Council budget 2024/25

At a meeting of Full Council on Tuesday 27 February, elected members voted to freeze council tax for the financial year 2024/25 while protecting frontline services.

Due to a combination of a reduction in funding through the Local Government Finance Settlement plus inflationary and service cost-pressures, the council faces an estimated funding gap of £30 million over the next three years.

To meet the shortfall in the coming year, Dumfries and Galloway Council will draw upon £6.46M of existing reserves in a bid to protect council services.

In addition, the council will implement a range of revenue-raising measures - from a 100% rise in council tax charges for second homes to increases on selected fees and charges relating to registrars, planning and building warrants and harbours.

Elected members also agreed to £6.48M of additional investment, including an extra £1.05M on improving the region's roads, £1.49M for Children and Families Social Work and £1.83M of cost-of-living support.

The budget reflects the council's commitment to the following expenditure on capital investment projects:

• An additional £11M to increase the Dumfries High School project budget to £56M to enable the project to progress to construction.
• An allocation of £7.6M to support the work required to remove RAAC (Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete) from all council buildings over the period 2024/25 to 2026/27.
• An allocation of £11.2M to enable a new Household Waste Recycling Centre and waste-bulking facility to be created to support the council's agreed Waste Strategy and increase recycling rates.
• Increased investment in existing council assets - such as including roads, schools and vehicles - of £10M over the next 10 years in addition to the £23M allocated as part of the 2023/24 budget.

You can find out more on the Latest news section of our website. And if you want to examine the fine detail of the agreed budget, click here.