Budget Consultation 2025/26 (Phase 2)

Overview

The Council has a budget of £161.5 million to spend to support the people of Clackmannanshire. We invest that funding in over 700 public services including education, social care, roads and transport, economic development, housing, planning, environmental protection, waste management, cultural and leisure services.

Our costs have risen significantly in the past few years, due to a combination of inflation making the cost of providing our services higher, along with a continuing rise in demand for services such as social care.

At the same time, the amount the Council receives to run services for the people of Clackmannanshire, which comes mostly from the Government, is not enough to meet the rising costs we face. That means we face a budget gap of £13.01 million this year and savings must be made.

The Council is working hard, despite these challenges, through our Be The Future programme to transform our local economy and tackle poverty and inequality to drive long term sustainable change, ensuring financial sustainability. 

We’ve already made significant savings over the past few years to ensure we meet our legal obligation to balance our budget. In fact, by 2028/29 we will have reduced our spending by £100 million! Despite those savings, we still face a real shortfall between our funding and the cost of the services we deliver. 

The Council needs to prioritise services and budgets while continuing with our 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.

Why your views matter

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 to reduce costs and changes are proposed on fees and charges.

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.