Fife Council budget: the key issues, and where cuts and savings might be made

Fife Council Leader David Ross (Labour) called it a “very difficult year” with “significant gaps” between the cost of continuing services and the funding that’s available.

His warning came as councillors prepared for a crunch budget debate later this month.

Cllr Ross, leader of the minority administration at Fife House, said: “The only two ways of closing that gap is by making savings and cuts to services or by an increase in the council tax and we’re looking at a balance between both.”

The budget gap is currently sitting around £11.6 million, but there are a number of other pressures facing the council’s finances including National Insurance contribution increases and major overspends in health and social care – part of which the local authority will have to cover.

The Capital Programme is another issue.

SNP group leader Craig Walker described the programme as “significantly oversubscribed” because of long term inflation and high interest rates.

As a result, Cllr Ross explained that the programme is looking to be reduced by about 20% (£200 million) over the next ten years.

Councillors are required to balance their budget each year, but each of Fife’s four political groups has their own ideas about how to make it happen.

The key issues are:

> Council Tax

Group leaders from all four parties acknowledged that it is going to have to increase – it’s just a matter of how much.

Labour is looking at a 10% rise which would increase the tax for Band D properties by about £138 per year. It is “trying to get that figure down” but Cllr Ross emphasised that a 10% tax hike is “not unusual” across Scotland this year.

The SNP group believes that is “unacceptable”. Cllr Walker said his group's proposals will “try to bring that figure down quite a bit” if it can – somewhere in the region of 7.5% instead.

He said: “It’s a challenge in the current climate, but our preference is to try to protect the pockets of people in Fife when it comes to the council tax given we’re still very much in a cost of living crisis.”

Lib-Dem group leader James Calder didn’t rule out a 10% increase, but hoped to get it down to maybe 8%.

“I think 10% is going to hit people’s pay too much this year,” he said. “I understand that there probably needs to be a higher than usual increase in council tax but I hope that in Fife we can keep it to a reasonable level.”

Conservative leader Kathleen Leslie said they had to be “realistic”.

“Our budget has to be balanced and if we want to ensure we're getting services people want and need in Fife it has to come from somewhere,” she said.

Council tenants are also almost certain to see some sort of increase on council rent charges and service fees.

The local authority consulted them rent rises of 5%, 6%, or 7%and Cllr Ross said it’s “unlikely” that the region can balance its Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and continue to improve and maintain existing houses for tenants on a 5% increase.

The four group leaders are all still uncertain about their final proposals, but a 6-6.5% rent increase seems most likely.

> Education

The administration recognises the need to invest in schools and education, but Cllr Ross said he is trying to “find some savings in education”.

“Education is 45% of the budget. If you don’t find some savings there then it all falls on the other services as kind of a double hit," he said.

It is actively looking at the “whole management structure” for education and looking at changes in early years and childcare settings.

“The number of kids coming in is falling so you don’t necessarily need as many staff or the same number of classes for early years and childcare,” Cllr Ross said.

As a result, he is looking at possibly removing some of the vacant posts in these settings.

However, the administration remains “committed” to keeping teacher numbers the same as 2023 – which is a Scottish Government mandate. It has also rejected education proposals to “quite dramatically” cut the number of pupil support officers in schools.

Cllr Ross also intends to go ahead with digital learning transformation investment plans, which would give 1:1 digital devices to all P6-S6 learners in Fife.

Funding for that is also a cornerstone ambition for Cllr Leslie’s Conservative group which will not support any cuts to teacher or pupil support assistant numbers.

“The reality is that if you don’t get education right, you don’t get anything right,” she said. When it comes to education, any cuts or savings I’d really want to see that evidence to see what would be the real term impact of that.”

Cllr Walker was also committed to maintaining school staffing numbers, but his group is less supportive of the digital transformation strategy.

“I recognise the benefits, but there is a large question mark around affordability in the current climate,” he said. “It may be when it’s all said and done that you’ll see a different proposal from us than the one Cllr Ross and Cllr Leslie are putting forward.”

> Roads

Another key area for debate with Labour, Conservatives and Lib-Dems fighting for additional investment for potholes and maintenance works.

All four groups are still trying to get to the bottom of their final figures, but Labour is currently looking at a £3 million top up for improvements. Conservatives are likely to fight for slightly more (£3.5 million). Lib-Dems likewise hope to see a “few million pounds” in additional investment for Fife’s roads.

The SNP group recognised that the roads need investment, but Cllr Walker he said he “can’t and commit to doing things in all the areas that we’d like to do at this stage”.

He added: “Hopefully people will accept that keeping council tax low is a good thing for them, and because the SNP group is prioritising that there might have to be less investment in other areas.”

> The optics

With only 19 councillors, the minority administration will be relying on support from other political groups to pass its budget proposals. Previously, Lib-Dem and Conservatives have supported Labour's plans with the SNP group opting to put forward their own ideas.

Cllr Calder has made it clear that the Lib-Dems are "keen to work with Labour" but their "support is conditional.

“We need to see details of what the administration is going to come out with before we can agree to support it or not. If they don’t, we can always put up our own proposals at that point," he said.

Meanwhile, Cllr Walker said it’s unlikely that the SNP group will be able to agree on a budget with Labour.

Cllr Walker will either put forward an SNP alternative or make specific amendments to the Labour budget in a couple weeks.

Regardless of which way they go, SNP or Labour would need to gain support from other parties to pass any proposals.

Fife Council is due to set a balanced budget on February 20at 10:00am. The agenda should be published about a week in advance for public viewing.