Falkirk Council: Residents are asked their views on how cash can be spent wisely and people's priorities

This year’s budget gap – the difference between the council’s expenditure and income – is now an unprecedented £67 million over the next four years.

While the exact amount will change slightly, depending on funding settlements and inflation costs, the council says this means it must take “urgent steps through a number of difficult decisions to avoid running out of money”.

The final budget decisions will be taken by councillors at a meeting in March 2023, but before then local people are being asked to give their opinions by taking a short survey. It asks people for their opinion on budget cuts explains that just 14 per cent of the council’s income comes from council tax.

The vast majority comes from the Scottish Government and councils across Scotland widely acknowledge that this will not be enough to run all the services they currently provide. The shortfall in money to spend means that all services are facing substantial cuts.

The survey gives a taste of the kind of decisions that face councillors in the year ahead and gives some information that puts it in context.

Children’s Services gets almost half of the council’s annual budget, spending £258 million on primary, secondary and special schools, early learning childcare, children’s social care services and sports facilities. The Falkirk Health and Social Care Partnership spends £127 million on social care services, including home care and residential care. The Partnership has its own board, the Integration Joint Board, which decides how it should spend its funding.

Despite the increasing financial pressures, the Council is still expecting to invest around £518 million over the next year, delivering a huge range of services.

People filling out the survey are asked to choose what the priorities should be – from schools and education to social care, road repairs, waste services and leisure facilities. It also asks people directly what their biggest concerns are for themselves, their families and communities.

The council is also looking to save cash by closing or transferring 133 of its properties – from public toilets to town halls – over the next three years.

A recent review of council-owned properties found it has “too many buildings that are ageing, in poor condition and require investment of around £200m to avoid unexpected closures – money we simply do not have”. The council says its Strategic Property Review survey is about finding new ways to deliver services.

In particular, they hope that communities will be willing to manage some of the properties, with initial support from the council.

The final survey is about the council’s library services over the next five years. The council says it is ” keen to make sure that your library provides what you want and need”. But while they have pledged to protect libraries, they say there will still need to be “efficiencies” so they are keen to find out what is most important to people.

Take the Budget 2023/24 Survey Take the Strategic Property Review Survey Take the Libraries Community Engagement Survey