Service updates

Stirling Council agrees to reverse a number of budget savings

Stirling Council has agreed to reallocate almost £400K of funding to reverse a number of the 2023-24 budget savings.  

First published

04 Apr 2023

Stirling Council has agreed to reallocate almost £400K of funding to reverse a number of the 2023-24 budget savings.  
Stirling Council has agreed to reallocate almost £400K of funding to reverse a number of the 2023-24 budget savings.  

At a Special Meeting of Council on Thursday (30 March), Councillors approved a motion that reversed the decision to allocate £392K to Sistema Scotland to deliver the local Big Noise programmes. 

This followed an announcement by the Scottish Government that it would provide £1.5m of additional funding to Sistema Scotland to deliver the Big Noise projects in 2023/24.

The money will be used to reinstate savings that had been agreed by the Council at the budget-setting meeting on 2 March. This will mean:  

  • No change to the opening times of Fintry and Aberfoyle nurseries
  • No increase in non-statutory childcare fees or MECS charges
  • No removal of the Springkerse ‘Park and Ride’ Bus Service
  • No reduction in the budgets of the Smith Museum, Stirlingshire Voluntary Enterprise, Stirling Community Enterprise and Events including book and science festivals
  • No removal of the 100% bulky waste uplift subsidy for over 60s
  • No full cost recovery for the Bridge of Allan allotment site
  • No reduction to universal youth provision.

As the original decision taken by Council was less than six months ago (2 March), two thirds of Councillors had to agree to revoke it before the new motion could be considered. 

Tough decisions

Stirling Council Leader, Cllr Chris Kane said: “This budget for the coming year was painful to set, but the funding settlement from the Scottish Government left us no option other than to take tough decisions on a range of local services.

“The news of £1.5M of national funding for Big Noise allowed us to revisit a small number of decisions for the coming year in Stirling. I recognise that supporters of the services given a reprieve will be relieved, but others will be disappointed at the savings that remain.

“With the ongoing uncertainty of local government finance, it’s important we continue to take steps to secure the Council’s long-term sustainability as we look to the 2024/25 budget.

“I want to stress that we remain committed to working with Sistema in delivering the transformative Big Noise programme in Raploch and Fallin and will play a constructive part in talks with the Scottish Government and Sistema to secure long term funding arrangements.”

More information:

The Council report can be downloaded here and a recording of the meeting can be viewed on the Council’s webcast page.