And with less than two weeks to go before the survey closes at midnight on Sunday 2 February, residents are being encouraged to provide feedback on potential savings across a range of council services as well as potential ways to increase income.
People can participate in the survey on the Engage Stirling website, with paper copies also available in libraries.
Children and young people can also share their views on the proposals in a separate survey that is available in schools, through the Young Scot portal and on the Engage Stirling website.
Significant response
Stirling Council Depute Leader, Cllr Gerry McGarvey said: “There has been a significant response to the survey by people of all ages and I would like to thank everyone who has taken part.
“The proposals to save money and raise more income differ from our previous budget surveys and include some important and popular services. They make for difficult reading and highlight the challenging financial climate for local government.
“As well as being able to give your view on each proposal, there is also an opportunity to provide comments at the end of the survey.
“This is your chance to inform the difficult decisions taken later next month to achieve a balanced budget. So if you haven’t taken part in the survey already, please do so before Sunday 2 February.”
The engagement exercise continues the council’s Big Conversation with communities about how it negotiates the ongoing and unprecedented financial challenge impacting local government in Scotland.
In October and November, more than 800 people took part in a survey that followed on from last year’s Big Conversation, sharing their views on services that work well, areas where there should be a greater focus along with suggestions for generating more revenue and transforming how the council works.
The council’s recently approved medium term financial strategy underlines the scale of the financial challenge it faces over the next five years, with an indicative budget gap of £12.938m in 2025-26, rising to £51.315m by 2029-30.
Just over 71% of overall funding to support Stirling Council’s 2025-26 budget comes from Scottish Government grant and business rates, with the other 29% from council tax, housing rents and council reserves.
The Scottish Government published its draft budget on 4 December and councils have now had an opportunity to analyse their respective funding packages, providing greater clarity on their financial position for the next financial year.
To see the full list of the proposed savings and take part in the online survey, as well as find out more information about how the council is funded and how it spends its money, visit: https://engage.stirling.gov.uk/en-GB/projects/big-conversation-detailed-proposals
Paper copies of the survey, which will run until midnight on 2 February, are also available at Stirling Council libraries.
Ongoing engagement and next steps
The council will also continue to engage regularly with its staff, trade unions, local partners, groups of service users and other key stakeholders during the remainder of the budget-setting process.
All of the findings from the Big Conversation will be presented to elected members for consideration and to help inform their decisions when they set the budget in late February 2025.
The council must plug its budget gap in 2025-26 despite making up a shortfall that eventually amounted to more than £18 million in the current financial year. These were delivered by savings across council services, the use of one-off reserves and increases to fees and charges.
For more information, including on a breakdown of how the council is funded and how it spends its money, please visit www.stirling.gov.uk/bigconversation