Adult social care precept
Adult social care is one of the main services provided by Hampshire County Council. Councils nationwide are facing substantial cost pressures in providing adult social care services. This is due to:
- increasing numbers of people requiring care
- the rising cost of providing care
- cuts to Government grants which were used to fund social care
To help fund these pressures, the Government expects councils responsible for providing adult social care services to have an adult social care precept (precept is a technical term for council tax).
It should be noted that the precept just funds some of the pressures in adult social care. A large amount of all the council tax Hampshire County Council receives is used to fund social care.
Our total budget for adults’ social care and health in 2019/20 is £491.8 million. The precept will raise £45 million towards this. Other sources of funding which help fund adult social care include ordinary council tax, government grants and service charges.
- Key information
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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 pay for care services you receive, the precept does not replace these charges.The precept is included in your council tax bill so is collected as part of your usual council tax payments.
- Presentation on council tax bills
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The presentation of the adult social care precept on council tax bills is required by Government legislation and is being used throughout England.
The legislation requires Hampshire County Council’s total council tax to be split into two separate lines on council tax bills.
- Most is shown on the main 'Hampshire County Council' line
- The council tax which is dedicated to funding adult social care pressures is shown separately on the 'Adult social care precept' line
It would be preferable to just show one total amount on bills for Hampshire County Council, especially as a large amount of non-precept council tax revenues also fund social care, but unfortunately the legislation does not permit us to do this.