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Council launches 2026/27 Budget engagement
North Ayrshire Council is to engage with residents as it faces up to another challenging Budget.
A Budget gap of approximately £12.5 million is expected and significant savings will be required to deliver a balanced budget for 2026/27.
Having already cut more than £90 million from its budget over the previous nine years, it is becoming increasingly difficult to safeguard frontline services, however, protecting these services remains a priority.
Given the scale of the financial challenge, the Council is conducting early engagement with residents to find out how the 2026/27 Budget may affect communities across North Ayrshire.
At a meeting of Full Council yesterday, (Wednesday, 5 November), a series of areas were highlighted for community engagement.
The feedback received during this engagement – which has launched today - will help inform councillors when they meet early in 2026 to set the Budget.
Quote: Public sector authorities in every part of the UK are continuing to feel the strain of demand for services against funding which doesn’t stretch far enough to maintain current services. We have a legal obligation to set a balanced budget. It’s therefore vital that communities let us know their thoughts on our services and how any changes might impact them. It is important to stress that no decisions have yet been taken – this will happen early next year when all councillors meet to set the Budget but any comments received will help ensure all members are fully informed.”
Quote from: Councillor Marie Burns, Council Leader
Over the coming weeks, Council officers will meet with community groups and stakeholders to gather their views on how any changes might impact them.
In addition, residents and groups are encouraged to take part in online surveys on a range of areas and these can be found on the Council website.
Paper copies of these surveys will be available in local libraries and KA Leisure facilities. Alternatively, residents can call the Council’s Contact Centre on 01294 310000 and the surveys can be filled in over the phone. The contact centre is open Monday to Thursday from 9am to 4.45pm and Friday from 9am to 4.30pm.
North Ayrshire Council – in common with other local authorities – is facing an increasing demand for services while the money received from Council Tax and grant funding isn’t keeping pace with the rising costs of the services.
In order to try to set a balanced budget, the Council has selected a number of areas on which it will engage with residents.
Among the areas where we are seeking the views of our communities are:
Schools and related services for Children and Young People
· Realigning the level of teaching resource across North Ayrshire schools
· Reducing Pupil Support Assistant hours to align with pupil rolls in mainstream schools
· Increasing charges at Arran Outdoor Education Centre
· Streamlining the participatory budgeting process
· Increasing Temporary Accommodation Rents
· Reviewing the waste collection frequency for purple and blue bins on the mainland and Cumbrae
· Exploring opportunities for regional collaboration on an Ayrshire-wide basis
The online surveys on our website are open from today and will run until 19 December 2025. The feedback received will help inform councillors when they meet to set the Budget early in 2026.
Published: 06 November 2025