Fife council tax freeze and range of investments proposed as budget day looms

A council tax freeze is on the cards in Fife next year but tenants face a 5% rent rise.

The proposals will be put before councillors this week as the minority Labour administration attempts to set a balanced budget.

If approved, it means people living in Band D properties will continue to pay £1,385 in 2024-25.

However, householders will still be hit in the pocket when bills drop through letter boxes as Scottish Water charges will rise by 8.8%.

In addition, the proposed rent rise will see average weekly costs go up by £4.10 to £86.50.

And council services are being given the power to raise fees and charges by up to 5% over the coming year.

However, the budget plans also include £14.2m of additional investment, including extra cash for roads, educational psychologists, recycling centres and bus services.

More details of these are set out below.

Impact of Fife council tax freeze

The Scottish Government offered councils a 5% budget increase in return for a council tax freeze this year.

And this means Fife will receive £9.3m from Holyrood as compensation.

But in a budget report prepared ahead of this Thursday’s decision, council leader David Ross says this money is normally passed on to authorities every year without conditions.

He has accused Holyrood of giving with one hand and taking with the other and warns the impact is a £1.9m loss over the next five years.

And he says increasing the council tax by a small amount would have allowed more investment in services such as social care and roads maintenance.

Warning of ‘major financial challenges’ ahead

As it is, Labour has produced a balanced budget without any significant cuts this year.

But Mr Ross adds: “The council will continue to face major financial challenges in the medium and longer term.”

And finance director Eileen Rowand says: “The future financial sustainability of the council is a concern.”

Labour is proposing a range of investments in 2024-25 but needs the support of other parties to push it through.

This is likely to come from Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors.

However, the SNP group is also in favour of a council tax freeze.

What will Fife Council spend its budget on?

Fife Council proposes budget increases in several areas, including:

Roads maintenance – £3.5m more to fix Fife’s roads.

Mr Ross says the need for investment is evident across the region but warns funding will be “drastically reduced” the following year.

Educational psychologists – £500,000

This is partly aimed at cutting violence and aggression in schools as well as helping children with conditions such as autism and ADHD.

Fife lags behind other areas of Scotland in the number of educational psychologists it employs.

Subsidised bus contracts – £880,000

This will prevent the loss of unprofitable commercial services.

However, the council has warned it cannot meet this level of increase in the future and is looking at whether it can launch its own municipal bus services for affected routes.

Street cleansing and grounds maintenance – £250,000

This will allow an increase in staff numbers and investment in new pavement and street sweeping machines.

Pedestrian access to recycling centres – £20,000

Labour believes it should be possible to create pedestrian access at St Andrews and Dalgety Bay recycling centres only.

This follows significant health and safety concerns about this approach, with officers saying stewards would be needed to accompany people around sites.

Mr Ross says demand and location mean pedestrian access will not be possible at other locations.

Craigtoun Park, St Andrews – £250,000

This will pay for urgent repairs to the iconic Dutch Village, which is rapidly deteriorating.

The park is run by the charity Friends of Craigtoun but the council still owns the buildings.

And Mr Ross says: “It is proposed to undertake these urgent repairs to stabilise the site and allow time for the community trust to source funding for the overall restoration.”

Vehicle replacements – £5m

The council has 543 vehicles and plant over 10 years old, which would cost £18m to replace.

And there has been a high number of breakdowns lately, impacting on services such as bin collections.

An extra £5m will be provided on top of the £7m already promised.