Members of East Lothian Council will meet next week (Tuesday 18 February) at a special meeting to consider the authority’s budget for 2025/26.
The budget, which has been developed with cross-party input, proposes a 10 per cent council tax increase. This follows a freeze in the current financial year. After consultation with council tenants, a 6.5 per cent rent increase is proposed – an average of £5.25 per week.
The budget has been developed in the context of significant ongoing demand and cost pressures arising from East Lothian’s growing population, alongside wider economic challenges facing the whole of the public sector.
The budget and housing revenue account proposals also include:
- a commitment to invest over £211million in infrastructure over the next five years including education estate
- an increase of £7.5m to the Integrated Joint Board (IJB), which is responsible for the planning and delivery of adult health and social care services
- an additional £1m for council home modernisation
- increase in roads and property renewal budgets of £1m each
- planned savings of £8.9 million over the next five years with a commitment to identify further measures to close the budget gap over the medium term.
East Lothian Council is one of Scotland’s fastest growing council areas in Scotland. However, analysis from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) of the provisional 2025-26 local government finance settlement shows that East Lothian receives the third-lowest funding settlement in Scotland per head of population at 81.4 per cent of the Scottish average. The county’s Government funding for 25/26 has risen by around 5 per cent, however, much of this is to meet national policy commitments and will not cover ongoing cost pressures including the rise in employer national contributions which are not fully-funded. While the 25/26 proposals will allow the council to meet its obligations to deliver a balanced budget, a five-year funding gap of £79.718m remains for the authority and IJB to 2029/30 although councillors will hear that potential mitigations exist to reduce this to £45.911m during the same period.
Cross-party budget proposals
The cross-party budget proposals that elected members will consider are available to read online. They highlight that a changing demographic, growing demand for statutory services and increasing national policy expectations means the gap between available funding and expenditure requirements continues to grow, set alongside other pressures facing the whole of the public sector.
East Lothian Council Leader Councillor Norman Hampshire said: “Our financial situation means it has been necessary to set a council tax increase of 10 per cent. East Lothian’s growth continues to put pressure on all parts of the council. It is vital that we can sustain essential services to protect our most vulnerable residents and invest in education to give all children the best start in life. Even in this most difficult of financial circumstances, we have worked hard to deliver a cross-party budget which is what the people of East Lothian would expect of their elected representatives.”
Leader of the Opposition Councillor Lyn Jardine said: “With the ongoing financial challenges the council is facing, we must continue to focus on directing our resources where they are most needed. East Lothian is quite a diverse county, with affluent communities alongside those most at risk of adverse effects from the cost of living crisis. It’s essential we do everything we can to tackle poverty and inequality. We are committed to working in a collaborative way across parties, with our communities and groups and to have difficult conversations and develop a shared purpose and vision in all that we do.”
The impact of the proposed council tax increase is as follows:
Band A - £1.84 weekly increase, £7.98 monthly increase
Band B - £2.15 weekly increase, £9.31 monthly increase
Band C - £2.45 weekly increase, £10.63 monthly increase
Band D - £2.76 weekly increase, £11.96 monthly increase
Band E - £3.63 weekly increase, £15.72 monthly increase
Band F - £4.49 weekly increase, £19.44 monthly increase
Band G - £5.41 weekly increase, £23.43 monthly increase
Band H - £6.76 weekly increase, £29.31 monthly increase