2021/22 COUNCIL TAX & SPENDING If you or a member of your household has been affected by Coronavirus and need help or advice, please visit www.eastlothian.gov.uk/coronavirus BUDGET HEADLINES COUNCIL TAX WATER CHARGES BUSINESS RATES BENEFITS & REDUCTIONS SCOTTISH WELFARE FUND REGISTER TO VOTE 1 Contents About your council 3 The council budget 4 How the budget is spent 5 Our challenges 6 Doing things differently 7 Council Tax 8-9 Water and waste water service charges 10-12 Business Rates 13 Council Tax Reduction 14 Help with your housing costs 14 Scottish Welfare Fund 15 For more information about the East Lothian Council council visit www.eastlothian.gov.uk John Muir House, Brewery Park or call 01620 827827 Haddington, East Lothian EH41 3HA 2 About your council East Lothian Council provides the county’s 104,000 residents with a wide range of services including education, adult and children’s wellbeing, planning, economic development, roads, housing, transportation, environmental health, refuse collection, street cleaning, recycling, food safety, trading standards, community development, sports, recreation, parks and countryside, libraries, museums, registration of births, deaths and marriages and burial grounds. Around 4,842 (3750 full-time equivalent) people work for the council. There are 22 elected councillors: 9 Scottish Labour 7 Scottish Conservative 6 Scottish National Party Key strategic and policy decisions are taken by a cabinet of six Scottish Labour Councillors chaired by the Council Leader. The East Lothian Council Plan GROWING OUR PEOPLE 2017-22 sets out our vision to To give our children the best start create an even more prosperous, safe in life and protect vulnerable and and sustainable East Lothian with a older people dynamic and thriving economy that allows our people to flourish. GROWING OUR COMMUNITIES It has an over-arching priority; To give people a real say in the decisions that matter most and ‘To reduce inequalities across and provide communities with the within our communities’, and four housing, transport links, community key objectives: facilities and environment that will allow them to flourish GROWING OUR ECONOMY GROWING OUR CAPACITY To increase sustainable and inclusive To deliver excellent services as economic growth as the basis for effectively and efficiently as possible a more prosperous East Lothian within our limited resources 3 The council budget Every year the council agrees Council Tax charges and allocations of funding to council service areas for the 12 months ahead. The money you pay in Council Tax generates around 25% of our income. Council Tax 25% RSG inc Business Rates 67% Budget Other Government Grants 8% headlines The Revenue Support Grant (RSG) received from the Scottish Government will increase by £4.576m, this includes funding of £3.346m to deliver new contractual and policy obligations of which £1.948m is to support a Council Tax freeze. Council Tax will be frozen in 2021/22. £2.5m further investment has been earmarked for Education and Children’s Services. £1.3 million of additional ring fenced funding from the Scottish Government will support the continued expansion of early learning and childcare to 1140 hours. £600,000 will support a Business Recovery Investment Fund in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to deliver sustainable development and to develop and enhance skills. Investment in new, improved or expanded local schools and infrastructure with a £367m programme of capital investment over five years There will be no increase in rent levels for tenants living in council properties. Rents in East Lothian will remain among the lowest in Scotland and support investment in new build council housing A £185m investment over five years in council housing, including significant expenditure on new homes and the modernisation or extension of others. The council will draw on £250,000 of reserves to help set a balanced budget in 2021/22. The council will continue to review how we do things, ensuring we remain as efficient as possible by introducing further innovation, new ways of working and helping to reduce expenditure and/or increase income. 4 How the budget is spent East Lothian Council has a total budget of £268.283m for public services during 2021/22. This is allocated as shown below: Education & Children’s Services 52% Council Resources 5% Adult Wellbeing 21% Communities & Partnerships 5% Infrastructure 11% Planning & Development 2% Corporate Commitments 4% CHANGE CHANGE FROM FROM TOTAL NET PREVIOUS PREVIOUS EXPENDITURE YEAR YEAR SERVICE £m £m % Education & Children’s Services 140.679 7.645 5.7 Council Resources 12.058 0.707 6.2 Adult Wellbeing 55.695 1.148 2.1 Communities & Partnerships 13.159 0.361 2.8 Infrastructure 30.194 2.089 7.4 Planning & Development 4.838 0.769 18.9 Corporate Commitments (note 1) 11.660 -7.094 -37.8 TOTAL 268.283 5.625 2.1 (note 1 – the decrease in corporate commitments reflects reduced loans fund costs as a result of flexibility approved by the Scottish Government to offset pressures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.) 