Thursday February 19th 2026
East Lothian Council headquarters
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Marie Sharp
Council tax in East Lothian could go up by 7.5 per cent this year – adding another £118 onto the annual bill for Band D residents.
The Labour administration will present its budget to a meeting of elected members next week which is described as having cross party support.
However SNP opposition councillors are offering an alternative which would see the council tax increase reduced to 5.8 per cent.
Papers for next week’s budget meeting reveal the administration led proposals would see council tax go up 7.5 per cent and council tenants rent raised by 7 per cent.
The SNP alternative proposal calls for the lower council tax increase and rent to go up by 8 per cent for tenants.
Last month East Lothian’s provost warned councillors tough decisions would have to be taken as they face a £2.7million gap in their budget for the year ahead.
Speaking as the administration cabinet was updated on additional Scottish Government funding which reduced the initial estimated gap from just under £6.9m, Councillor John McMillan said tough decisions would be needed to balance the books.
Last year East Lothian Council was one of the first local authorities in Scotland to announce a 10 per cent increase on council tax bills after a freeze on raising it was lifted with draft budgets for this year suggesting only five per cent increase would be needed this year.
The proposed increase comes after Edinburgh City Council set out its budget proposals with a five per cent increase in its council tax bills while Midlothian councillors are being asked to support a 9 per cent increase for their residents when they meet next week.
The SNP proposal for a lower council tax rise also calls on councillors to back their call for officers to undertake a pilot application of gender‑based budgeting within a single service area during the 2026/27 financial year, and to
report back to Members on key findings and outcome.
A recent blog attributed to the SNP group leader Lyn Jardine says gender based budgeting, at its core, asks “a simple but powerful question: who benefits, and who carries the cost, of how public money is raised and spent?”
She says: “It doesn’t mean separate budgets for women and men, and it doesn’t mean creating new spending pressures by default. It means using evidence to understand impact — and then designing budgets that work better for everyone.”
Councillors will meet on Tuesday to vote on the options presented by the groups.
The Midlothian Council have proposed a council tax increase of 9% with councillors asked to approve the rise at a meeting next week.
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