Falkirk Labour councillors helped deliver a council tax rise but blocked rises to brown bin and funeral costs and helped save important education services from the chop.
They also stopped the SNP and Tories’ threats to the Interrupted Learning Service and to private Early Learning Centre nurseries without consultation with
A budget day switch saw Labour councillors put aside their own budget proposal to back an amendment from Independent Laura Murtagh that included a rescue line for local nurseries. Financing that step meant lifting Labour’s council tax proposal from £1,571 (£30.21 a week and an increase of £3.99 a week) to £1,576.77 (£30.32 a week and an increase of £4.09 a week). Percentage rises are 15.2% and 15.61%.
While the SNP planned funeral and brown bin price rises as well as a council tax proposal only 50p a week less than the cuts-free proposal put forward by Independent Laura Murtagh that Labour eventually backed.
Councillor Anne Hannah is clear where blame for Falkirk Council’s financial woes lies:
On 11 February 2025 the SNP announced there would be new “efforts to explore options and build a consensus” around reforming council tax. “We want to examine ways to make Council Tax fairer,” Shona Robison said.
In their 2007 manifesto, the SNP promised to abolish Council Tax and replace it with a local income tax set at 3 per cent of earnings. The plan was dropped in 2009 with the party blaming lack of parliamentary support.
In 2011, they said Council Tax was “unfair” and committed to “consult with others to produce a fairer system based on ability to pay”.
That ultimately led to the post-indyref Smith Commission on Local Tax Reform which recommended a replacement property tax, a land value tax or a local income tax.
You will have noticed we don’t have any of those.
In 2016 Labour proposed the introduction of a land tax to replace Council Tax, but this was rubbished by other parties. In 2018 a Greens proposal to abolish Council Tax was voted down by Tories and SNP.
Since 2007 the SNP Scottish Government has frozen Council Tax or capped rises almost every year. For 18 years they have also underfunded Scottish councils. Here in Falkirk the funding received has not even kept pace with inflation.
In 2024 the UK Labour Government announced the biggest increase in funding for the Scottish Government ever – yes, the biggest increase ever - £5.2 billion.
The Scottish Government did not pass an equivalent amount on to Councils. £1.5 billion was added in financial year 2024/2025. Falkirk Council got none of it. £3.4 billion was for 2025/2026. Here in Falkirk Council, we got an extra £5.6 million. That sounds like a lot but for 2025/2026 we are £33 million short of being able to keep services running at current levels, so it does not help much.
For 2025/2026 the Scottish Government has magnanimously allowed councils to raise Council Tax – that is they have agreed not to penalise councils for fulfilling their statutory duty to set the Council Tax at a level that enables them to keep services running. John Swinney has said, however, that rises should not exceed 10 percent.
Falkirk’s SNP Administration has bravely defied John Swinney and proposed a rise of 13.74 percent. This does not balance the budget. They are also proposing cuts to services of £11 million, and increases in fees and charges of £1.5 million.
Last year Falkirk Labour Group proposed raising Council Tax by a modest 8 percent, this to include 1 percent for investment in roads, flood defences, and several other essentials.
The SNP administration, with the support of the Tories threw this out and accepted the SNP Scottish Government freeze. Our Chief Finance Officer’s report warned that if the council accepted the freeze, it would necessitate far higher Council Tax rises in the future. If the SNP and Tories had accepted our budget, we could have proposed another 9 percent for 2025/2026, including further investment in services.
Council Tax is an unfair system of raising funds, but raising it is the only effective option available to councils in Scotland if they do not want public services to go into a downward spiral.
All councils in Scotland are in a similar situation and that is why councils across Scotland are raising Council Tax by significant amounts. However, no other council has the same set of circumstances as Falkirk. We have the second biggest budget gap, we have one of the lowest levels of Council Tax, and we have some of the lowest levels of fees and charges. Add to that the need to undertake major remediation work on Maddiston Primary School, and we are in a perfect storm.
Why, people ask, is Falkirk such a basket case? The full story would take too many pages, but, as I have said, Falkirk started in 2007 with one of the lowest levels of Council Tax in Scotland and freezes and caps have prevented the Council from raising it when this was needed. The Audit Commission has blamed Falkirk councillors in the past for their inability to take difficult decisions and earlier action could have helped to avoid the cliff edge we are currently facing.
It is hard to see how Falkirk Council could have done more. Council Officers in Falkirk have delivered £100 million in savings in the past 10 years.
Whatever it was that brought us to this situation, we need to address the current challenges. It is apparent that the Scottish Government, despite record levels of funding, is not passing that on to protect public services.
Why, people ask, should they? Councils across Scotland are criticised for proposing cuts in educations, for the state of the roads, the lack of and sometimes cost of bin collections, the state of community centres and leisure centres and so on. We all love the NHS and they need the money. However, the Scottish Government has not been properly funding either the NHS or local councils.
From 2007/2008 to 2025/2026:
- The Scottish Government budget rose by 98 percent.
- The Scottish NHS budget rose by 51 percent.
- The Scottish Local Authorities Budget rose by 27 percent.
- Inflation over the period rose by 67 percent.
Where has the money gone?
I have asked this question frequently, but I am still awaiting an answer.
Falkirk Labour Group was proposing that we raise Council Tax by 15.2%. This enables us to save the Interrupted Learning Service, and the School Police Officers. It allows us to keep Cremation Fees and brown bin costs at the current level.
It also enables us to invest additional funds in schools, road maintenance, flood defences, support for young people with additional support needs, and essential building repairs.
This may seem like a big increase, but it is an increase on the average Council Tax in Falkirk of £3.53 per week. 13,500 low income households are already protected from any Council Tax rise through the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, and more may qualify after the change.
We are concerned about the impact of an increase in Council Tax for individuals who are above the level to receive help. The cost of living has spiralled over recent years, and many households are struggling. Council tax, because of the freezes, has not gone up as other things have, while the cost of delivering services has rocketed.
The average Council Tax in the Falkirk Council area rose between 2007/2008 and 2024/2025 by a total of £6.35 per week. By comparison, in Falkirk the average council house rent (councils have been allowed to raise them to keep the housing budget balanced) has risen by £31.74 per week in total.
The Council has already consulted council house tenants and has agreed a 9.5 percent increase in council house rents for 2025/2026. With this increase for council house rents, and: if the Council accepts our proposal of 15.2 per cent Council Tax rise, since 2007/2008:
- Falkirk council house tenants will have had a rent increase of £39.21 per week.
- Falkirk Council Tax Payers will have had a Council Tax raise of £9.63 per week.
We want to make sure anyone who has difficulty paying this increase gets advice on help available. We would encourage them to call 01324 506070.