We are proposing a budget that is balanced, affordable and sustainable and that puts People and Communities at its heart.

The funding settlement from Scottish Government delivers an increase in funding for East Lothian.The change in the top four bands and number of new houses alone delivers an increase of £800,000 from last year to be spent on whatever we choosel.

When you then add funding for health and social care and the pupile equity fund then we see a total resource increase of more than £4million.

That is why we only propose a 1% increase in the council tax along with prudent use of reserves. We should not just put tax up by the most we can.

For the past five years we have had a Labour/Conservative coalition delivering budgets that the Tories cheer on as Labour abandons huge chunks of their 2012 manifesto on an annual basis.

Politics must be about priorities and on that measure Labour, standing alongside the Tories, have failed this test time and time again.

In education we propose to spend 5% more on Primary and Secondary Schools over the next three years.

We fully support the Scottish Government Pupil Equity Fund that will see £1.5million of new money going directly to our schools where Head Teachers can determine the educational priorities. Incredibly Labour say they will oppose this in the Scottish Parliament.

In adult wellbeing our staff are outstanding and performing near miracles each and every day.

Over the past five years this administration has failed to invest in East Lothian, whilst presiding over the worst bed blocking crisis in the history of our County. Before the 2012 election bed blocking was the fault of the Council – After the 2012 election it all became the fault of the Government as this Administration dodged responsibility for their poor decisions.

The tragedy is that some of the most vulnerable in East Lothian have had a wait a year for Labour to admit they got it wrong in their last budget.

The latest figures showing that dozens of people are delayed in hospital instead of being at home, wherever that may be, are a disgrace.

It simply cannot be right, either on a statutory or a moral basis, to have some people waiting over 20 weeks to get home – but that is the reality after five years of Labour.

That is why the SNP propose to invest £50.5 million this year in adult wellbeing and prevention to ensure the service can meet the short term needs and deliver real sustainability in the years ahead.

We also propose to only have charges increase at the same inflation rate as benefits and pensions.

And we want to develop an emergency respite service with more beds in the county as our carers get older.

The decision to cut our Police Teams last year was the wrong decision by this Administration.

In the past year the figures on areas like anti social behavior have spoken for themselves.

We want to right this wrong and propose to re-instate the Police Teams to tackle crime in our communities. We will devolve this funding to the Police and Fire Scrutiny Committee to ensure that it is reviewed against key outcomes.

Our town centres are not only the heart of our communities but they are also the economic engine room that can deliver local jobs.

That is why we propose to invest in our Town Centres by: • Having six area managers to drive forward regeneration and economic development • A fund to have lower rents for those who will take on long term unemployed and young workers • Developing Town Centre WiFi This investment must go hand in hand with our communities and Area Partnerships. The SNP propose: • Project funding for Area Partnerships to take forward regeneration • £400,000 each for Musselburgh, Tranent, • Developing Town Centre WiFi This investment must go hand in hand with our communities and Area Partnerships. The SNP propose: • Project funding for Area Partnerships to take forward regeneration • £400,000 each for Musselburgh, Tranent, Prestonpans, Haddington, Dunbar and North Berwick Town Centres • Spending to be determined by Area Partnerships We will also devolve £1 million of decisions on grants from the Cabinet to our Area partnership and we also propose to support community groups who deliver so much.

We propose to invest £30,000 for our community councils every year and £50,000 in the East Lothian Foodbank and to review every year to ensure that we are doing all we can as a council.

We propose to reduce massively the cost to community clubs to use 3G pitches in Musselburgh and Prestonpans.

We will invest in our Libraries (including refurbishing Musselburgh Library) and arts development with new funding made available.

The Investment in the former Sheriff Court will see the building being made available for community use instead of a new police station.

We will invest in our Libraries (including refurbishing Musselburgh Library) and arts development with new funding made available.

The Investment in the former Sheriff Court will see the building being made available for community use instead of a new police station.

In landscape and countryside we have removed Coastal Car Parking Charges. However, we will still invest in improving the car parks.

Labours’ parking charges will not deliver the funding (It hasn’t so far) that is claimed and we take the view that having a Tourism Tax is not the way to welcome the world to East Lothian. Make no mistake these charges will be scrapped by the SNP.

We intend to stop the council newspaper and to improve transparency we want to introduce Webcasting of Council and committee meetings.

On capital investment we intend bringing forward funding wherever possible to create jobs and invest in community facilities.

We will deliver £600,000 for core paths and cycling super highways, £80,000 to deliver the Drem to Gullane Path.

We will deliver a new Care Home for Musselburgh,more than £1million for Town and Village Hall restoration projects, a new club pavilion for Musselburgh Windsor, a new sports hub at Winterfield.

we will create a Local Nature Reserve at Levenhall Links and further Invest in outdoor facilities. £150,000 of investment in Fisherrow Waterfront and we will spend £18million on roads over next three years.

The budget being put forward is the right way forward for our County.

On education we will invest in our children’s future by putting in place the funding required.

And we want to invest in our communities with Town Centre regeneration and new community facilities from Musselburgh to Dunbar and everywhere in between.

We believe that these must be the priorities and political choices that this council makes on behalf of the people we serve in our communities.