Budget Engagement for Pupils

Aberdeenshire Council helps people every day by providing many services. This include schools, roads, waste collection, business advice, fun activities, and help with benefits. This year, the Council created a new plan with three main goals:

• A Sustainable Economy
• Living Well Locally
• Connected Communities

Everything they do will help with these goals. This means fixing school buildings, helping businesses, maintaining roads, creating safe paths for walking and cycling, offering fun activities, and supporting students in learning and job training.They are also making big changes to save money and do things in new ways. This way, they can use their resources to make the biggest difference for everyone.

The challenge we face

But Aberdeenshire Council is facing some money problems. Just like other councils in Scotland, they are getting less money from the government to help pay for local services. This means they have to make tough choices about what they can afford to keep doing.

Many people are getting older in our area. In the next few years, a lot more people will be retiring or will be over 85 years old. This is good and bad because it means we need more help for these people, especially with care services. Most of the council's money goes to schools and care. They want to make sure they help everyone, but things are changing and the needs of our communities are also changing.

The council has a plan for what they want to achieve, but there are many other services that might have to change or stop. They have been working hard to save money by looking at everything they do. They’ve made cuts, changed some services, and asked people to get help online or by phone instead of in person. Even with all these changes, there is still a big problem. For the year 2025-26, they think they will be short of about £26 million. They are thinking about more ways to save money, even though these choices might not be popular. They need to protect the most important services for people who need help.

Part of the money the council gets comes from Council Tax. This is a fee that everyone pays to help pay for local services. When they collect a little more from this tax, it helps them keep the services that are really important.

To manage their budget, the council will keep looking for ways to save money and will work with the community to help them do more for themselves. They want to hear what people think about their ideas for saving money, so they encourage everyone to share their thoughts by taking part in this short survey