£1 million in funding was allocated for village regeneration in Bainsford and Langlees, and Dunipace.

It also agreed to set aside £30m of service concessions into an earmarked reserve for capital investment which can only be unlocked when the Council is more financially sustainable, and which could support projects such as:

• Falkirk Town Hall
• Outcome of the Sport and Leisure Policy Development Panel that is looking at future sports and leisure provision across the area.
• Local sport, leisure and wellbeing facilities (Denny and the Braes)
• iPad Learning program

The council agreed that following the recent letter from the cabinet secretary for education a report should be brought back to members on any potential implications on the proposal for changes to the school week but that this should not delay the public consultation taking place.

Councillor Cecil Meiklejohn, leader of Falkirk Council said: “This has been without a doubt the most challenging budget we have ever set.

“Freezing Council Tax is not an easy decision to take given the size of our financial deficit, but we must balance the real difficulties many families are facing with the current cost of living crisis. Many low-income families already receive reduced Council Tax and are protected from any increases.

“It was inevitable that fees and charges would increase however across the board our rates have been historically low and and are not sustainable. We still have a long way to go in terms of eliminating our deficit however we are making inroads and will continue to monitor closely spending over the coming years.

“We also welcome the commitment by the Scottish Government to the additional £17.7m funding and to the £45m consequential that will flow from the UK Government while acknowledging that this is dependent on confirmation from the UK Government Spring Statement.”

A meeting of Falkirk Council will discuss proposals for capital expenditure at a later date.