West Lothian Council is looking to identify a further £5.2 million of savings over the next four years.

A report to the council’s partnership and resources policy development and scrutiny panel (PDSP) sets out the council’s current financial position. Further savings are necessary to fully bridge an estimated budget gap of £65.3m over five years, with over £60.1m of savings previously identified from 2018/19 to 2022/23.

The council said £5.2m of savings are still to be agreed to completely balance the budget for the next four years.

The report looks at a number of options for potential savings, put forward by stakeholders following the council’s largest ever consultation, Transforming your Council, which saw local people and groups make suggestions on how the council could save money. A previous meeting of the PDSP asked for the report to be prepared to allow elected members to consider options raised by the public.

Panel members agreed on four key areas for savings that they did not wish officers to take forward, which were: removing breakfast club provision; means testing for free school meals for children at special schools; removing school crossing patrols during lunchtimes; and reviewing funding for gala days. Officers have confirmed that no further work will be done on these suggestions.

Leader of the Council Lawrence Fitzpatrick said the money the council receives from the Scottish Government is significantly less than the amount needed to cover the rising costs of delivering essential services, such as those required for the West Lothian’s growing population of children and older people.

Cllr Fitzpatrick added: “It’s very challenging to identify further savings in addition to the £60.1m already agreed without impacting on services valued by local residents. The scale of funding cuts passed to West Lothian Council from the Scottish Government over the last ten years means that major changes to council services are unavoidable.

“A recent report by the council’s external auditors, Ernst and Young, praised the council’s strong financial management and long-term approach, so it’s vital we continue to plan ahead for the future, and set a balanced budget each year as per our legal obligations.

“The scope for further savings will also continue to be developed during 2019, with the aims of protecting services for the most vulnerable.”