Falkirk Council Budget Engagement 2026/27

The Financial Strategy demonstrates that the Council needs to save money. This can only be done by changing, reducing or removing services. Councillors approve or decline potential savings proposals, based on research and information provided by council officers.

Some information to explain how the Budget works and why the Council has to make savings is included here.

The funding gap (the difference between expected income and expected expenditure) is anticipated to be around £25.25m before any new Council Tax is included. If the Council were only to balance this through Council Tax, a 27.8% increase would be needed. The Council knows that this isn’t feasible or the right thing to do but it illustrates the scale of the problem. This is why the Council has to look at reducing its costs as much as possible.

As part of the 2025/26 budget, Councillors did not approve a number of savings. They felt there was further consultation required so that the impact of some of the proposed savings was fully understood. The views of our communities and the impact of service changes is taken seriously by the Council.

It is important that our communities understand that just because a change may have a negative impact, that doesn’t mean that Councillors have to reject it. Councillors may consider that on balance, the option has the least negative impact compared to other options. Councillors have to be aware that there may be negative impacts, and understand what efforts are being made to reduce those impacts.

Fundamentally, these decisions are being driven by the challenging financial position that the Council is in – we have to save money.

What are our proposals?

We are still working on proposals – officers are constantly trying to find ideas for saving money. The Financial Strategy includes the proposals that may come to Councillors for approval. There may be more as we get closer to the March 2026 budget day.

So far the following options have been identified:

Alongside these savings, there is a further £7 million that has been identified by officers. However, as these savings are not expected to have an impact on front line service delivery, they are not subject to Councillor approval.

Most of these proposals are part of a wider review of service provision and so the consultation exercise will be undertaken separately. The outcomes of this consultation, including the impact assessment, will be reported to Council when a decision has to be taken. 

Your views are important in shaping how we go forward.

If you have any questions regarding the engagement please get in touch by emailing budget@falkirk.gov.uk.