Highland Council set for 7% council tax hike in £818m draft budget and £21.5m investment in teachers, social care, public transport and renewables
Highland Council has tabled a seven per cent council tax hike to go alongside £21.5 million of new investments in teachers, social care and local transport.
The £818 million annual budget will be decided at a full meeting of the council next Thursday - when it is expected to be contested by opposition groups.
The budget is one of the clearest for years, which is important as it sets the parameters the local authority will operate within for the coming 12 months.
The headline announcement is the council tax rise that will come as a blow for many householders arriving alongside rises in inflation and the energy price cap.
Among the other significant investments will be £21.5 million of investment directed at teaching, social care, local transport and a new Poverty and Equality Commission.
They include creating at least 100 new jobs, to “significantly expand” the in-house bus service, more support for teachers and increased social care funding.
Council leader Raymond Bremner and convener Bill Lobban are aware of affordability issues of the council tax rise but say locals will at least know where the money is going.
That is because the basic five per cent increase will directly support council services as the “final and balancing aspect” of the budget - in other words to break even.
The two per cent on top of that provides cash for borrowing for the Highland Investment Programme to fund schools, housing and infrastructure.
But in the context of Scottish local authorities it is quite low compared to the 10 per cent (Moray) to 15 per cent (Orkney) rises seen elsewhere.
The 2025/26 adult social care budget will get £6 million more than last year bringing it to £148 million - an injection of cash in what may well be the most under-pressure sector outside of the NHS in the region.
Among the other significant investments will be £21.5 million of investment directed at teaching, social care, local transport and a new Poverty and Equality Commission.
A major investment in community transport with £6 million for the council’s in-house service to “significantly expand bus company operations” after the D&E buyout.
A further £8 million will go on shared investment in renewable energy as “there are potential investment opportunities” to “generate an ongoing positive revenue”.
Additional Support Needs work with pupils will be boosted with an additional £1.04 million from internal and Scottish Government funding to back better management.
It will also create a “new area management structure across eight associated school groups” and more investment in specific “enhanced support for learning”.
In what will be welcome news for many across the north, the first step away from centralisation will be £500,000 for the creation of the “Future Operating Model of the Council”.
The budget stated: “We will further support the devolution of autonomy and resource to local communities, create more integrated local services and set conditions for the Highland Investment Plan.”
The ecology strategy will get £450,000 to ensure that a real bugbear for many locals has “a more integrated approach” for community amenity facilities and grass cutting.
The access rangers capacity will receive a £665,000 boost - a positive development for those in tourist hotspot areas like the North Coast 500.
Staying local, communities will be able to bid into a £500,000 Repair the Highlands Challenge Fund’ to increase repair, reuse, upcycling schemes to reduce waste.
Two major funding lines impacting education are £2 million to invest in teacher capacity for planning and £1.2 million to invest in our leaders of the future.
The first is a national policy to be implemented to reduce class contact time for teachers by freeing up teachers for marking, preparation, collaboration and so on.
The second creates ‘promoted teacher’ roles for a pedagogy team developing learning, teaching, and curriculum development to help careers and attainment.
It will also provide primary ‘promoted teacher’ posts in 26 medium-sized schools; enhanced early learning and childcare (ELC) management for primaries.
There will also be eight education assistant posts to support operational requirements to free up senior staff to focus on strategic leadership and quality improvement.
To improve care and respite for families, £250,000 will increase the “number of family workers who can support those with the most needs”.
Behind all that, there is the issue of affordability which the council aims to address with a new £870,000 Poverty and Equality Commission to link people with benefits.
It is estimated that Highland residents are missing out on more than £70 million in unclaimed benefits, so with face-to-face meetings locals will be aided in their claims.
There have been severe problems and it is clear that the Labour government’s National Insurance hike placed a huge burden on the council though.
The Scottish Government funding offset some of the council’s National Insurance contributions with £6.4 million but that still leaves another £2.7 million to pay.
The legal duty of the council is to secure a balanced budget for the year - it has already agreed the (capital) investment in infrastructure programme.
The Scottish Government grant totalled £642 million and with additional funding totalling almost £70 million that still meant £19.5 million in savings were needed.
Ultimately, along with other savings, revenues and economies the total revenue budget the council has for this year totals just over £818 million.
