Council Tax and Spending

The council budget

Every year the council agrees Council Tax charges and allocations of funding to council service areas for the 12 months ahead.

The council must set a balanced budget, meaning that our spending plans must be met through our expected revenue.  This has become increasingly difficult in recent years as rising demand for our services, along with growing costs of delivering these have not been matched through increases in our funding.

The money you pay in Council Tax generates around 24% of our income.

• Council Tax – 24%
• GRG incl. Business Rates – 73%
• Other Government Grants – 3%

Budget headlines

• Council Tax will be frozen at 2023/24 rates for 2024/25.
• Although the General Revenue Grant (GRG) received from the Scottish Government will increase by £22.3m, only £2.2m of this will support core funding for Council Services.  The remainder includes:

              - £10.9m for Early Leaning and Childcare, which is offset by a reduction in specific grant funding;
              - £3.4m to freeze council tax for 2024/25;
              - £6.6m for existing policy commitments;
              - £0.3m to support new policy commitments; and
              - £0.4m for free personal and nursing care and self-directed support.

(please note that the above information is based on the local government finance settlement information available at the time the budget for 2024/25 onwards was set)

• A £364m programme of capital investment in local infrastructure and new, improved or expanded schools is planned over the next five years.
• There will be a 7% increase in rent levels in 2024/25 for tenants living in council properties.  Rents in East Lothian will remain among the lowest in Scotland and support investment in new build council housing.
• A £193m programme of investment in council housing, including significant expenditure on new homes and the modernisation or extension of others is planned over the next five years
• The financial position of the council remains extremely challenging, with rising costs of delivering services not being met through increases in our income.  It has therefore been necessary to make some difficult decisions to reduce the budget for some of our services and also to draw on £1m of reserves to help set a balanced budget in 2024/25.
• The council will continue to review how we do things, ensuring we remain as efficient as possible by introducing further innovation, new ways of working and helping to reduce expenditure and/or increase income.  However, the financial challenges which the council is facing over the medium term will mean that some difficult decisions will need to be made around the services which the council is able to sustain in the future.