SCHOOL budgets in East Ayrshire could be cut when the local authority decides on its spending plans for the coming year later this week.

Council tax looks set to be frozen under the local authority's £409 million budget plans as they go before councillors for approval at two key meetings.

But the council has fired a broadside at the Scottish Government after an initial £7m shortfall was increased to almost £10m following the December budget.

EAC’s chief financial officer Joe McLachlan will tell councillors that the last-minute change meant that there was no time to identify £2.7m in specific savings.

Among the proposals for the 2024/25 budget are a:

  • Reduction in school budgets – £1.1m
  • School crossing patrol review based on risk assessments – £50k
  • Ending council payment for gas and electricity in temporary accommodation – £18.5k
  • Addressing council paying tax burden in temporary accommodation – £44k
  • Review of council support activity for community food arrangements including larder support, social care activity and lunch clubs – 100k
  • reduce cleaning and facilities staffing hours and frequencies – £50k
  • less routine and planned maintenance – £100k 
  • Reduce arts and enterprise budgets for musical instruments and staff – £60k

Most charges will also remain frozen under the plans, other than a £6.50 increase in garden waste permit fees, bereavement service fees (up 10 per cent), and registrar same day fees (up five per cent).

The budget proposals also recommend reductions to some community groups as well as cutting community grants by £40,000.

Financial support for East Ayrshire Churches Homelessness Action, Sports Council, Youth Work Network and Kilmarnock Community Trust are all recommended for removal, with a report on the council's spending plans indicating that many of the groups concerned already have significant reserves or are moving to a more self-sustaining operation without needing to rely on council support.

In a report to council, Mr McLachlan said that the more than half of the £7m cuts and savings were allocated to services.

The amount of savings to be made differ between services, with education told to save 1.3 per cent of its budget, while people and culture was asked to find savings of 3.6 per cent.

READ MORE: Plans to freeze council tax for all East Ayrshire households

The recommendations, based on the original financial planning, also proposed a £3.3m reduction in the council’s allocation to the East Ayrshire Integration Joint Board, which runs the area's health and social care partnership on behalf of the council and NHS.

However, the council was hit with the need to find a further £2.7m after the Scottish Goverment’s budget in December.

Mr McLachlan said: “Given the lack of time to identify additional savings or expenditure reduction measures a more centralised approach to closing the budget gap was taken.”

This will see services asked to find an additional £952,000 and funding to the IJB reduced by a further £1.2m, while still meeting the allocation required under law, and East Ayrshire Leisure’s allocation cut by £180,000.

This means council services would see cuts and savings of around £4.5m while the IJB would see a similar amount cut from its allocation from the council in 2024/25.

While the council has spoken of the difficulties in agreeing a balanced budget, it will be in a position to use new rules around the payment for PPP schools, allowing it spend £40m over the next decade on early intervention and prevention programmes.

Mr McLachlan also warned that the council had seen a drop in teacher numbers, which could result in a financial sanction from the Scottish Government unless the council can provide a suitable reason for the drop.

The budget report will go to EAC's cabinet on Wednesday, where it will be remitted to the full council the following day for a final decision.