Falkirk Council to lose 92 jobs despite 15.6 per cent council tax rise

The increase allowed councillors to reject several high-profile cuts to education services including plans to reduce the number of private nursery places, cut teacher numbers for pupils with autism, and axe the Interrupted Learner Service that families describe as “life-saving”.

The increase means a Band D household will now pay £1576.77 – equivalent to £4.08 per week.

But the council tax rise alone will not meet the gap between income and spending which is estimated to be £33.5 million for the year ahead.

Chief finance officer Amanda Templeman told councillors that there was no way for the council “significantly reduce costs without reducing staff numbers” and it is expected that 92 full time equivalent jobs will be lost across the council.

Most of the changes are regarded as operational – meaning they won’t impact on front-line services – so councillors are not involved in the decisions, but Ms Templeman said that “does not mean they are necessarily easy” .

For more than a year now a recruitment freeze has been in place meaning only essential posts are being filled.

The budget will also need £11 million of money freed up by changes to service concession arrangements to balance the books – half of the amount used last year but still using reserves that will run out in a few short years.

The budget plans approved came from an independent councillor, who had admitted herself beforehand that she did not expect them to get much support. So why did local councillors vote for such an eye-watering increase?

Independent councillor Laura Murtagh was fully aware of how unpopular the decision would be with voters across Falkirk, saying she felt “physically sick” thinking about the choices councillors were being asked to make.

But she told the Thursday’s meeting that she could not support several cuts to education that were being proposed without any consultation.

At the start of the meeting, she and fellow Independent Councillor Brian McCabe, were alone in proposing a budget that would not reduce funding to private nurseries, potentially saving £1 million over two years.

Although their budget seemed to have little chance of success, Councillor Murtagh was adamant that she could not support proposals that had been made without any consultation, which also included closing the council’s Interrupted Learning Service and increasing class sizes for pupils with autism from six to eight.

She said: “Quite simply, it is unsupportable, wrong and I believe very strongly putting us at huge risk of legal challenge to be considering cuts in the circumstances which are presented to us today.”

The council’s chief executive, Kenneth Lawrie, admitted that there had not been engagement although he said he was confident there was enough information for members to make an informed decision.

The council’s decision to reject changes to the learning week, which would have saved £6 million, meant that other savings had to be found quickly, he told members.

But after local nursery owners addressed the meeting – telling councillors that cuts to their funding would result in private nurseries going out of business – the Labour group decided consultation was needed before a decision was made.

In a compromise with Ms Murtagh, they accepted the increase she proposed while she agreed to reject the increase in charges for brown bin collections and crematorium fees, both of which rose sharply last year.

The Labour group was also promised funding for a public transport survey in a bid to improve bus services across the district and money to improve safety around primary schools.

Part of the 15.6 per cent will also be ringfenced to be used to fund some capital projects including roads maintenance and improvements to school buildings.

This will include: £3.5m to replace the B805/50 Blairs Canal bridge; £3.3m to help fund critical ICT upgrades, including school wi-fi; £1.6m for the expansion of Carrongrange school and various flood protection projects across the district.

All of the cuts to education were rejected except the addition of a £25 charge for the council’s musical instrument tuition, although this will not apply to families on low incomes.

There will also be an increase in parking charges of 10 per cent.

Whatever the outcome of the meeting, there was always going to be a huge council tax rise – the only question was how big it would be.

To move from one of the lowest levels in Scotland – where Falkirk’s council tax had been frozen for 18 years – the Conservatives proposed an increase of 10 per cent; SNP wanted 13.7 per cent; and Labour opted for 15.2 per cent.

Labour group leader, Councillor Anne Hannah, seconded the final motion proposing the 15.6 per cent.

She said: “I think this is a first where you have the mover and seconder of a motion really being quite unhappy about it.

“We’ve tried very hard to find a way through a very difficult situation and I would describe this as the least bad option.”

She put the blame firmly on the Scottish Government’s “underfunding” over 18 years.

But the SNP administration slammed the deal.

Councillor Cecil Meiklejohn, leader of the SNP administration, said: “Burdening households with unnecessarily high council tax increases, while failing to take decisions that would ease that burden is reckless.

“Heaping pressure on family and household budgets, that are already hard-pressed, when it is unnecessary to do so is not something we support.

“Falkirk has had a low council tax for many years, which we know needs to change, but not by over 15 per cent in one fell swoop.”

The Conservatives described the result as a “political shambles”.

Councillor James Bundy said: “The SNP’s inability to even pass a budget shows they are completely unfit to govern.

“And Labour, instead of offering an alternative, have thrown their lot in with an independent budget that will hammer hardworking families with Scotland’s highest council tax increase.”