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.
Budget gap
The council estimates that next year (from April 2020 to March 2021), we will have a budget gap of £4.83 million. This means that without action being taken to find the savings needed, the council would be £4.83 million short of what we need to spend to keep services at current levels. By 2021/22, it is currently estimated that this gap will be £8.967 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.
Help us improve our site
Having problems submitting this form?Related Downloads
- Statement of Accounts
- Annual Performance Reports
- Service plans
- Balanced Scorecard
- SPI-2 Local Government Benchmarking Results
- Workforce Strategy
- Adult Social Care quarterly performance reports pre-2020
- Commercial Operations quarterly performance reports pre-2020
- Midlothian Licensing Board Income and Expenditure
- Education attainment and achievement
- Savings approved by Midlothian Council on 13 February 2018
- Financial Strategy figures 2018/19 to 2021/22
- Trade union facility time
- How we spend your money 2018/19
- 2018-2028 Capital Investment Strategy
- Midlothian physical activity, sport and health strategy 2018-23
- Planning for Change infographic factsheet
- Place Service Plans
- Nesta Listen and Learn Report for Midlothian Council - September 2020
- Corporate Solutions Service Plans
- Midlothian's funding challenge 2021 - infographic (PDF)