Falkirk Council has set its budget for 2011/12, balancing the need to make savings with a clear commitment to protecting services to our communities.

The Council has approved:

• a level ‘D’ Council tax of £1070 for 2011/12, one of the lowest in mainland Scotland;
• its Revenue Budget of £339 million;
• a weekly increase in Council house rent by £1.86 per week
• a spending programme of c. £146m over the next three years through its capital programmes [council housing £81m; General £65m].

Councillor Craig Martin, Leader of Falkirk Council said: “Achieving this year’s budget has been a balancing act between maintaining services, protecting jobs and  meeting Government-set savings of around £8.5 million.

“At the same time we continue to face acute financial pressures including increased energy costs, rising homelessness, and caring for children and the elderly.

“However, we have prioritised our investment plans for the next three years so we can invest in priority areas. We have increased the social work budget by 4.5%, investing an extra £3.6m to protect those who most need our services. We have also increased the roads budget by 7.8% to help address problems caused by severe weather.

“We will also deliver a new primary school and carry out vital flood prevention work as part of an investment package that totals more than £65 million.

‘We are committed to taking the views of our communities into account. Over 1,300 people replied to our budget consultation, making over 7,000 suggestions about where we could save money, improve our efficiency and areas of concern where the public are keen to see us prioritise. We have looked at these very carefully and they have influenced our thinking on the budget.”

“We have had to make some savings on the financial support we give to external organisations, however we have given priority to groups who work with the most vulnerable people in our communities.

“Alongside this, we are also looking very carefully at our own costs to make sure the Council is as efficient as possible.  Last year the Council cut senior management posts by 30%, saving £600,000, and a further £900k will be saved as a result of our decision to set up a charitable Trust to deliver community services. On top of this, we have now agreed to save £2.1m on staff costs in 2011/12.

‘In an ideal world our aim would be to deliver universal services for everyone but we need to be realistic and recognise that the current economic climate continues to make that a serious challenge.  However, with sound financial management and a clear vision for where our priorities lie, we will continue to do our best for our communities.’

The meeting also agreed that Service directors should seek to make savings of around c£5m this year and staff costs should reduce by £2.1m through a review of working practices and terms and conditions.

Capital Spending

The main areas of the forthcoming capital programme expenditure (c £65m) over the next three years include:

• a new denominational primary school in North Falkirk and investment in ICT in the classroom;
• work on the Glenbervie slip road and significant investment in our roads and flood prevention services;
• investment in business property projects and town centres and;
• improvement works to Older Peoples’ accommodation;

Housing Budget

The Council also set its Housing budget with an average weekly rent rise of £1.86 agreed for its 16,000 tenants.  More than 9000 tenants will be protected from the increase as they are in receipt of housing benefit.

The budget of £51.4m is spent on areas such as repairs, maintenance and financing major works such as roughcasting and re-roofing.  Capital investment of £81.1m is proposed over the next three years including investment in fabric improvements, kitchen and bathroom improvements, energy efficiency, hi-rise flat refurbishment and door entry systems.

The Council is also committed to delivering 150 new Council homes and an allocation of £21.25m has been made to provide for this over the next three years.

Cllr Jim Blackwood, Convener of Housing and Social Care said: ‘We have listened to our tenants who have said that they rate our service as a landlord highly and to ensure we can continue to meet these expectations, we are investing in our housing stock across the Falkirk Council area.

‘Our income from rents is used to reinvest in our current housing stock however, the number of available properties reduces every year and correspondingly the amount of money for reinvestment.

‘We are working hard to balance this and we hope that our investment plans continue to improve the lives of our tenants across our communities.”

Currently Falkirk has the 3rd highest repairs and improvement expenditure per house in Scotland and the 6th lowest rent from 25 other Councils.

Fees and Charges

The Council is increasing its fees and charges across many of its services but priority services such as social work will see minimal increases where applicable.

Charges for school meals will increase by 10p in nurseries and 15p in primary, secondary and special schools still keeping Falkirk well below the Scottish average. Breakfast club rates will remain the same.

Town centre car park charges are set to rise by 20p on a basic charge.

Crematorium and Interment fees are also set to rise by 12.5 % and 15% respectively to come more in line with Scottish averages.

Across Falkirk Council’s leisure facilities, charges are set to rise by an average of 3% with an adult swim now costing £3.20.

Household special uplifts will remain free for the first two uplifts in a year and a charge of £22 (the same as last year) for the third onwards.

A domestic pest control visit will now cost £30.90, a rise of £1.50 from last year.