Appendix 1
West Dunbartonshire Council · 4 March 2026
Back to West Dunbartonshire Council — 4 March 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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West Dunbartonshire Council agrees the following: To approve the savings options below to set the General Services revenue budget for 2026/27 and assist with future projected budget gaps. To note the management adjustments set out in Appendix 3 to be used to set the General Services revenue budget for 2026/27 and assist with future projected budget gaps. To agree the 2026/27 Health and Social Care Partnership Requisition of £97.736m which includes: 2025/26 HSCP Pay Award Share of £475,000 2026/27 HSCP Pay Award Share of £238,000 2026/27 HSCP Share of Uncommitted Funding of £291,000 A further award of £136,000 To agree the 2026/27 West Dunbartonshire Leisure Trust management fee including consideration of the Leisure Trust’s share of the 2026/27 Pay Award of £233,934. Agree the 2026/27 Council Tax increase of 7.8%. Note the planned use of earmarked reserves of £1.648m in 2026/27. Approve the proposed 2026/27 capital plan set out in Appendix 4 of the report. Agree an amendment to the Council policy to reduce the Prudential Reserve target to 2.5%. Note the use of £911,000 of additional reserves to balance the 2026/27 budget as follows: Prudential Reserve £716,000 Cost of Living Fund £179,000 Smoothing Fund £16,000 Note that the 5% increase to sales, fees and charges for 2026/27 will not apply to garden waste permits with the reduction in income covered from existing reserves in 2026/27. Note the positive impact of the Labour budget on the 2027/28 budget gap. Appendix 1 ITEM 6 GENERAL SERVICES BUDGET SETTING, 2026/27, and 2027/28 - 2030/31 BUDGET ESTIMATES
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IMPACT OF LABOUR GROUP BUDGET DECISIONS ON THE 2027/28 BUDGET GAP Since the report to the December Council, as well as balancing the 2026/27 budget, the Labour budget means the 2027/28 starting gap has reduced from £20.787m to £10.905m. In addition, the employer contribution to the Strathclyde Pension Fund is expected to be 15% for the three-year period from 2027/28 rather than the originally forecast 17.5%. This would reduce the 2027/28 budget gap by a further £2m taking the 2027/28 budget gap down to £8.905m. 2026/27 2027/28 2028/29 2029/30 2030/31 £,000 £,000 £,000 £,000 £,000 Budget Gap in December Report 9,243 20,787 35,224 45,324 54,738 December Decisions -1,560 -1,683 -1,683 -1,683 -1,683 Updated Gap 7,683 19,104 33,541 43,641 53,055 Changes since December -2,473 -2,703 -2,514 -2,744 -3,229 Cumulative Gap Before Pass Through 5,210 16,401 31,027 40,897 49,826 2025/26 HSCP Pay Award Share 475 475 475 475 475 2026/27 HSCP Pay Award Share 238 238 238 238 238 2026/27 HSCP Pass through of uncommitted (28.9%) 291 291 291 291 291 Additional funding for HSCP 136 136 136 136 136 2026/26 WDLT Pay Award Share 234 234 234 234 234 5% fee increase not applied to garden waste 32 32 32 32 32 Updated Gap 6,616 17,807 32,433 42,303 51,232 Saving Options -1,459 -2,586 -2,888 -2888 -2888 Management Adjustments -705 -775 -775 -775 -775 7.8% Council Tax Increase -3,541 -3,541 -3,541 -3,541 -3,541 Use of Reserves -911 0 0 0 0 Remaining Gap 0 10,905 25,229 35,099 44,028
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Description of Labour Group Budget Savings 2026/27 Recurring Savings 2027/28 Savings 2028/29 Citizens Culture & Facilities CCF03 Review of Contact Centre (15,000) (15,000) 0 CCF09 Reduction in Performance and Strategy Team (25,000) (35,000) 0 CCF10 Reduction in WDLT Management Fee (253,000) 0 0 Education EDU 09 Out of School Care Option 1 (14,000) 0 0 EDU 12 Instrumental Music Service (IMS): (23,000) 0 0 EDU13 Secondary School Common Senior Phase Timetable 0 (236,000) (118,000) EDU14 Secondary School Staffing 0 (368,000) (184,000) EDU15 Senior Phase Transport Option 1 (44,000) (23,000) 0 EDU19 - Reduction in Management Funding for ELC provision (46,000) (23,000) 0 EDU20 - Reduction in Temporary Teaching Posts (228,000) (117,000) 0 EDU23 Roll related Clerical Hour Allocation (60,000) (30,000) 0 Housing & Employability HE02 Reduce CCTV Team 25% Option 1 (14,000) (13,000) 0 People & Technology PT01 Review leadership support and explore transfer to CAS (49,000) 0 PT11 reduction in Corporate Training Budget (15,000) 0 0 Resources RES04 Review of Office Accommodation (25,000) (25,000) 0 RES18 National Fraud Initiative Single Person Discount Review (16,000) (4,000) 0 RES19 Review Municipal Buildings (16,000) (49,000) 0 RES20 Review use of depot rental charges (75,000) 0 0 RES21 Council Tax on Long Term Empty and Second Homes (225,000) 0 0 Roads & Neighbourhood RN05 Working4U Restructure Option 2: (122,500) (122,500) 0 RN06 Crematorium Weekend Operations (5,000) 0 0 RN09 Reduce number of Apprentices (115,000) 0 0 RN11 Street Sweeping and Litter Collection of Trunk Road (50,000) 0 0 RN14 Purchase of vehicles to replace hire cars (20,000) (17,000) 0 Regulatory & Regeneration 0 RR01 Communities Team (42,000) 0 0 RR08 Assistance to Businesses (10,000) 0 0 (1,458,500) (1,126,500) (302,000)