Tag: budget
Cost of council gardening services rises by 70%
The "lifeline" grasscutting and hedge trimming service for older households and people with disabilities is set to rise by 70 per cent.
A councillor warned the significant rise in ‘Garden Aid’ charges will hit the...
Survey to ask Edinburgh residents their views on council spending
Edinburgh residents to be asked what services could be reduced or scrapped, in the face of a projected £150 million deficit.
Engagement with the public on local authority spending is set to kick off next...
Midlothian: ‘Grown up council’ passes council tax freeze and rent rise
Council tax bills and the cost of school meals frozen for the coming year as rent for local authority tenants rises by just under five per cent.
Councillors had worked behind the scenes to agree...
Midlothian: council tax freeze put forward as £5m budget gap tackled
Councillors set to agree council tax freeze and cutbacks proposed to the spend on the school estate
Midlothian councillors will be asked to approve a council tax freeze for the coming year with a 5...
West Lothian budget agreed
Council tax freeze accepted, service costs rise and new changes introduced for bins
Almost £2 million of additional savings have been agreed in West Lothian Council’s budget for the next year.
Garden waste charges of £50...
East Lothian: council tax freeze will mean 10% rise next year
Plans also approved at the budget meeting include a £5million refurbishment of Tranent's Loch Centre and a doubling of council tax on second homes
Residents in East Lothian will face a 10 per cent rise in council...
West Lothian budget: £50 garden waste charge planned
A garden waste collection charge proposed by West Lothian Council, although it may soon be scrapped if the Scottish Government makes it a statutory service
West Lothian Council is expected to introduce a charge on...
Council tax freeze to stick in East Lothian
Second home owners in East Lothian will see council tax bills double while the annual fee is frozen for residents, under plans to go before councillors tomorrow.
The council’s ruling Labour administration will set out...
Independent councillor calls for social care funding boost
Cllr Ross McKenzie urges Edinburgh Council to "call Humza Yousaf's bluff" and increase council tax to close the funding gap.
Edinburgh’s only independent councillor has called on parties to boost funding for health and social...
SNP budget to include free Friday afterschool clubs
Ahead of next week's council budget meeting, the SNP group set out their plans including safer pavements and free after school clubs for primary school children on Friday afternoons.
The SNP proposals include an extra...
Tory budget plans: more spend on roads and reform of homelessness services
Ahead of next week's budget meeting, the Conservative group unveiled their proposals, including a 'huge' review of how effectively Edinburgh Council spends money on homelessness services, more funding for roads and school IT equipment...
Police warn less ‘low level’ crime will be investigated without more funding
Police will be forced to attend fewer calls on 'low level' crimes such as vandalism, road traffic offences and damage to cars if funding is not increased, City Councillors have been told
Chief Superintendent Sean...
West Lothian: Unions hit out at school cuts
Teaching unions have warned that changes to budgeting rules designed to “empower” head teachers will in fact force them to make severe cuts to their schools
The EIS has accused councillors of “passing the buck” for...
Protestors gather to save Howden Park as councillors meet to discuss closures
Around 100 campaigners gathered outside the Civic Centre in Livingston calling for threatened West Lothian leisure facilities to be saved.
Money to save an under threat venue described as ‘the beating heart’ of the local community,...
West Lothian – Labour calls for reset of local government
West Lothian Council’s Labour group has called for a “reset” of the relationship between Holyrood and all 32 Scottish local councils as they highlight most of the local authority budget is ring-fenced.
Following weeks of...
Ex-council leader says SNP will contest budget decisions
Edinburgh’s former council leader has said SNP councillors will seek to reverse a “whole host” of spending and saving decisions if the administration tables plans to overturn parts of the budget agreed last month.
Cllr Adam McVey said...
Greens set out budget plans ahead of meeting on Thursday
The Green group on the council published their budget plans earlier in the week for the council meeting on Thursday when all political groups set out their budget proposals for the coming year.
Their...
Letter from Scotland
He has a reputation as “The Fixer”. And this week Derek Mackay delivered a “historic” budget, the first to give Scotland a distinct income tax system, the long-promised “tartan tax.” And this while the...
Council budget day – administration proposes 3% council tax rise
The council administration is led by a coalition of SNP and Labour councillors.
They have proposed a budget for the next year which includes measures such as increasing council tax by 3%, increasing car parking charges and...
Edinburgh councillor blogs – Councillor Scott Arthur
On 22 February 2018, The City of Edinburgh Council will
set its budget.
Local Government budgets have always been an example of the “economic problem” – meeting infinite demand with limited resources.
The problem we face now in Edinburgh...
Letter from Scotland
The Christmas merry-go-rounds in Edinburgh this year include “The Drop”, an 80m high tower on George Street. Mad merry-makers are spun up to the top of the tower and then “dropped” to the ground...
Letter from Scotland
“In this world, nothing can be certain except death and taxes.” The words of Benjamin Franklin have been ringing in my head this week when we had the Chancellor announcing his Budget and an...
Letter from Scotland
So many things have fallen apart this year. …Syria, the Islamic State, the UN, the USA, the EU, the economy, the climate, the earthquake zones of Italy, Japan, Indonesia, New Zealand, the world of...
Budget day at Holyrood will be 15 December
The Finance Secretary Derek Mackay MSP has told Holyrood that the Draft Budget 2017-18 will be introduced on 15 December 2016.
This is still subject to parliamentary approval, and it will follow the UK Chancellor's Autumn...
Letter from Scotland
I’m told that Scotland’s rabbit population is in sharp decline due to a devastating new virus. The James Hutton Institute reckons we are down to our last million. But on Wednesday the Chancellor George...
Letter from Scotland
’Tis the season of coloured lights and cheerful dispositions. The homes around me are decorated with flashing Santa Clauses, reindeer, Christmas trees, Yule wreaths and many other glittering distractions. It’s all in defiance of...
Community Opposition to Council Austerity Budget
Edinburgh residents want to persuade the Council that this year's budget will have a bad effect on services and job. There will be a lobby of the Council outside the City Chambers from 8.30...
Council’s Finance convener explains how they will make savings
While others are thinking of buying presents and Christmas pudding the council's Finance Convener Cllr Alasdair Rankin is still concentrating on the money that the council has to spend. Here he outlines for The...
Time to quiz the council – at 7pm tonight!
Later today you will have the chance to quiz the council about how they are going to spend the money we all pay to them in council tax. (At least that is where some of...
How is our city’s economy performing? Councillor Ross has the answers
Ahead of the City Chambers live Question Time event, the Economy Convener, Councillor Frank Ross writes to explain the budget challenges for the city's Economic Development department for which he is responsible.
Councillor Ross is...