A budget gap of up to £16 million is expected and significant savings will be required to deliver a balanced budget for 2025 to 2026.

Having already cut £84m from its budget over the previous eight years, it means that frontline services will almost certainly be affected.

Given the scale of the financial challenge, the council is conducting early engagement with residents to find out how the 2025 to 2026 budget may affect communities across North Ayrshire.

The feedback received during this engagement will help inform councillors when they meet early in 2025 to set the budget.

Council leader Marie Burns said: “It’s vital that communities let us know their thoughts on our services and how any changes might impact them.

“We have a legal obligation to set a balanced budget. In achieving this, it means that difficult decisions will likely be necessary.

“We are not alone in this. Councils across the UK are feeling the strain.

“However, it is important to stress that no decisions have yet been taken – this will happen in February of next year when all councillors meet to set the Budget for 2025 to 2026.

“In the meantime, we ask residents and communities to share their thoughts before decisions are taken.”

Over the coming weeks, council officers will meet with community groups and stakeholders to gather their views on how any changes might impact them.

In addition, residents and groups are encouraged to take part in online surveys on a range of areas. These can be found on our budget engagement page.

North Ayrshire Council, in common with other local authorities, is facing an increasing demand for services while the money received from Council Tax and grant funding isn’t keeping pace with the rising costs of the services. With the UK Government announcing a deficit in public finances of £22 billion, it is clear that major financial challenges remain for local authorities.

In order to try to set a balanced budget, the council has selected a number of areas in which it will engage with residents.

Among the areas where it is seeking the views of communities include changes to the library service, Arran Outdoor Education Centre, the Countryside Rangers Service at Eglinton Park, and KA Leisure facilities and charges.

Included in the forthcoming engagement will be the frequency of collection for purple and blue bins, consideration of an annual charge for collection of garden waste, and a review of charges for bulky waste collections. Views will also be sought on charging for car parking at council-owned car parks.

A number of areas relating to schools and young people have been identified for community engagement, including the level of teaching resource and Pupil Support Assistants and Area Inclusion Workers as well as how the music service could operate in future. Views will also be requested on the provision of campus police officers, cleaning arrangements in schools and early years settings, school crossing patrollers, and the educational psychology service.

The engagement will seek residents’ views on the potential introduction of a 100% Council Tax premium on second homes, changes to Empty Property Reliefs for non-domestic rates, charging a Tourist Visitor Levy and Council Tax levels, as well as the possibility of sharing services on a regional basis. In addition, views are sought on a review of Economic Development, Growth and Regeneration Services.

Online surveys are available until 25 November 2024. The feedback received will help inform councillors when they meet to set the budget in February 2025.