Why Highland Council’s 7% council tax rise could be decisive for the region but now the pressure is on as future investment in schools, housing and roads rides on the Highland Investment Plan

Highland Council has reached a point where it has to deliver or explain why it has not after passing its £818 million budget with a seven per cent council tax rise.

Unlike previous budgets there is a plan for major infrastructure investment behind it that accounts for two per cent of council tax rise.

But no matter how that is dressed up, the bottom line is that residents will be charged more for services starting from April.

That will not be a good month for many households as inflation continues to rise alongside the energy price cap and then there is the uncertainty internationally.

Properties in the council tax Band D are used as examples because they are considered the median or average rate for any of Scotland’s local authorities.

In the Highland Council area council tax for such a property will be £1527.09 but if you include Scottish Water’s 9.9 per cent rise that sum rises to £1678.27 a year.

That did not stop a certain coterie of councillors acting as cheerleaders and applauding during yesterday’s budget meeting, sparking the disapproval of others.

They are not alone, many locals are impatient with local and national government and want to see results so the expectation of delivery is not unreasonable.

Will the public see a return on the extra tax pounds?

In short, not any time soon but that is the plan and there is for the first time in many years an actual sequenced series of targets for investment.

The £2.1 billion, 20 year Highland Investment Plan aims to tackle some of the most significant problems faced by the region namely – schools, housing and roads.

As of yesterday when the budget passed the clock started ticking on when the local authority could get moving to secure the loans to make the investment needed.

That means officials and councillors will be under even more pressure because the two per cent mentioned earlier is earmarked solely for the Highland Investment Plan.

But it is a 20 year programme so the real improvements will likely only come to be seen within the next few years.

What the councillors say

In what was seen by some as over-egging the pudding, claims from some administration councillors that the budget was one of the best they’d ever seen raised some eyebrows.

What it has not done is raise social care out of crisis (though duties are split with NHS Highland), nor has raised attainment for school leavers overnight.

It will not fix all the potholes the roads you most use nor will schools be rebuilt in the next 12 to 36 months, which is the timespan of the three year financial plan.

But there was a general acceptance that the budget was the best that it could have been achieved in a bad financial spot – no mean achievement.

LibDem leader Alasdair Christie put it succinctly saying: “I've seen some horrific budgets in my time down to the fact that the settlement to the council from the government has been poor.

“This year, it's been good so a good settlement means a good budget. It could have been an awful lot better if they'd taken my proposals on board to improve education and attainment, but it was a good budget.”

The SNP’s chairman of the economy and infrastructure committee Ken Gowans emphasised the decision taken over council tax was "necessary".

“I want to be clear, the council tax rise was taken very seriously by the administration,” he said. “We know this will have an impact on household finances across the region but the simple fact is that this is needed.

“We could not be more serious about the investment needed in schools most notably but elsewhere as well.

“The Highland investment Plan affords us more than money to build up our region - it also affords us the autonomy to move ahead and do the work.”

He added: “Let me be clear, no one wants to raise taxes but we are in a position where it is necessary."

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