The proposals would see Stirling Council investing over £1m in initiatives including a pilot project to target holiday hunger among school pupils; investing £200,000 to mitigate the impact of Universal Credit; making Stirling a Dementia-Friendly City; enhancing cemetery maintenance and introducing 20mph zones.

A further £24m would be invested across capital projects including £4.5m for road improvements and modernisation, over £2m for City Deal projects, over £300,000 to enhance parks and play areas, £1.1m for a flood prevention scheme fund, over £5m to enhance schools and early years and £1m to improve the area’s digital connectivity.

Over the next five years, a gap of £19.8m is anticipated between what the council receives in funding and revenue and the cost of delivering its services and this will have to be addressed through the budget setting.

Over 1900 people took part in this year’s budget consultation and put forward their views on 42 options proposed by officers.

The draft administration budget is based on a Council Tax increase of 3% to protect essential services and includes the following:

The administration is proposing to reject options which were least popular with communities including:

Council leader Scott Farmer said: “We continue to do everything we can to ensure Stirling receives the maximum funding to deliver its services and I think our residents realise the challenge we face in the years ahead. The draft budget being put forward by the administration takes account of the feedback we received during the budget consultation and seeks to ensure we can invest for our future and realise our ambitions for the city.”

Depute leader Danny Gibson added: “Setting the budget is always challenging as we know how much residents rely on our council services. As an administration we are determined to protect our most vulnerable, protect our frontline services and deliver the infrastructure and investment our communities need.”

Councillors will consider and decide the financial plan for the coming year when they meet on Thursday.