East Lothian Council have launched a public budget consultation.

A message from Angela Leitch, Chief Executive of ELC :

The consultation is an opportunity for local residents and council employees to have a say on how the council spends money to support local services. As highlighted recently by the Accounts Commission, the council performs well and has a good record of delivering services within budget.

ELC have embraced new ways of working and become increasingly efficient and effective. ELC couldn’t have achieved any of this without the good work and commitment of council employees. Like all councils, we continue to face financial challenges. East Lothian is Scotland’s fastest growing council area and our external funding – 72% of our income – has fallen in real terms. While ELC are still awaiting news of next year’s funding, it’s expected that significant savings will be required in the coming years. This means it’s increasingly important for ELC to look at innovative new ways of delivering services.

Elected Members will meet in February to agree the council’s 2019/20 budget. In the meantime, council services have been thinking about further options for reducing costs or increasing income.

The public budget consultation sets out some possible options from officers which could help us to address the challenges faced. While it’s important to stress that absolutely no decisions have been made, the council must look ahead and continue to plan for the future..

Please have your say on the consultation.

Angela Leitch, Chief Executive