The proposals on spending the council's £268,876 million budget for the next financial year will now go to council for approval on Thursday, February 11.

Fortnightly bin collections will be one of the most obvious changes for most Borders residents, producing a saving of over £1million and combined with other technical services changes a total of six full time jobs are expected to go.

"We are one of the last councils in Scotland to move to alternate week collections and, to be frank, we have no choice given the financial savings that will accrue," said Councillor Neil Calvert, executive member for finance.

Leader of the council, David Parker, said: "Setting our budget is always a challenge – particularly so this year with difficult global economic circumstances and a package from the Scottish Government which was £4.3 million less than we had anticipated.

"However, I believe we have come up with solutions which put this council on a sound financial footing and which preserve our frontline services.

"I am also extremely pleased to announce that, once again, we will not be using our reserves to support this budget."

Education remains by far SBC's biggest spending department, its £96.327million accounting for 36 per cent of total council spending.

To meet Scottish Government targets SBC will employ an additional 12 primary teachers to reduce P1-3 class sizes, and £139,000 has been set aside for free school meals for P1-3 in 14 of the region's most deprived schools.

The selection of these primaries will be measured by the Borders Deprivation Index and revealed in March or April.
Councillor Catriona Bhatia said she was uneasy about potential unfairness.

"Under normal economic circumstances, the provision of free school meals is a laudable aim but there will definitely be middle class families, who could certainly afford to pay for meals, whose children attend the selected schools," said Councillor Bhatia.

In a package of £1.431million of extra spending, there will also be £207,000 to enable all children in the region to receive two years of nursery or pre-school education prior to starting formal education at the age of five. Meanwhile, the price of a primary school meal will rise by £15p to £1.80 from August this year.

Also on the education front £45.9 million will be spent over the next four years on new schools and refurbishment of existing schools.
On the face of it social work has also fared well in SBC's revenue budget, being allocated £76.85 million: or 28 per cent of total council spending.

New spending will include £100,000 to increase allowances paid to foster carers and an extra £28,000 for so-called kinship carers, non-parent family members who look after children.

A further £810,000 in new money will meet the costs of increased client numbers and more complex care packages for older people. Two additional housing support officers dealing with homeless people will be employed (£54,000), a four-bed transitional unit at Albert Place, Galashiels, will be adapted for young people leaving care (£70,000) and another £147,000 will increase the provision of respite care.

A £2 million saving will be made on the social work budget from a variety of measures.

Transport arrangements for older people and adults with learning disabilities will be modified (£500,000); service contracts with private and voluntary sector providers will be re-negotiated (£222,000); fewer homeless people will be put in to bed and breakfast accommodation (£75,000); care packages for clients will be reviewed (£100,000); utility bills incurred by people in homeless accommodation will be met by the clients, not the council (£40,000); £100,000 of savings are hoped to be made as a result of reviewing the eligibility of Borderers for home care; Bordercare alarm system charges will increase by two per cent, while frozen meals at home will rise from £2.37 to £2.60.

Discretionary grants paid to groups and individuals for parenting support will be scrapped (£35,000 saving) and the budget for voluntary organisation training will be cut by £63,000.

Keeping the region's roads clear of snow and ice this winter has been a big expense for the council and the administration plan on dealing with the extra expense by allocating an extra £118,000 from reserves to boost the £2.5 million already exceeded this year to "maintain the current level of winter maintenance based on three years average conditions".

Staff re-organisation will take place in street cleaning (to save £40,000 in the technical services budget) and a similar amount is to be saved in the inspection and maintenance of play parks.

A 3% increase on all subsidised bus fares is expected to bring in an extra £75,000, with charges across a range of other services, including burials, rising by 2% creating an extra £59,000.

Depute leader (finance) Neil Calvert added: "The council's on-going efficiency drive and service reviews have meant that we have been identifying savings on an on-going basis, which has left us in perhaps a healthier place budget-wise than many other local authorities this year – given the less-than-expected funding from the Government.

"I am pleased to see that, as well as identifying savings in this budget, we have continued to make significant investments in service improvement. I hope the people of the Borders will welcome these investments as good news for the region."

Fellow depute leader Alec Nicol said: "A lot of hard work has been put in from every council department to find ways of running our services in a more efficient way – meaning we are using our budget in a way which will be of maximum benefit to local people.

"One of the main savings this year will be through the move to fortnightly general waste collections. This will have an important knock-on effect of reducing the council's carbon footprint and driving up recycling rates and so avoiding environmental fines which could potentially cripple the council.

"I am certain that our continued investment in frontline services will mean Borders residents will see the benefits."