A total of 76% of this budget would be spent on these main areas: 

•    37% of the budget is spent on education in West Lothian
•    26% of the budget is spent on social care and health services in West Lothian
•    13% is spent on operational services (roads, waste, open spaces etc)

Further investment comes from the council’s capital and housing budgets which are agreed separately.

The council had originally planned to increase council tax by 5.8% this year. However, it has now been confirmed by the Scottish Government that only 60% of NI contributions will be funded and passed down to councils, therefore an increase of 8.95% is proposed to meet the unavoidable cost associated with changes to employee’s national insurance contributions, particularly for health and social care services. 

The difference between a 5.8% increase and an 8.95% increase is £3.2m of funding being generated. This will cover the 40% shortfall in NI contributions and prevent a further £3m of budget savings coming out of local services - and achieve a balanced budget - something the council is legally required to do. 

For a Band D property, council tax would increase from £1,390.96 to £1,515.45 in 2025/26. 

A 1% increase in council tax generates around an additional £1m of income for a council to spend on services. 
 
Council Tax would have had to increase by over 13% last year (2024/25) to offset the savings that we had to make in order that we balanced our budget. 
 
Given the levels of insufficient Government Grant funding, council tax would have to increase by 21% this year (2025/26) to offset the council’s total budget gap - not the 8.95% increase which is being proposed. An 8.95% increase would still leave the council having to make £12m of savings this year alone. 

A total of 18% of West Lothian households are part of the Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTRS) of which 14% receive a 100% reduction. The highest proportion of households receiving CTRS are in bands A and B where 78.8% of households receive CTRS. The Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTRS) helps people on a low income pay all or part of their Council Tax. 

The council tax collection rate is 98% in West Lothian.