Region Roads Boost as Council Agrees Budget

Dumfries and Galloway Council met as a Full Council today (Tuesday 28 February) to agree its budget and set the council tax level for financial year 2023/24.

Elected members agreed a council tax increase of 6% to help protect services.

The Council faces a raft of cost pressures from pay uplifts to inflationary increases and, when compared against the funding being made available, it has an estimated funding gap of £40 million over the next three years.

Increasing council tax is one of a range of measures the council is taking in an effort to balance its books including reducing energy usage within Council buildings and a focus on digital service redesign.

But the Council is investing, too. More than £30 million has been earmarked as part of the budget agreed today to improve the condition of the roads and infrastructure across Dumfries and Galloway.

This investment – to run over the next five financial years – will see a major increase in the amount of roads maintenance undertaken each year by Dumfries and Galloway Council; that’s more potholes repaired, more improvements to road drainage, more repairs to bridges and more repairs to footpaths.

Dumfries and Galloway Council Chief Executive Dawn Roberts said: “In today’s debate at Full Council members across all political groups agreed the need for a significant increase in the budget for roads maintenance – in line with feedback from communities throughout the region. This investment will mean better quality roads, increased investment in the local economy and more local employment opportunities.

“The five-year investment will see the budget for road repairs increase by around 50%. As we plan this major programme of road repairs, we will do everything we can to keep local communities informed.”

Dumfries and Galloway Council is responsible for one of the biggest road networks in Scotland with: 2,611 miles of roads, 823 miles of footways, 1,307 bridges and over 24,000 street lights.

To deliver such a big increase in investment, the size of the Council roads workforce will increase by more than 20%, creating opportunities for local people to join the local authority in good quality jobs delivering this critical service in their community.

Assistance with the cost of living also features in the budget proposals agreed today.

A wide range of projects from tackling low income through to reducing fuel poverty are outlined in the budget – with the Council investing £2m of its budget in cost-of-living support in financial year 2023/2024.

The Council operates and administers a range of support funds that assist those who need it most, and this budget sees spend in areas like period poverty, free school meals and community transport.

Although some allocations remain the same as the 22/23 budget, such as Summer of Play (£264k), there have been increases in the budget allocated to key projects with £130k now allocated to the Taxi Card Transport Scheme and funding to the third sector rising to £130k.

Dawn Roberts added: “Elected members were keen to prioritise cost-of-living support as reflected in today’s budget.”

Under the Local Government [Scotland] Act 1973 and the Local Government Finance Act 1992, a local authority must set its council tax before mid-March in the preceding financial year. A council is required to set council tax based on an overall balanced budget for the financial year.

Based on a 6% increase, council tax bandings will be charged as shown below for financial year 2023/24:

Council Tax Banding	Current Rate p/a (£)	New Rate p/a (£)	Increase p/a (£)
A	839.53	889.90	50.37
B	979.46	1038.21	58.75
C	1119.38	1186.53	67.15
D	1259.30	1334.85	75.55
E	1654.58	1753.84	99.26
F	2046.36	2169.13	122.77
G	2466.13	2614.08	147.95
H	3085.29	3270.38	185.09

You can see the Full Council meeting via our website Dumfries and Galloway Council Meetings - Dumfries and Galloway Council (dumgal.gov.uk) and you can view the meeting papers at Agenda for Dumfries and Galloway Council on Tuesday, 28 February, 2023, 10.30 am - Dumfries and Galloway Council (moderngov.co.uk) including the approved budget and political group covering document.

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