After a robust budget process, which included months of cross-party working and engagement with local communities both in person and online asking what they want from council services, elected members will consider the budget at Full Council on Thursday 19 February.    

The plan being presented against an increasing demand for services includes:

• Protecting social and care services and supporting our NHS colleagues, despite a £1.5 million reduction in the funding provided as government grant to the Borders to support services for older people
• Investing £10m in bus services to increase connectivity
• Continuing with an innovative capital programme of £424m which has recently delivered two new secondary schools and a primary school - Peebles High and Galashiels Academy and Earlston Primary - with a new high school now under construction in Hawick.
• Continuing to work with the Community in Eyemouth as the council explores options for replacement of the primary school
• Work to deliver care villages providing over £33m to ensure developments progress at Tweedbank and Hawick
• Developing innovative solutions with partners to deliver an estimated 400 new homes at Tweedbank supporting local people while attracting more to live in the Scottish Borders
• Building new industrial units and more office space to encourage businesses to locate there
• Providing £12m to ensure every Borders young person requiring specialist out-of-authority care can be supported, wherever possible within the region
• Maintaining teacher numbers and no reductions to additional needs support in schools.
• Investing in new services to support children, young people and adults with additional needs
• Building on inward investment and attracting exciting events to the Borders to boost the economy with a new £412,000 economic development fund to support and grow this success
• Spending £87m on the upkeep of the 1,800 miles of roads across the Scottish Borders
• Providing funding for Live Borders as it works through its robust transformation to deliver leisure facilities fit for the 21st century
• Supporting communities’ local festivals and community halls with funding of £165,000 per year
• Keeping Council Tax as low as possible at 8.5%
• Maximising Council tax from empty homes in a bid to bring properties back to life
• Phasing in additional Council Tax charges on second homes.      

Councillor Euan Jardine, leader of Scottish Borders Council, said: “The people of the Borders are at the heart of this budget, we are protecting services that they have told us they hold dear and that we know have an impact on everyday lives.

“As a council, we are asked year on year to deliver more with fewer resources, we will continue to make clear the significant pressures this places on essential services in our local area. Despite ongoing pressures on our funding, we have made decisions to maintain services.”

Scottish Borders Council recognises that, across Scotland, local authorities are facing increasing demands driving financial pressure, and the situation highlighted by COSLA reflects the very real strain this is placing on essential local services.

Councillor Robin Tatler, leader of the Independent group, said: “Once again we have had to make considerable savings in order to submit a balanced budget, whilst continuing to protect frontline services.

“Our staff must be congratulated for implementing new technology and systems that will make service delivery not only more efficient but more cost effective in the coming years. The budget will also enable us to maintain and develop local public transport services – vital for our rural communities. It is encouraging that we have again been able to work across all groups on the council to develop this budget.”

Councillor Euan Robson, leader of the Liberal Democrat group, added: The pressures facing councils across Scotland are well recognised, we now get a smaller share of the Scottish Government’s budget than we used to. It is vital that we continue to highlight the particular challenges of delivering services with fewer funds in an area with a distinctive rural geography, an ageing population, big infrastructure challenges and the impact of climate change.

“These factors shape everything we do, and they make it all the more important that our budget reflects the real needs of the people who live here and whom we serve.”