Falkirk sets Scotland’s largest council tax increase of 15.6%

Falkirk Council has set Scotland’s largest council tax increase after councillors agreed a 15.6% rise in a close vote.

Highland has agreed a 7% rise, while the last of Scotland’s 32 local authorities – East Dunbartonshire and Inverclyde – are due to set their levels later.

Falkirk and Highland’s decisions follow the announcement of some of the biggest council tax increases in around 20 years at local authorities across Scotland.

Orkney Islands Council agreed a 15% increase to council tax – which had been the largest increase in the country.

The annual bill for an average band D council tax in Falkirk rises to £1576.77.

The council’s SNP administration was defeated as Independent councillor Laura Murtagh was backed by the Labour group and other Independents.

Ms Murtagh said education services had to be saved from cuts.

Her budget rejected £1m of cuts to funded places in private nurseries, saying nurseries had not been consulted on this proposal.

She said: “I hate having to do this but it is the right thing to do.

“I do feel physically ill to the pit of my stomach where we are having to make these impossibile decisions.

“We are going to take an awful lot of abuse over this budget and that isn’t acceptable but it is the reality.”

“We have a £33m budget gap and we have a duty to bridge that gap.”

Rates across Scotland have been frozen or capped for much of the last two decades but this year authorities are turning to above-inflation rises to balance the books.

They need to pay for crucial local services from schools to social care, as well as bin collections, roads maintenance, libraries and planning departments.

Leaders gave a cautious welcome to the funding settlement from the Scottish government, calling it a “step in the right direction”.

But they later warned that they face “difficult decisions” to cover a £100m funding gap arising from the UK-wide increase in employer National Insurance.

Council chiefs in Falkirk have said a substantial tax rise was needed to help the authority to cover its costs, which include pay awards and a rise in National Insurance contributions.

Councillors have been asked to choose from a number options:

• 13.69% proposed by the council’s ruling SNP administration and would see average band D bills rise to £1,550.54 a year
• 15.2% as suggested by the Labour group
• 15.6% has been proposed by an Independent councillor under a plan that would reject cuts to early learning and childcare
• 10% is the lowest option and proposed by the Conservative group

The SNP group said its budget would deliver more than £486m of funding to services across Falkirk district.

A spokesperson said: “The rising cost of service provision, with additional pressure from decisions to increase employers’ National Insurance contributions, and the impact of taking decisions that add to the strain on finances have all contributed to informing our budget for 2025-26.”

A council tax rise of 13% in East Dunbartonshire would see residents in band D properties pay £1,415.66 a year.

The local authority also proposed savings which include cuts to school crossing patrols. The plan could affect 24 jobs and save the council £140,000.

It has also suggested reducing the number of days public buildings such as schools and libraries are cleaned from five to two.

In a public consultation on its proposed budget, the majority of the 1,295 respondents felt a 3% increase in council tax was most acceptable.

Many people also wanted to see investment put towards improving older school buildings and attainment.

Last year Inverclyde Council initially defied a national council tax freeze announced by Humza Yousaf at an SNP conference.

It backtracked after receiving an additional £2.9m worth of funding to offset a planned 8.2% rise in the charge.

This year councillors will consider rises of between 7.75% (£1,540.58 for a band D property) and 8.5% (£1,551.30), before electing a new council leader to replace Robert Moran.

He took on the role following the resignation of Stephen McCabe in December but is stepping down due to health reasons.

Highland Council said 2% of all council tax raised would be invested in schools and improving roads.

Highland has the longest road network in the UK with more than 4,200 miles (6,759km) of roads, in excess of 1,000 miles (1,609km) of footpaths and more than 2,200 bridges and culverts.

Almost 70 of its more than 200 schools have been rated to be in a poor condition and 74 rated as being of poor suitability.

Additional reporting by Local Democracy journalist Kirsty Paterson.