Budget and council tax 2025/26

Council tax helps to fund a wide range of public services in Hampshire. A selection of the services provided by Hampshire County Council is listed in the box to the right. Many of these are available to be used by all, such as libraries, or by all in particular age groups, such as schools. Other services are focused on the most vulnerable, such as social care.

Several services which form a large proportion of our budget are under severe financial pressure, especially social care for adults and children, home to school transport and services for children with special educational needs and disabilities. This is due to very high demand and inflation levels affecting these services being well above the household average. These issues are affecting councils across the country. Councils in shire areas are particularly badly affected though because they receive such low levels of Government funding compared to many other areas.

We fully appreciate the cost of living pressures affecting households. However, the level of service we provide is already close to the statutory minimum, due to the reductions which have been made in over a decade and a half of austerity since the global financial crisis of 2008. The ability to find further savings is thus limited. To help fund essential services, Hampshire County Council’s council tax will consequently need to increase this year by just under 5%, but it will still remain one of the lowest of any county council in England.

The Council has approached the Government for support but none has been forthcoming so far. The situation has actually worsened, due to issues such as councils not being fully compensated for the increase to employer National Insurance costs. We will continue to make it clear to the Government that action is urgently needed (such as reforming the social care system) as the local government finance system is not currently financially sustainable. We will always remain committed to continuing to provide as good a level of service as possible to the people of Hampshire within the resources available to us.

You may notice that Hampshire County Council’s council tax is now just shown on one line on council tax bills, whereas previously it was split up into two separate lines on bills. This is due to a change in the Government legislation which specifies how council tax must be shown on bills. Further information about this change to how council tax is shown on bills.

What the budget will be spent on

Notes about the chart

Universal Services – This department provides a range of services available to everyone in Hampshire, including highways, waste disposal and recreation.

Hampshire 2050 – This department provides services focused on improving Hampshire for the future, such as skills and economic development.

How the budget is funded