'Unrelenting' - the budget pressures facing West Lothian

Due to insufficient funding from the Scottish Government combined with increasing costs, the council has a budget gap of £16.6million for 2024/25 (and budget gap of £38 million from 2024/25 to 2027/28)

By 2028 the council will have had to make budget savings by almost £0.2 billion (between April 2007 - March 2028).

A number of changes to services have had to be put in place to allow the council to meet its legal requirement and balance its budget.

At the budget setting meeting on Thursday 22 February, councillors were informed that the Scottish Government has written to councils to acknowledge that the amounts allocated by them, to fund the Council Tax freeze, is not sufficient. They have confirmed that they may increase funding to local councils later this year however it is subject to the outcome of the UK Spring Budget and approval in the Scottish Parliament.

Patrick Welsh, the council's Head of Finance and Property Services said: "This information only came from the Government late Wednesday afternoon and, whilst it may result in additional funding, it is not guaranteed.

"The Scottish Government have made it clear that it is dependent on a number of factors and is subject to the outcome of the UK Government's Spring Budget and approval by the Scottish Parliament. On that basis, we need to approve a budget based on what we know to be certain.

"We need much more clarity on what additional funding looks like for West Lothian.

"For example, if additional funding is agreed, we'd need clarity on whether it is a one-off amount covering one year only, or whether it's additional funding that will be provided each year.

"We would also need to know what amount of funding is to come to West Lothian before we could identify what it would allow us to deliver. At this point, it is far too early to be clear on any of these aspects based on what we have received from the Scottish Government."

Leader of West Lothian Council Lawrence Fitzpatrick said: "Once again, we find ourselves in a position of having to do the best we can to deliver vital local services against a backdrop of unbearable and unrelenting budget reductions.

"I think everyone is becoming used to being told that the public sector bodies don't have enough funding to deliver the services that they want to deliver and that local residents expect.

"Whether that be councils or health services, the funding we receive from the Scottish Government is insufficient to deliver the level of service that we want to deliver.

"We certainly hope that additional funding is given to us by the Scottish Government. However, it has been made clear to us that additional funding is not certain and we cannot base a budget and vital services for local people around uncertainty.  We need clarity before we can determine what additional funding would mean for local services.

"It is also worth emphasising that whilst funding is welcome, the amounts are relatively small in comparison to the vast amount of savings that we have to make.

"The budget pressures are enormous. We are looking at a £0.2 billion reduction in our budget with a £16.6 million cut this year alone. What is required is a significant injection of government funding over a prolonged period of time.

He added:  "Costs are increasing significantly and are outwith our control. However, the funding grant amount that we're being given is not enough to pay for all the services we currently provide. The gap between what it costs to deliver services and the funding available is significant and that's why we need to reduce some services.  "It's a legal requirement for all councils to agree a balanced budget so we need to agree service changes and reductions. It's not what we want to do, it's what we must do."

The council faces increasing costs and reduced funding for next year and they are caused by several factors:

• Inflation and increased cost of services such as fuel, energy and large increase in Non-Domestic Rate (NDR) bills which is set by the Scottish Government. This is sometimes known as Business Rates
• The Council Tax freeze in 2024/25 is not fully funded and the Scottish Government's Core funding to the council has been cut which has increased the budget gap for 2024/25
• Increased growth in older people population which increases demand for a large number of care services
• Increase in transport, roads and open space maintenance due to population increases
• Increased money spent on schools to meet growth in pupil numbers