Fife budget: Roads, education, housing, health and social care and more will all be impacted

Fife Council voted on Thursday to increase council tax by 8.2 per cent for residents, but the Labour Administration’s approved budget will impact more than just council tax.

According to Council Leader David Ross, the budget was “one of the most challenging” Fife has faced in years.

From April 1, council tax bills will increase by 8.2 per cent and rent prices for council tenants will increase by six per cent.

The same six per cent increase will also be applied to service charges, garages, lockups, and temporary accommodation. The increase will mean Fife Council’s average weekly rent will be £91.72 – adding £5.19 a week to the average rent cost.

“We know asking people to pay more on council tax is going to have an impact for families, but cutting back on vital local services is going to have more of an impact – particularly on the most vulnerable,” Cllr Ross said.

Councillor Judy Hamilton, spokesperson for Housing, added: “Good quality housing is absolutely fundamental—never more so than during a housing emergency. People deserve warm, safe homes that are affordable, especially those on the lowest incomes. We have a duty to ensure no one is left behind, and that every tenant in Fife can live with dignity and security.”

Despite the burdens placed on families in Fife, the Labour group believes that the extra money will provide “much needed investment” in other services – like health and social care, roads, and more.

The budget specifically provides an additional £10 million investment for the Fife Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) in the coming year.

Part of that investment has come from Fife Council’s 2.3 per cent uplift from the Scottish Government – an uplift councillors have agreed to pass along to the HSCP. The other £5.5 million is to help top up funds for the struggling Partnership.

“Fife’s health and social care partnership is facing huge financial challenges and urgent investment is needed alongside our partners NHS Fife. We have to make sure that those in most need have the right care and support,” Cllr Ross said.

Fife Council has also agreed to provide an additional £3.5 million investment to maintain Fife’s road system this year.

“There’s only one road system and only the council can fix and get it right,” Conservative Councillor Dave Dempsey (Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay) said.

According to Cllr Dempsey, Fife’s current base budget for roads is “not enough to keep them in the present condition let alone improve them”.

“We have in front of us two proposals,” he said.

“One [from the Labour group] which puts £3.5 million into the roads and puts the budget above what’s required to maintain the system and allows the possibility of improvements. And another [from the SNP group] which doesn’t put that money into roads and leaves the budget below what’s required to keep them where they are and means they will deteriorate.”

Conservative Councillor Darren Watt (Cowdenbeath) admitted that the budget proposals are “complex and mind-numbing”, but emphasised that the people of Fife deserve and expect “good, local public services”.

“People want the potholes filled, the street lights lit, the drains unblocked, the bins emptied, their streets cleaned, their children educated, and the parks and green spaces modernised and maintained, but without a decent [council tax increase], we will see cuts – and I’m not talking about the grass,” he said.

“We will see poorer services, disheartened residents, and neglected neighbourhoods. The labour budget is prudent and demonstrates a desire to maintain public services against a backdrop of turmoil and uncertainty.”

Cllr Ross agreed that the 8.2% council tax increase will help pay for these investments across the Kingdom and bridge the £5 million shortfall.

“There’s no doubt that we are continuing to operate in a time of real financial uncertainty but we believe the budget we’ve set today strikes the best balance between making budget savings and increasing council tax to sustain and improve services over the next three years,” he said.

The Labour proposals went head to head with SNP proposals for a 6.4 council tax increase. Conservative and Lib-Dem councillors unanimously supported the Labour budget for a 40-31 majority.