Edinburgh council tax to rise by 5%

Edinburgh council tax is set to rise by 5% after councillors agreed a budget for the city.

Dozens of protesters were outside the City Chambers ahead of the debate, calling for 'a no cuts budget'.

But council leader Cammy Day said the city needed "a massive injection of cash".

The increase will add £68.94 for band D properties across the year, in order to raise an additional £5.39m.

The budget will also scrap proposed £5.5m cuts to school budgets, £370,000 speech and language therapy cuts, and maintains the Taxicard scheme.

And it will invest nearly £10m into fixing roads, £3m in street cleansing and a further £3m into the city's parks and greenspaces.

Meanwhile, Fife Council also increased its council tax by 5% to help plug a £11.505m budget gap.

A 5% increase on Band D in Fife is an extra £1.27 per week, taking the annual bill to £1,385.18.

David Ross, Fife Council leader, said: "Fife Council is affected by increasing inflation rates, just like households and businesses around the Kingdom.

"Our energy bills and service costs are soaring, while more and more people are turning to us for help - inevitably our budgets are being squeezed."