Tax rise ruled out despite a shortfall
Rate frozen even with £9.8m gap
West Lothian Council has frozen council tax for 2017/18 — despite being hit with a multi-million pound gap in their budget.
The authority had mooted a one per cent increase in council tax for all homes across West Lothian but decided against it as the budget was agreed on Monday night.
However, council bands E to H will still see a rise in their council tax due to the Scottish Government’s revision of banding weightings which the council must legally adhere too.
This rise, which raises £2.88 million for the council, still leaves a gap of £9.8 million after the Scottish Government reduced its funding by £5.9m for 2017/18.
Councillor John McGinty, leader of the
West Lothian Council, said: “Although the Scottish Government has provided Scottish councils with some flexibility around Council Tax this year, any further increases in Council Tax would fall far short of what is needed to plug our budget gap of £9.8m and significant budget cuts would still be needed.
“We have taken the decision therefore not to raise Council Tax further because we recognise that finances remain tight for families not just councils, and it delivers on a promise made to West Lothian Council taxpayers.”
Despite this gap the council say it has balanced the budget and will invest £398m in local services with £151m going to education, £101m to social services and £56m on roads and infrastructure.
Cuts made to balance the budget will include reducing council staff by 61.9 full-time equivalent workers.
This will be done without compulsory redundancies as reductions will be achieved through workforce planning such as retirements, end of some fixed term contracts and staff turnover.
The council will also cut the number of council owned properties as well as transferring properties to West Lothian Leisure.
Planning applications and building warrants will become more expensive under the new budget and the council will use £3m from the reserves to balance the budget.
The council also pledged to make additional investments including freezing school meal prices; protecting the alcohol diversionary fund; funding to extend Discretionary Housing Payments; additional funding for early years numeracy and literacy; additional funding for anti-poverty work and expansion of the school holiday lunch club scheme.
Councillor McGinty, added: “Despite further reductions in our budget, the council will continue to build upon a solid foundation and continue to improve local services in West Lothian.
“We are confident we are making the right choices for our communities and that our residents’ aspirations are reflected in our budget.
“Our aim in setting this budget is to ensure that we find a balance between delivering important services and supporting local families as they also look to balance their own household budgets in tough times.”