Council agrees to freeze local fees and charges for second year

Midlothian Council has agreed to continue to freeze most of its fees and charges for next year. The decision applies to services where the council has the power to set charges locally.

Charges included

This means that there will be no increase in the cost of school meals, Tonezone memberships, leisure centre and Snowsports Centre charges, waste services and library services charges, registration and burial fees, lifelong learning classes and other services. These charges were already frozen for 2021/22, and will remain at the same level for 2022/23.

Council Tax

A decision on Council Tax levels for 2022/23 will be made early next year, once the Scottish Government has announced its funding settlement for local government.

Unique pressures

“Our decision to freeze charges for a second year recognises the unique pressures placed on communities, families and individuals by the pandemic,” said Council Depute Leader, Councillor Jim Muirhead. “These are extremely difficult times for many, with low income families in particular, hardest hit by the impact of Covid-19.  We want to provide whatever support we can, and have agreed that freezing fees and charges at current levels for another year is the right thing to do.”   

Statutory charges

Although locally agreed charges will remain static, there may be increases to statutory charges out with the council’s control.  However, in general, statutory charges have not changed in recent years and it is not yet known if the Scottish Government has plans to review these for 2022/23.