Edinburgh council budget: Parties in negotiations over spending plans for 2025/26

Labour, the SNP and the Lib Dems have all accepted the recommendation of council officers for an 8 per cent council tax rise, while the Greens are proposing a 10 per cent hike and the Tories are arguing for 7 per cent.

The parties now have until midday on Wednesday, February 19, to reach any deals or compromises on the details of their budget plans. The city's minority Labour administration will need the support of at least two other parties to pass the budget.

Parties at the City Chambers have until midday on Wednesday to negotiate agreements on the 2025/26 council budget. Picture: Neil Hanna. | TSPL

SNP group leader Simita Kumar accused Labour of a lack of leadership. She said: "They are the only ones who are accepting the entirety of council officers' recommendations - they are suggesting no [additional] savings or investments, it's absolutely void of any vision."

But Labour council leader Jane Meagher said there was a good reason for Labour backing the officers' proposals. She said: "Our finance convener has been working closely with the officers throughout the year. Therefore what is in the officers' proposals tends to reflect what the Labour groups priorities would be.

"But we have a period when we can do some negotiation between the groups to see who can accommodate what and try to incorporate as much as possible of the good ideas from other groups, so that's what will be happening over the next few days.”

Labour faces potentially tricky talks as Lib Dems and Tories outline their demands

The budget backed by Labour includes: £296m for five new schools and five extensions, together with replacement of Fox Covert Campus; £26m to upgrade special schools; £12.5m for pavements and roads; £50m for buying or building suitable temporary accommodation to help tackle homelessness; £15m to replace Blackhall Library; and £2.5m to protect third sector organisations under threat from cuts by the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board.

Proposed cuts include scrapping transition teachers and reducing pupil support assistants (PSAs) in P1 and P2. However, the Lib Dems have prioritised reinstatement of these posts in their proposals. And Cllr Meagher said she would be very sympathetic to that".

She was less positive about the Tories' plan for a 7 per cent council tax rise, which she said would be "difficult to accommodate".

She said: “Other authorities are looking at 10 per cent and more. Understandably people don't want their council tax to rise. On the other hand, they also want better services. On balance, I think an 8 per cent rise is fair and reasonable and more importantly will deliver the services Edinburgh people are entitled to."

For the SNP, Cllr Kumar said they would stop the cuts in transition teachers and PSAs and double the £1m allocated in the budget for holidays hubs for children with additional support needs.

She said: "The parents of these families have been fighting for about two and a half years for improved service and fair funding and instead they've had cuts every single time. Now families are being pitted against each other - families from special schools against families from mainstream schools. We want an extra £1m to be invested in holiday hubs to ensure it is a service for everyone."

Cllr Kumar said housing was another priority and the SNP would invest more money. “In total our capital investment would be around £73m compared to Labour's £50m."

The SNP’s other spending proposals include using £150,000 for capital borrowing of almost £2m to secure the future of community centres; £250,000 for youth work; £2m extra for road safety; £75,000 for Gorgie Farm; and £100,000 for a direct bus service between Ratho and the city centre, also serving the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena and Lost Shore surf resort.

The SNP proposes to bring in money from increased parking charges - which would rise by between 15 and 20 per cent rather than the 5 to 10 per cent proposed by officers, producing an extra £100,000.

The SNP would also install an extra 20 bus lane cameras, estimated to bring in around £500,000 And the SNP says £100,000 can be saved by reducing overheating in council building and a disciplined use of energy.

The Greens are proposing a 10 per cent council rise, primarily because of their proposal to transfer £6.6m from the council’s general fund to the housing account to help fund building more homes - a move that would need Scottish Government approval. They would also invest £2m in a cycle hire scheme, put £1.6m into active travel, reverse the cuts to PSAs and put £75,000 towards Gorgie Farm.

But they would increase pay and display parking charges by 20 per cent, twice the rise proposed by officers, bringing in an extra £805,000; install extra bus lane cameras to bring in £750,000; cut the civic budget by £50,000, including scrapping lunches for councillors on full council days; and introduce a 5 per cent surcharge on meat dishes provided by council catering for events.

Green finance spokesman Alex Staniforth said: "Our budget attempts to break the cycle of council tenants having to pay for any new council housing. Our budget will also stop valuable community charities going to the wall, boost the welfare fund and speed up our retrofit of council buildings to meet our commitment to be net zero by 2030."