Council tax to rise by 7.5% in the Western Isles

Council tax in the Western Isles will rise by 7.5% from April, after councillors agreed Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’s budget for 2025/2026.

The increase is among the lowest agreed by Scottish local authorities this year, and will see residents of band D properties paying £1,387 in the coming financial year, an increase of £97 on last year’s figures, or just over £8 a month.

At a meeting of the full council held on Tuesday to agree the budget and council tax increase, councillors also backed a raft of service savings and cuts amounting to £1.4m, along with the use of £2m of the authority’s financial reserves, and £287k from Crown Estate monies to produce a balanced budget.

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A nationwide freeze on the levy ends in April meaning local authorities can increase it by however much they like.

Proposing the budget motion at the meeting, Comhairle leader councillor Paul Steele acknowledged this year was the first in his leadership of the authority that had seen an increase in its revenue budget from the Scottish Government.

But, councillor Steele warned, the budgets of the Comhairle and other local councils were “still recovering from the effects of the so-called [Scottish Government] flat-cash settlements and previous council tax freezes,” and said that the Comhairle had made “prudent” use of its reserves to protect services.

Cllr Steele said: “…The question for the Comhairle is what can we do, and what can we continue to do, to support our communities?

“First and foremost we protect our communities by protecting front-line Services as much as possible, and that is best done with continuing our prudent, measured approach to the realities of the financial situation, and by continuing to employ the necessary number of employees to deliver these services.

“That is a continuing pressure, and as the [Comhairle’s] chief executive has commented on many occasions… we have reached the stage [with reductions in funding] of thus far and no more, if we wish to maintain vital front-line services to the public and also to deliver our policies strategies and political aspirations.”

Among the £1.4m of service cuts and savings agreed as part of the budget, is a £50,000 saving in the authority’s education budget, which will see a £20,000 reduction in School Counselling budget, and cuts to the ASN transport budget of £30,000, while an increase of fees for early years services of 5% has been proposed and will now be subject to further consultations.

A cut of £45,000 in the school’s catering budget will see a reduction in cleaning “across Comhairle premises”, and the authority’s libraries service is also in-line for cost-savings with the authority now set to decide between reducing library staff by one full-time equivalent post, or agreeing a reduction to the Library Van Service.

The budget will also see increases of 5.5% in a range of municipal charges, including for use of pier and harbour services and for commercial waste disposal.

But, whilst the Comhairle has now set a budget for the coming financial year, the authority’s finance chiefs remain concerned that a funding gap of over £4.4m forecast for 2025/26 in the health and social care partnership, jointly funded by the local authority and the local health board, and with the Comhairle’s reserves depleted, could represent “a material risk” for both the Comhairle and NHS Eilean Siar.

At the start of the meeting, councillors had been faced with agreeing an 8% increase in council tax, but backed a proposal by SNP group leader, councillor Frances Murray, that was supported by councillor Steele, to reduce the increase to 7.5%.

Councillor Murray proposed that the lower increase be funded by using additional funds recently announced by Shona Robison, cabinet secretary for finance and local government, to assist councils in meeting the extra costs associated with the UK Government’s rise in Employers’ National Insurance Contributions.

But, a proposal by councillor Gordon Murray to limit the council tax increase to 3% using more of the authorities reserves was rejected by councillors following a vote, with a 26-2 majority supporting councillor Murray’s proposal.

Councillor Murray had stated to the meeting that he had received representations from a number of people in his ward concerned over the impact of the council increases in addition to cost of living rises, and especially on those who earned just above the level of income that would see them qualify for council tax benefits.

Councillor Murray also suggested that the reserves the authority held were there to support people, and they needed that support now.

But, councillor Steele said that he disagreed with councillor Murray on the use of the authority’s reserves, and saying that the budget proposed for this year, with the 7.5% council tax increase would leave the authority with just £2m for next and future years, adding, “if we don’t have at least that for next year, we are not doing the job we should be doing which is in assuring the future of the services that we provide as a Comhairle”.

Cllr Steele added: “We are all here as councillors and as a Comhairle to represent the community. We are the community as much as anyone else is. We are not here to ensure that things improve for the people we represent, and we know people are going through hard times.

“But, if we don’t have the money to provide the services that we’ve got – including supporting the our cost of living fund and all the work that’s done through the inclusion officers, it’s the people we’re supporting that are going to be affected.”

Cllr Steele concluded: “Some of the savings we are making just now are not savings we’d want to do, but we find ourselves in the position, with the funding, as it is, that we have to make these savings. If we keep using reserves, you can only spend them once and then they’re gone.”