At its Council Budget Meeting yesterday (Thursday 22 February), East Dunbartonshire Council confirmed a Council Tax freeze as proposed by Scottish Government.
This means the annual Band D charge remains at £1,415.66 for 2024/25.
The freeze excludes water charges, which are set by Scottish Water and collected by Councils on its behalf. On 1 February 2024, Scottish Water announced the annual Band D charge for 2024/25 is £546.39.
The Scottish Government has confirmed £147 million pounds will be made available to local government in support of a Council Tax freeze, which equates to a 5% equivalent net increase in Council Tax.
Council Leader Gordan Low said, “It has been an ongoing commitment of this Council to support our communities with a range of measures during the cost-of-living crisis. That is why we have confirmed the Council Tax freeze and have accepted Scottish Government funding to support it - £3.2 million, which is equivalent to a 5% increase in Council Tax baselined into our grant funding for future years.
“We believe accepting this freeze will help our residents to combat the ongoing effects of the cost-of-living crisis over the next year.”
The full General Revenue and Capital Budgets, and agreement on the remaining options for bridging the financial gap for 2024/25, will take place on Tuesday 26 March. This is due to the ongoing uncertainty around the final settlement figure for Councils and outstanding clarifications relating to certain funding streams.
Councillor Low continued, “It has been considered appropriate to take this approach to ensure greater certainty around the final settlement figure for councils, given both the ongoing discussions between COSLA and the Scottish Government and the potential for any consequences flowing from the UK Government’s Spring Budget Statement. Indeed, following discussions, we have received confirmation of the Scottish Government’s intention to provide Councils with a further £62.7m, subject to a positive Spring Statement, which would deliver an additional £1.25 million for East Dunbartonshire.”