THE City of Edinburgh Council is today closing a four-month consultation asking residents of the capital for ideas on where they could save £30m.
It comes after predictions by the council show a deficit of £30m this year and a further £109m by 2028/29.
The online consultation opened on 20 November and closes today and asks residents to provide their views on where the council can save the required £30m.
The consultation shows a summary of proposals on how to save cash and asks residents for their views on the given plans.
The city council receives funds from The General Revenue Grant, Non-Domestic Rates and council tax, totaling around £1.3bn to provide services to the community.
The council is also paid for some services and issues charges and fines which provide additional income.
Even with all this additional income, the council’s total spending for this year is forecast to be around £1.7bn.
This leaves a deficit of almost £400m according to the council’s own figures, however the consultation focuses on the stated £30m.
The council groups its services into four executive directorates; Place; Children, Education and Justice Services; Health and Social Care; and Corporate Services.
A total of 34% of spending (around £600m) is on Place, with Edinburgh spending £307m on facilities management, road repairs, street cleaning, street lighting, parks, and waste collection – though a third of this (£113m) is raised through fees and charges.
They also spend £209m on housing and dealing with homelessness in the Scots capital with 32% of spending (around £564m) on Children, Education and Justice.
The largest part of this is on education (£451m) including early years, primary and secondary schools, and additional support for learning.
The Council also spends £89m on care for vulnerable children.
27% of spending (around £476m) is on Health and Social Care – this money is managed jointly with NHS Lothian through a body called the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board (EIJB).
The council raises around £110m of this through charges and grants.
7% of spending (around £116m) is on Corporate Services, which includes £79m for face-to-face, telephone, email and website contacts by customers, all of the council’s information technology; and benefits processing and council tax collection.
Corporate Services also includes finance, human resources, legal and other support services used by the entire council.
The consultation proposes the council raise extra funding to help cover the £30m by any of the three following methods: parking charges, community access to schools or general fees and charges.
It was reported last week in the Edinburgh Evening News that the council faces an extra £35m bill from the recent National Insurance (NI) rise.
The UK Government budget saw a rise in NI contributions for employers, with the estimated cost of the rise for the City of Edinburgh Council, according to a report by the council’s own finance committee, to be £35m.
This figure comes from an £18.9m addition in the council’s staffing bill and a further £16.7m impact on indirect services, including nearly £3m in staffing costs for Edinburgh Leisure.
It’s unclear whether the NI rise will be covered by the Scottish Government and the report acknowledges this.
The consultation on where the city council can save £30m gives no mention of the NI increase.
The cost of the consultation itself was estimated to be £58,600, which includes: £20,000 in software costs for two years, £20,000 in communications costs, £14,000 workshops with the public, £4,000 workshops with partners and £600 in printed materials
The consultation forms part of a 16-week-long process that began as far back as April 2024 and will continue into 2026.
Some proposals for savings pitched to residents taking the consultation survey include a 10% increase in pay and display parking charges which is estimated to raise £600,000.
A review of homelessness services is also proposed, with an estimated £2.5m to be saved from reducing the use of bed and breakfast temporary accommodation.
Saving £700,000 by reducing pupil support assistants from primary one and two, £3m in savings from a review of corporate services (internal staff) and £4.2m saved by reducing the level of service payment to Edinburgh Leisure are all proposed too.
The council also suggests a council tax raise of 5% in the consultation, stating: “We believe we will need to increase council tax by more than 5%.
“We believe all Scottish local authorities are in a similar position.”
They then go on to ask residents taking the survey how much the council tax should be raised by, offering options of 5%, 7.5%, 10%, 12.5% and 15%.
With the consultation ending today, the council will consider the survey responses given by residents and make decisions about where to save the £30m with these views considered.
