,789 |
9.26% |
£50.29 |
£1,089.40 |
| D |
8,900 |
12.14% |
£56.58 |
£1,225.58 |
| E |
8,901 |
12.14% |
£74.34 |
£1,610.28 |
| F |
5,734 |
7.82% |
£91.94 |
£1,991.57 |
| G |
2,889 |
3.94% |
£110.80 |
£2,400.09 |
| H |
65 |
0.09% |
£138.62 |
£3,002.67 |
Fees and charges
Some of our fees and charges will be increasing this year. Wherever possible we have aimed to keep these in line with inflation but some charges are higher because we are making them cover the full cost of providing the service. Some new charges will be introduced.
How is the budget split between our Services?
| Service | £000s |
|---|
| Childrens Services | 206,244 |
| Corporate and Housing Services | 27,204 |
| Development Services | 27,503 |
| Social Work Adult Services | 3,734 |
Savings options approved
Capital investment
As part of the budget, investment programmes across the Falkirk Council area were also agreed to run over the next five years helping to fund major projects and work to improve the area. In total, £265m will be committed to the various projects.
- an extension to Maddiston primary school (£2.5m)
- early years expansion (£4m)
- new Council HQ and Arts Centre (£45m)
- playpark upgrades (£336k)
- Support frontline staff with the systems and support they need to deliver services (£1m)
The Council agreed to an additional increase in Council Tax of 1.84%. This will be finance borrowing of £24m, which will be used to fund a number of projects which include:
- CCTV – Analogue to Digital (£980k)
- Participatory budgeting (£3m)
- Connected Falkirk – digital learning for children and young people (£9.6m)
- Roads maintenance (£7m)
Revenue investment
Additional investments including:
- support for Learning Assistants(£200k)
- support for the Poverty Strategy(£50k)
- reintroduction of special uplifts(£300k)
- flower bedding(£100k)
- pest control service(£100k)