A funding gap of an estimated £46m over the next three years is being faced by Falkirk Council as it set its £335m revenue budget.

Budget savings across all services are being made as rising costs and a freezing of council tax has led to an increasing strain on finances that is being met by a reduction or removal of some services.

The Council has also seen local demographic pressures add to the squeeze with an increase in the number of young people and older people who need services.

Despite having had to deal with budget gaps of £70m over the past eight years, further areas have been targeted to make up the shortfall.

Councillor Craig Martin, Leader of Falkirk Council, said: “While central government has a range of tax raising powers, local government has not and consequently our hands are tied when it comes to raising income locally.

“The reality is that we face a massive demand for our services especially with the growth in the elderly population as well as young children in our area.

“There are no easy savings left. The savings the Council is now considering will mean reductions in services and regrettably this will have an impact on our communities.

“Three quarters of our budgets pay for education and social work services – these are the services we have aimed to protect the most.

“Spending on education will increase by more than 3% and social work will see an increase of 2.7% demonstrating our commitment to preserving these vital services.

“Our communities must appreciate that some services that have previously been taken as a given may no longer be delivered in the way they were or may disappear completely.

“We have also looked carefully at our levels of workforce and again are aiming to make savings across the board with voluntary severances being sought.

“We fund many external community organisations to the tune of £6m and while we have protected them from the financial hardships of the past few years, it is only right that they shoulder some of our burden.

“This is by far the most painful budget we have had to set for many years and we are left with so little to take away from services however we will not shirk from our responsibilities to our communities to deliver to the most vulnerable in society.”

Some of the budget savings that have been agreed include:

• Closure or transfer to the community of some community halls
• Extending the distance entitlement for school bus transport from two to three miles for secondary pupils
• Changing eligibility rules for some services in social work
• Reduction in the amount spent on training schemes for young people
• Reduction in grass cutting; tree and shrub maintenance; litter pick-ups; street cleansing
• Introduction of special uplift charges
• Closing staffed toilets and some automated ones
• Closure of Denny and Grangemouth Registry offices

Full details of all the budget proposals can be found here

Spending plans outlined for next three years

A £93m spending programme designed to improve communities and services has recently been outlined by Falkirk Council for the next three years.

While the Council’s revenue budget is facing real financial difficulties, it will continue to invest in assets and infrastructure and as such, money is made available to progress a number of projects to benefit residents.

The plans will see continuations of existing projects as well as new ones.

Councillor Craig Martin, Leader of Falkirk Council said: “Our revenue budget allows us to function on a day to day basis covering costs such as wages, supplies and materials is under a great strain, we must continue to invest in our assets and infrastructure to ensure the area continues to thrive for residents, businesses and visitors alike.

“Some of these projects will no doubt deliver many benefits to our area and therefore need to be carried out to completion.”

Highlights include:

• £24m progressing the plans to bring more than £400m investment and 6000 jobs as part of the ambitious Tax Incremental Finance scheme (TIF) over the next 25 years.
• £15m to be spent on a replacement for Carrongrange School;
• Nearly £9m will be spent on roads and lighting;
• £2.4m flood prevention work for Grangemouth;
• £4m for the ongoing regeneration of Denny town centre;
• £1.6m refurbish of the Bainsford centre;
• £2.2m on cemetery expansion.

Housing investment planned

The value of improvements to Council housing will reach £51m over the next three years as Falkirk Council continues to aim to have all of its housing stock meet national standards by 2015.

Currently, just under 90% of properties are at this level (compared with 33% in 2009) and work will include:

• £13.9m pa for roofing, roughcasting, electrical work and kitchen &bathroom replacements;
• £1m over next three years for the installation of Carbon Monoxide detectors;
• £2.2m pa for energy efficiencies in properties.

Another £34.2m investment will see a number of initiatives taken forward the Council’s on going house building programme that will see £4m spent creating 86 new homes over two years and £6m on property ‘buy-backs’ seeing between 80 and 90 properties a year brought back into Council ownership.

Councillor Gerry Goldie, spokesperson for Housing said: “Investment is vitally important in our housing stock and we are only able to fund improvements from the rents we charge.

“We have identified what the priorities for our tenants are and these are reflected in our spending.”

Rents will increase approximately 3.6% following an extensive tenant consultation in 2014. Falkirk Council continues to rate favourably against other Scottish local authorities and has the third lowest rent in Scotland.