Our budget insights

East Lothian Council has an annual budget of £330.975m to provide public services in our area. A growing population driven by nationally-set housing targets, rising demand for services and increased costs are causing significant challenges at the same time as our Government grant is falling in real terms. We need to save £56m between 24/25 and 28/29 to balance our budgets.

The information on this page will give you further details on the key challenges and what we are doing to deliver our services to residents and communities in a more efficient way.

Council tax and the services you receive

Council tax only accounts for 25% of the income that we receive. The vast majority of our funding comes from a Scottish Government grant. New housing does mean there are more people paying council tax, but it also means there is higher demand for our services which isn't covered by this income. It's why we need to look at the services we deliver, and how best to provide them in ways that are more efficient and sustainable while also meeting our statutory obligations. See a breakdown of where our funding comes from and how it is spent.

Find out more about changes to your bill for 24/25, including the council tax freeze and the impact of increased water charges.

Providing for a growing population

East Lothian is Scotland's second fastest growing area. Yet we receive the third lowest Government grant per head of population. All local authorities have nationally-set growth targets that they have to meet but the impacts of growth on areas is not fully funded and it is not covered by council tax receipts. With costs rising across the board, inflation and increased demand for services, it means our budgets are falling in real terms. Learn more about how our population is growing and changing and the impact this has.

Allocating council budgets

Councils must fund and deliver certain nationally agreed policies; this is called directed spend. Directed spend accounts for 75% of our total budget to cover our responsibilities in education, children's services, health and social care. This leaves only 25% to deliver local services and priorities, some of which are statutory responsibilties. Roads, waste, libraries, arts and maintenance of parks and open spaces are all examples of services that must be funded from this remaining quarter.

Increasing revenue through external grants, recycling income or introducing charges for non-statutory services while working in more efficient ways means we can address our budget challenges and safeguard essential services for the people who need them. Find out how we're doing things differently.

Different ways to fund local improvements

We regularly apply for external grants to fund projects which enhance communities and make East Lothian the best place to live and work. This includes cycle paths and active travel improvements, planting schemes, funding for library resources or an increased charging network for electric vehicles. External grants help progress local projects but come with stringent criteria that means they can only be used for the purposes they were given. Using external funding means we can take projects forward that we may not otherwise be able to deliver.

Funding for growing communities

Developers contribute the capital funding needed to build new schools, roads and facilities for our growing population but not to the ongoing revenue costs to run, equip and maintain them. Capital investments such as new schools are examples: while an extension or new building may be part- or fully-funded, responsibility for staffing, equipment, IT and energy costs (known as revenue costs) falls to the council. Inflation means they are rising without the additional funding needed to cover them.