We are spending around £340m in 2019/20 providing services across all of our communities and investing £43.5m in large-scale projects across all our services.
We need to produce a balanced budget each year and this means that the money we receive from Scottish Government, Council Tax and other sources must meet the cost of delivering our services and ongoing investment to protect and improve our communities.
This is how we are going to achieve it this year
| Service |
2018/19 Budget at Outturn Prices £'000 |
2019/20 Budget at Outturn Prices £'000 |
| Children's Services |
189,653 |
193,635 |
| Social Work Adult Services |
3,691 |
3,664 |
| Development Services |
28,775 |
27,629 |
| Corporate & Housing Services |
28,719 |
26,279 |
| Trading Accounts |
-508 |
-518 |
| Sub-Total |
250,330 |
250,689 |
| Falkirk Community Trust |
11,001 |
10,793 |
| Integration Joint Board |
60,729 |
63,322 |
| Joint Valuation Board |
1,245 |
1,257 |
| Capital Charges |
15,210 |
13,932 |
| Total Net Expenditure |
338,515 |
339,993 |
| Aggregate External Finance |
272,511 |
272,439 |
| General Fund Reserves Applied |
2,300 |
950 |
| Council Tax (see below) |
63,704 |
66,604 |
| Total Income |
338,515 |
339,993 |
| Council Tax |
2018/19 £'000 |
2019/20 £'000 |
| Estimated yield of £1 Council Tax |
£56,127 |
£56,975 |
| Council Tax (Band D) |
£1,135 |
£1,169 |
| Product |
63,704 |
66,604 |
We still face a significant financial challenge over the next five years with a projected budget shortfall of around £76m. Significant work is happening to ensure that we reduce the impact on services that this shortfall could cause. These include:
- Involving our communities more in decision making and the design of future services so that they meet their needs more
- Continuing to change how we deliver services making them more efficient (savings projected for £9m next year)
- Increasing the number of online services offered reducing costs for us and increasing options for you.
- Closing buildings that are no longer useful and selling these where possible
- Targeting services at the most vulnerable in society through new initiatives such as our Advice Hubs
- Reducing workforce numbers through voluntary severance and non-filling of vacancies
How is the budget split between our Services?
| Service | £000s |
|---|
| Childrens Services | 193,635 |
| Corporate and Housing Services | 26,279 |
| Development Services | 27,629 |
| Social Work Adult Services | 3,664 |
Council Tax
For 2019/20, your Council Tax will rise by 3% giving an increase of £34 a year for a band 'D' property.
| Band |
No. of chargeable dwellings |
%age of dwellings in each band |
Proposed annual increase |
Proposed 2019/20 annual Council Tax |
| A |
21,224 |
29.09% |
£22.67 |
£779.33 |
| B |
18,937 |
25.96% |
£25.50 |
£909.22 |
| C |
6,700 |
9.18% |
£30.22 |
£1,039.11 |
| D |
8,821 |
12.09% |
£34.00 |
£1,169.00 |
| E |
8,801 |
12.06% |
£44.67 |
£1,535.94 |
| F |
5,599 |
7.68% |
£55.25 |
£1,899.63 |
| G |
2,805 |
3.85% |
£66.58 |
£2,289.29 |
| H |
64 |
0.09% |
£83.30 |
£2,864.05 |
Fees and charges
Some of our fees and charges will be increasing this year. Wherever possible we have aimed to keep these in line with inflation but some charges are higher because we are making them cover the full cost of providing the service. Some new charges will be introduced.
What has been approved?
Investment
As part of the budget, investment programmes across the Falkirk Council area were also agreed to run over the next five years helping to fund major projects and work to improve the area. In total, £220m will be committed to the various projects.
- An extension to Maddiston primary school (£4m)
- An extension to Denny primary school (£2.2m)
- Further work on the new Denny Eastern Access Road (£4.6m)
- Roads maintenance (£19.1m)
- Road safety schemes (£4.3m)
- Business property reinvestment (£2m)
- Playpark upgrades (£0.4m)
- Improvements to the Avon Gorge Road (£7.9m)