Budget & Council Tax proposed West Lothian Council is set to agree its budget for this year (2025/26) which would see almost £605 million spent on delivering day-to-day local services. Key points: 👇 • More than three quarters of this budget would be spent on Education, Social Care services and Operational Services (roads, waste, open spaces, litter collection etc • Planned 8.95% increase in Council Tax • Further investment comes from the council's capital and housing budgets which are agreed separately • Proposals are being presented to a meeting of Full Council next week In brief: 👇 • The Council had originally planned to increase Council Tax by 5.8% this year. However, it has now been confirmed by Government that only 60% of NI contributions will be funded and passed down to councils, therefore an increase of 8.95% is proposed to meet the unavoidable cost associated with changes to employee’s national insurance contributions, particularly for health and social care services. • An 8.95% Council Tax increase would cover the 40% shortfall in NI contributions and prevent a further £3 million of budget savings coming out of local services • Council Tax would have to increase by 21% this year (2025/26) to offset the total budget gap that the council is facing - not the 8.95% increase which is being proposed • Due to insufficient funding from the Scottish Government the council has a budget gap of £34.9 million over the next three years. Even if a 8.95% increase in Council Tax is agreed, nearly £12 million of savings are required this year alone - as the council must legally agree balanced budget. • Legally, the amount of funding the council spends needs to be equal to the funding we receive. What we spend needs to match our income. This is what is meant by balancing our budget • By 2028 the council will have had to make budget savings of over £207 million (between April 2007 - March 2028) Changes to services 👇 The majority of savings measures were agreed two years ago and are to be implemented over a five-year period. However, more measures have had to be agreed in order to allow the Council to balance its budget - something we are legally required to do. All councils have a legal requirement to agree a balanced budget each year so if the funding provided is less than the cost of providing services overall, the council must reduce spending to balance its budget. A wide range of budget savings have already been agreed at last year's budget setting meeting and will be implemented further from April 2025. Examples include: 👇 • Internal savings through reviewing admin support and streamlining processes to reduce costs • Internal management restructures • Reduction in staff numbers in some areas, no-filling of vacancies and management restructures • Review of existing contracts for commissioned services to achieve cost savings • Intensive fostering campaign and development of a WL adoption services • Significant savings across Education which includes revised scheme of devolved school management Over £2.1 million of additional savings are being proposed to help meet the increased funding gap have been approved for next year (2025/2026) These include: 👇 👉Internal efficiency savings in staffing, property, supplies and services and transport budgets. 👉Reduction in council tax empty property discounts in line with parameters set out in regulations 👉Review of empty property relief and exemptions for Non-Domestic Rates 👉Increased income from rent of council properties