5 Our challenges East Lothian Council is facing challenges. Rising demand for, and cost of, services and reductions in overall central government funding means doing more with less. Cuts in funding and pressures to increase spending mean that the council has to achieve £9.230m in planned efficiencies in order to balance the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24 budgets. East Lothian has one of the fastest rates of growth in population in Scotland from 104,000 to over 120,000 by 2037 – about 1,000 a year. The number of people aged 75 year or over will double, as will the number of people with dementia, meaning a big rise in care services for elderly people with dementia. The number of children 0-15 years old will grow by over 15%, so we need one new secondary, at least two new primary schools and extensions to many of our schools. 6 Doing things differently To respond to this challenge, we need to make changes in how we plan and deliver services in East Lothian; doing things more effectively and more efficiently. The 2017 Residents Survey found that between 84% and 97% of respondents agreed that the council should pursue the following options: Focus resources on areas of East Lothian where the need is greatest Reduce and manage the growing demand for some services Focus on prevention and early intervention – taking action as soon as possible to tackle social problems before they become more difficult to turn around Deliver services in new ways, perhaps with more community involvement Identify those services which we should stop providing The 2017-2022 Council Plan, setting out our ambitions for the next five years, states that the council will increasingly become: An enabling and empowering authority that works with its citizens and communities, the business and third sectors and other public sector partners to deliver the solutions that work best for East Lothian. For example, social enterprises to deliver care services. A more entrepreneurial authority, developing new ways of ensuring services are provided in the most effective and efficient way possible; generating more income from charges for existing services and developing new services that can make a ‘profit’ for the council. For example, an energy company to generate income from solar power and other renewable sources. A digital authority, fully embracing and exploiting opportunities to use technology to deliver services. For example, enabling people to report, request and pay for services online. 7 Council Tax Council Tax is applied across a range of bands from A to H, with all bands having a relationship with Band D. It was agreed at a meeting of East Lothian Council on Tuesday 2 March 2021 to freeze Council Tax levels for the financial year 2021/22. The Band D level of Council Tax remains at £1,302.62 for the year. For information, the Scottish average Band D charge for last year, 2020/21, was £1,308. Your Council Tax bill includes charges for your water supply and waste water collection services from Scottish Water. Although we collect these charges on behalf of Scottish Water, we are not responsible for setting them. Your annual Council Tax bill for 2021/22 may increase as Scottish Water has increased its charges. The table below shows the total amount to pay in 2021/22: BAND VALUATION MULTIPLIER COUNCIL WATER WASTE TOTAL RANGE TAX CHARGE WATER CHARGE CHARGE A Up to 240/360 £868.41 £141,66 £164.46 £1,174.53 £27,000 B £27,000 to 280/360 £1,013.14 £165.27 £191.87 £1,370.28 £35,000 C £35,000 to 320/360 £1,157.87 £188.88 £219.28 £1,566.03 £45,000 D £45,000 to 360/360 £1,302.62 £212.49 £246.69 £1,761.80 £58,000 E £58,000 to 473/360 £1,711.49 £259.71 £301.51 £2,272.71 £80,000 F £80,000 to 585/360 £2,116.75 £306.93 £356.33 £2,780.01 £106,000 G £106,000 to 705/360 £2,550.95 £354.15 £411.15 £3,316.25 £212,000 H Over 882/360 £3,191.40 £424.98 £493.38 £4,109.76 £212,000 8 General information What is Council Tax? Council Tax is a tax on property and not a direct payment for council services. How is my Council Tax calculated? The Council Tax you pay is based on the market value of your property as at 1st April 1991. The valuation of a domestic property in East Lothian is decided by the Assessor for the Lothian Valuation Joint Board.