We want to help you understand our finances –where we get our funding from, and where and why we spend the money in the ways that we do.

Our spending is split into two distinct and separate pots of money – Revenue and Capital

Revenue expenditure is the day-to-day costs of running the council services.

Capital expenditure is money invested into large-scale, long-term investments such as new schools, infrastructure and assets improvements. Capital spending helps us deliver the Council Plan encompassing large scale investments such as the New Town Hall. However, we also need capital investment for roads, street lighting, school buildings, ICT, council vehicles and parks.

There are very strict rules around the use of money for capital expenditure. For example, capital budget monies cannot be moved over to the Revenue budget.

The revenue budget is used to pay for 100's of services that we provide to our communities on a day-to-day basis.

We get money from different sources that makes up this budget area; the three main areas of funding are:

1. Scottish Government Grant - this is the amount of money that we receive directly from the Scottish Government to help us pay for all our running costs
2. Council Tax and business rates – this is the amount of money raised locally to help us deliver services
3. Income from fees and services - this is money raised locally from services such as leisure facilities, parking charges, and waste uplift charges.

Most of the money comes from the Scottish Government Grant and we have little influence on this. We try and work with the Scottish Government to make sure that they are aware of the pressures on the Council. However, the Scottish Government decide the level of funding they view as appropriate.

In some cases, the funding has conditions attached to it, so we have to spend it on the things that the Scottish Government has decided are a priority. The Scottish Government Grant makes up almost 80% of our total revenue budget income.

Council Tax provides 17% of our total budget and is an important factor in making up our revenue income.

We provide many services to support people and improve their lives, children and young people, older people, vulnerable people while also investing in our environment, economy, infrastructure as well as leisure and culture.

This budget area is used for larger, longer-term investments.

Projected investment for the next 5 years is £215.6m.

The Housing Revenue Account is another revenue budget that deals with all aspects of housing, rents, investments and maintenance. This budget is ring-fenced for housing purposes only and cannot be used for anything other than housing related business.

We are committed to providing quality housing and service provision to the people living in the Falkirk Council area. We have committed £182.5m to invest in our housing stock over the next 5 years.

In the last year we have:

• taught over 21,000 pupils in our primary and secondary schools
• served over 1.7 million school meals
• provided over 3,400 households with clothing grants for school
• awarded 435 secondary pupils with Education Maintenance Allowance
• helped 889 pupils into modern apprenticeships
• had 681 pupils go onto college or university

From April to December 2024 we:

• constructed 68 new homes
• welcomed 130 people into brand new homes
• installed upgrades to 2,714 homes, including kitchens, bathrooms and energy efficiency upgrades

Each week we:

• support an average of 2,650 individuals to live independently in their own homes
• deliver an average of 40,000 hours of care through Care and Support at Home

Last year we:

• helped 448 people into work via our employability programmes
• supported 1,120 new businesses with information and guidance
• maintained 57 football pitches, parks and open spaces
• helped 3,000 people to learn to swim
• welcomed 1.5 million visitors to our sports and leisure facilities
• welcomed 196,000 people to our museums
• emptied around 10,696,000 household bins and provided a pull-out service for 5,284 residents
• were responsible for 993 kilometres of road and 1,028 kilometres of pathways
• filled 1,959 potholes
• maintained 27,413 streetlights

We are committed to doing the very best we can for the residents of the Falkirk Council area however, the services that we provide cost more than that income we receive.

It really is as simple as that.

We currently have a projected budget gap of £27.9m over the next year and in 5 years, it could be £58.5m. We must find ways in which we can tackle this budget gap. The amount of money we have to meet all of our costs is simply not enough.

We must change this by increasing income (through council tax or fees and charges) and by reducing expenditure. There is a legal requirement for all councils to balance their budget so that their expenditure matches their income. In order for us to do this, we will have to make very difficult decisions.

These decisions may not be popular or easy to accept but the reality is we don't have any options left.

There are three main ways we can meet this budget gap:

• Raise Council Tax - we could increase council tax charges
• Raise money through charges for some services - we could increase existing charges or introduce new charges.
• Reduce the services we provide - we could reduce the level of service provided or stop some services.

In reality, the Council’s approach will have to include all of these options.

Difficult times lie ahead for all of us, but we are committed to providing our communities with the best possible services whilst ensuring that those most in need are protected and cared for.

We are in this together. Your Community. Your Life.

Elected members will meet with senior officers 6 March 2025 to discuss and agree the budget. You can watch the meeting live on our YouTube channel for Committees.