Investment in local services & Council Tax plans

West Lothian Council's draft revenue budget will be presented to a Meeting of Full Council next week.

• If approved by councillors, it will result in over £636 million being spent on delivering day-to-day local services for residents across West Lothian. Council Tax levels will also be agreed.
• Around 90% of the council's budget will be spent on Education, Social Care services and Operational Services (roads, waste, open spaces, parks, litter collection, bus services, public transport, school meals, etc)
• Under the proposals, two key areas would receive extra funding this year:
  Adult and Older People Social Care Services *
  Potholes and Road defects

Key points:

• Other areas of significant investment include; community buildings (libraries and Partnership Centres), Advice Shop and support services
• Subject to approval, Council Tax would increase by 8.4% in 2026/27.  Whilst all areas of services receive a proportion of Council Tax income, increases in Council Tax will result in significant additional funding for two key service areas:

1. Adult & Older People Social Care Services (The additional Council Tax income will help avoid some of the most detrimental savings which had to be considered by the Integration Joint Board (IJB) from being implemented. *
2. Improving local roads and repairing potholes (additional Council Tax income will be targeted towards pothole repairs and road defects)

Balancing the budget

The Council has to make total savings of £18.9million over the next two years

• Legally, the amount of funding the council spends needs to be equal to the funding we receive, and council must balance its budget.  What we spend needs to match our income. This is what is meant by balancing our budget
• Overall, there would be a reduction in staff over the next two years

Changes to services

Due to insufficient funding from the Scottish Government, combined with increasing demand and rising costs, the Council has to make total savings of £18.9million over the next two years - as the council must legally agree a balanced budget.

Legally councils must balance their budget which means the council needs to agree measures by the end of February to address the funding gap

The WL2028 Your Council Your Say consultation provided local residents, staff and partners with an opportunity to shape the council's budget, priorities and budget savings across various phases. The feedback helped to inform the development of the council's draft budget.

Audit Scotland have said that all Scottish councils must make difficult decisions and that it is not sustainable to rely upon reserves to bridge the funding gaps being faced by all Scottish councils.

 A wide range of budget savings are proposed. Many of the examples have been developed to minimise the impact on front line services and are internally focussed to improve efficiency and reduce costs, whilst protecting front line services as much as possible;

Examples include:

• Internal savings through reviewing admin support and business support services to reduce costs
• Streamlining processes further to increase efficiency and reduce costs
• Internal management restructures
• Cost savings in fleet and procurement
• Increase Council Tax collection from a current collection rate of 97.75%
• Internal efficiency savings in staffing, property, supplies and services and transport budgets
• Reviewing the council's mail service and using digital where appropriate
• Increased energy savings
• Increase advertising on council owned property and facilities
• Significant energy savings across properties
• Introduction of new technology to improve customer service and allow for cost savings and a greater use of AI
• Reduction in staff numbers in some areas and non-filling of vacancies
• Review of existing procurement contracts for services to achieve cost savings

Other changes proposed include:

• Integration of literacy and language support across schools
• Re-provisioning the current model at Burnhouse School into the established INSPIRE package of individual support
• Focus Summer of Play activities on those delivered by third sector partners
• Continued support to WL Leisure to become fully self-funded
• Further review of nursery capacity to better meet demand (Demand for nursery places in some areas is declining due to falling birth rates)
• Providing non-West Lothian children placing options at council establishments only (similar to arrangements in place in Edinburgh and other areas)
• Introducing a facility to reduce waste disposal costs and external vehicle wash contracts
• Matching the cost of grounds maintenance of public amenity golf courses against income received for the use of courses

*The additional funding will be provided to the Integration Joint Board who are responsible for agreeing their own budget. The West Lothian Integration Joint Board (IJB) has responsibility for planning most health and social care services for adults in West Lothian.