EAST Dunbartonshire Council has responded to the biggest funding shortfall in its history by setting a budget that includes a 5% council tax increase.

The council needed to find £20.6 million to meet its current expenditure and the five per cent tax increase, which was agreed unanimously by councillors, will raise £1.37m, while Band D homeowners will have to pay an extra £67.41 per year.

Council leader Gordan Low said: “No-one likes any increase in council tax, but 5%, which is significantly below the current rate of inflation, brings in much-needed additional income.

"And we have mitigated the impact on the hardest-pressed in our communities by putting a further £1.5m into ongoing cost-of-living support measures – that is on top of the £2.1m already committed this financial year.

“Our approach to council tax and the cost-of-living support has been directly informed by the responses we received to our Have YOUR Say consultation exercise. And community engagement and participation is absolutely at the heart of the decisions we are making.”

The measures included in the cost-of-living package include pensioner support, the homelessness hardship fund, community grants, free leisure services for young people, household support payments and an extension of the doubled school clothing grant.

The rest of the funding gap will be drawn from reserves and increasing efficiency in the council’s services.

Councillor Low added: “Our budget decisions were informed by our consultation. We asked for views on council tax increases and feedback on our cost-of-living package and our budget decisions are based on the feedback we received.

“We will continue to engage with our communities as we transform council services, ensuring they are as efficient and effective as possible and that we are addressing our cost-of-living and climate emergency challenges in the process.”

The capital programme was also agreed with a corporate asset plan and climate action plan to be finalised later in the year.

Capital projects featured in the plan include a £3m recycling centre, a £1m extension to Cadder Cemetery in Bishopbriggs, and a further £1m to improve roads and footpaths. Feasibility studies on replacing four primary schools will also be carried out.

Councillor Low added: “We are a council that listens, and have agreed to ensure that the feasibility study we have committed to for a new-build Westerton Primary School at the Westerton Hall and Library site, will also include the option to decant, demolish and rebuild on the current site. These two options will be shared with the school and wider Westerton community through our established processes.”

Councillor Low concluded: “We have agreed a revenue budget that sees no reduction in services as we take a transformative approach to services in the coming years to achieve sustainable savings – and importantly continues to support our communities with our cost-of-living support measures.

“We have also agreed a capital programme that takes a longer-term view of investment to deliver our climate and carbon neutral ambitions and I look forward to working with our communities to bring about a progressive and sustainable change to the way we deliver our council services.”

Council tenants will see rents increased by 4.2%, making the average weekly amount £83.76.

Councillor Low said: “We were seeking to strike a balance between keeping rents affordable and continuing to invest in both our existing properties and new council housing.

"Our agreed 4.2% rise is below the average increase of our benchmarked peer group, which is sitting at over 4.7%. And of course, we are mitigating the impact of price increases on our most vulnerable through the cost-of-living support package – agreed in our council revenue budget – and maintaining our established tenant hardship funds.”

The agreed housing capital budget for 2023/24 is £20.98m, which includes £7.4m to improve energy efficiency in council houses, £6.68m on new housing, £3.34m on purchasing properties from developers, and £3.1m to buy homes on the open market.

Councillor Low added: “Our capital programme – both for the year ahead and the five years to March 2028 – demonstrates our commitment to continually improving our current housing stock. Investing in meeting both quality and energy efficiency standards across our properties ensures we also deliver our climate commitments. It also sees significant investment to expand our housing stock through both new builds and targeted purchases.”

During debate on the budget, Conservative group leader Billy Hendry said that the Scottish Government was not passing on the money it received from Westminster. He added that the £20m in cuts would result in reduced services across East Dunbartonshire.

He accused the administration of “smoke and mirrors” as charges would increase and complained that the council was not setting a good example of good carbon efficiency as its headquarters remained fully heated despite having just a few staff. He added that the Labour group was “propping up” the SNP administration.