We asked for feedback on a range of officer policy savings proposals as well as proposals to increase council tax and fees and charges.
We received 433 responses to the survey. The public engagement also included direct engagement with a number of stakeholders seeking to understand potential impacts and mitigations in the context of an accompanying draft Equality and Fairer Scotland Impact Assessment.
One petition on the officer proposal relating to the review of early learning and childcare centre provision was received and heard at a special Council meeting in advance of the budget meeting.
Councillors met on 9 March 2023 and agreed the £152.184m revenue budget for 2023/24. All respondents’ views were taken into account. Savings of £3.814m were approved.
Council tax will increase by 5% and some fees and charges will also increase by 5%.
Officers saving proposals that were agreed are:
Officers saving proposals that were not agreed are:
A report on the proposal connected with the transition to net zero will come to a future council meeting.
Details of all budget decisions made can be accessed on our website.
Local authorities have faced a challenging financial context for over ten years. Since 2013/14 the Council has approved savings of £45 million.
Clackmannanshire Council, like all Councils, faces further rising costs, reducing budgets and increased demand for services. Just like your household budget, the Council is experiencing soaring inflation and rapidly rising energy, goods and services costs. For example, in March 2022 we had to budget an additional £877,000 for our annual gas and electricity, a rise of 63% on the previous year. And costs like these continue to rise.
The settlement we receive from the government will not be enough to keep pace with inflationary pressures and we have limited ability to raise additional income in ways that will allow us to maintain all our current models and levels of service. For instance, each 1% increase in Council Tax raises about an additional £240,000 per year. To put this in context, the annual payment we make for our three academies is around £9m.
The consequence of continuing financial pressures is that we are facing a significant budget gap in the next 5 years.
The Council needs to prioritise services and budgets more than ever while continuing with transformation plans. Even where we are required in law to provide services, it is likely that the level of provision will need to be reassessed or models of delivery will look different.
Despite these challenges, through the Council’s Be The Future programme, transforming our local economy and tackling poverty and inequality are driving long term sustainable change, ensuring financial sustainability.
The Council is undertaking a 4-phase programme of engagement to shape its budget decisions for the next 5 years.
To inform the process of budget setting by councillors, Council officers have put forward a range of options which span many aspects of current service provision.
Some of these options would result in a significant reduction from existing levels of service or removal of the service. There are also options to change the way in which some services are delivered in order to reduce costs, some of which involve working in collaboration with a range of partners.
The options are set out alongside an indication of the level of savings which would be achieved if councillors accepted them.
Officers are continuing to work to identify any further options for the coming years, as well as considering other ways of generating additional income to bridge the gap.
Your views are sought on the impacts any of the savings options put forward by officers would have on you or your community.
No decisions have been made and none will be taken by councillors until after the engagement exercise is complete.
The consultation should only take around 5-10 minutes of your time.
If you would like any further information on any of the proposals please email: consult@clacks.gov.uk
The consultation feedback will be consolidated and shared with elected members ahead of the budget setting Council meeting to be held before the end of the financial year.
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