Adult social care precept 2016/17

Adult social care is one of the main services provided by Hampshire County Council. Councils across the country are facing substantial cost pressures in providing adult social care services. This is due to:

  • increasing numbers of people requiring care
  • the impact of the new National Living Wage

To help fund these pressures, the Government expects councils responsible for providing social care services to introduce a new "adult social care precept" this year (precept is a technical term for council tax). The precept amount is equivalent to a 2% increase on last year's council tax for Hampshire County Council.

Our overall adult social care budget for 2016/17 is £442 million. The precept will raise about £10 million towards this in 2016/17. Many other sources of funding are also used to help fund adult social care. These include ordinary council tax, government grants and service charges.

Key information

The precept is included in your council tax bill so will be collected as part of your usual council tax payments. You do not need to make any changes to how you usually pay your council tax.

The precept is part of council tax rather than a service charge, so is not linked to whether or not you receive social care services.

If you currently pay for care services you receive, please note that the precept does not replace these charges.

District councils are responsible for collecting all council tax. If you have any questions about your bill, please contact your district council.

How the precept is shown

Please note that how the adult social care precept is shown on council tax bills varies depending on which district of Hampshire you live in.

Some bills list the adult social care precept separately. Others include the amount within the overall Hampshire County Council figure. The difference is merely presentational. All homes in the same band will pay the same amount of council tax.

The variation is due to the Government not deciding how it wanted the precept to be shown on council tax bills until just before printing began. This meant some district councils (who issue council tax bills) were unable to update the design of their bills in time.

View details of amounts by council tax band.

How council tax increases are shown

On bills which do not list the adult social care precept separately, the County Council's increase is shown as "2%+2%":

  • the first 2% records that, when the social care precept is excluded, the County Council's council tax has increased by just under 2% since last year
  • the second 2% shows that the introduction of the adult social care precept is the equivalent of a further 2% increase compared to last year

On bills which list the adult social care precept on a separate line, the County Council's increase is shown as "2%". No increase is shown for the precept:

  • the 2% records that, when the social care precept is excluded, the County Council's council tax has increased by just under 2% since last year
  • no increase is shown for the precept. The Government has ordered councils that this is the presentation they should use when the precept is listed separately on the bill