1. Table of contents

As a Council, we are legally required to set a balanced budget each year. That 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 communities.

Our revenue budget has been set at £472m for 2024/25 which includes ring fenced grants of £6.67m. This budget relates to all services except housing, which is funded entirely from money we receive from rent.

Service 2023/24 Budget
£'000
2024/25 Budget
£'000
Children's Services 251,178 278,166
Social Work Adult Services 4,023 4,156
Place Services 45,120 41,843
Transformation, Communities & Corporate Services 42,886 38,326
Sub-Total 343,207 362,491
Integration Joint Board 91,076 92,386
Joint Valuation Board 1,494 1,532
Capital Charges 4,569 8,536
Total Net Expenditure 440,346 464,945
Aggregate External Finance 343,164 363,722
COVID Reserves 3,400 -
Service Concessions 15,290 22,532
Council Tax (see below) 78,491 78,691
Total Income 440,345 464,945
Council Tax 2023/24 2024/25
Estimated yield of £1 Council Tax £57,552 £57,699
Council Tax (Band D) £1,363.82 £1,363.82
Product £78,491,000 £78,691,000

How will the budget be split

Service£'000s
Childrens Services278,166
Place Services41,843
Social Work Adult Services4,156
Transformation, Communities & Corporate Services38,326
Integration Joint Board92,386
Joint Valuation Board1,532
Capital Charges8,536

How is your Council Tax spent?

The Scottish Government's assessment of the spending need for Falkirk Council is £5,619 for every house.

The Council's proposed spending amounts to £6,201 per house.

How your council tax is spent is illustrated below based on a Band D property's Council Tax bill for 2024/25.

icon for Education

Education: £668.25

icon for Adult Social Care

Adult Social Care (including the HSCP): £299.64

icon for Children's Social Work

Children's Social Work: £103.68

Corporate Services

Corporate Services: £103.51

icon for Other Services and Costs

Other Services & Costs: £63.46

icon for Waste and Street Cleaning

Waste and Street Cleaning: £48.85

icon for Sports, Culture and Leisure

Sports, Culture & Leisure: £30.98

icon for Roads and Grounds

Roads & Grounds: £22.77

icon for Libraries

Libraries: £9.55

icon for Supporting Businesses

Supporting Businesses: £8.37

icon for Joint Valuation Board

Joint Valuation Board: £4.76


How Council funding works

The money comes from a number of sources, the most important of which is grants from the Scottish Government.

The chart below shows the various sources of the funding we will receive.

After taking account of Scottish Government grants, National Non-Domestic Rates and other sources of funding, we raise the rest of the money we need from Council Tax, which will fund 16.7% of our net expenditure.

Source£'000s
Government Grants297,420
Non-Domestic Rates72,962
Council Tax78,691
Service Concessions22,532
Reserves0