Planning for Change - reshaping council services in Midlothian

Shaping Midlothian’s future

Everyone has a part to play in helping shape Midlothian’s future. That’s why we want you to have your say on the tough decisions Midlothian Council will need to take over the next few years. It’s about making changes now to make sure our services, and our finances, are fit for the future.

The challenge of change

Like all council areas, Midlothian faces big challenges. With continuing funding cuts and increased demand from a growing population for key services such as education, health and social care, the council needs to look at new ways of working. We’ve already made substantial changes to save money but we need to do much more. The council estimates that next year (from April 2020 to March 2021), we will have a budget gap of £4.6 million. This means that the council will be £4.6 million short of what we need to spend to keep services at current levels. By 2022/23, it is currently estimated that this gap will be £18.8 million.

Council funding

Council Tax meets less than a quarter of the cost of local services in Midlothian. Most of the council’s money (around 75%) comes from the Scottish Government. But our core funding is reducing every year. At the same time, Midlothian has the fastest growing population in Scotland. Our population is also changing. We will have more older people and more children of school age in the years ahead.  This means that the demand for essential services, and the cost of providing them, is rising rapidly.

This is why we're Planning for Change.