Budget and council tax 2017/18
Hampshire County Council’s council tax remains one of the lowest of any county council in England
- £1,133.10
- Our 2017/18 Band D council tax
- £37 million
- Government grant cut in 2017/18
Hampshire County Council’s council tax consists of two elements. These are our main council tax and an adult social care precept. They are shown as two separate lines on your council tax bill.
One of the main services we provide is adult social care. Councils across the country are facing substantial cost pressures due to increasing numbers of people with complex needs requiring care and the rising cost of providing care. The Government expects councils to raise their adult social care precept to help fund these pressures. This will increase council tax by 3% this year.
We also face continuing cuts to the grants we receive from the Government. This year our Revenue Support Grant will be cut by £37 million. To help lessen the impact of this cut on services, our main council tax will increase by 1.99%. Together with the adult social care precept, this results in a total increase of 4.99%. We will be as efficient as possible in how we use the funds we receive in order to help protect services and keep council tax as low as practical.
We will continue to provide high quality services and invest in Hampshire’s needs. This includes investment over the next three years of £179 million to provide 10,915 new school places, £109 million for structural maintenance of roads and bridges and £100 million for transport schemes.
What the budget will be spent on
The services we provide include:
- adult social care
- children’s social care
- concessionary bus travel
- economic development
- libraries
- public health
- road maintenance
- schools
- trading standards
- waste disposal
How the budget is funded
| Item | 2016/17 | 2017/18 |
|---|---|---|
| Gross expenditure | £1,900.4m | £1,902.8m |
| Funded by: | ||
| Departmental income | £252.4m | £273.0m |
| Contribution from reserves | £39.6m | £0.0m |
| Interest receivable | £7.3m | £8.4m |
| Dedicated Schools Grant | £708.1m | £732.1m |
| Other Specific Government grants | £159.2 | £159.9m |
| General Government grants | £147.0m | £111.4m |
| Business rates | £45.7m | £44.9m |
| Surplus on collection funds | £8.4m | £6.3m |
| Council tax requirement | £532.7m | £566.8m |
| Results in: | ||
| Hampshire County Council’s Band D Council Tax | £1,079.28 | £1,133.10 |
About this summary
The information on this webpage is about the Hampshire County Council part of council tax. Your council tax bill will also include amounts for the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority, the district council and, in many areas, a parish or town council.
Environment Agency levies
Hampshire County Council pays a levy to the Environment Agency to help fund the construction and maintenance of flood and coastal defences.
2017/18 budget - Southern regional flood and coastal committee
2017/18 budget - Thames regional flood and coastal committee
2017/18 budget - Wessex regional flood and coastal committee
Government information about the adult social care precept
The Government requires all councils with adult social care responsibilities to publish the text below on their council tax information webpage. Please note that Hampshire County Council has not yet made any decision about its council tax rates for the years after 2017/18.
“The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has made an offer to adult social care authorities. (“Adult social care authorities” are local authorities which have functions under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, namely county councils in England, district councils for an area in England for which there is no county council, London borough councils, the Common Council of the City of London and the Council of the Isles of Scilly.)
The offer is the option of an adult social care authority being able to charge an additional “precept” on its council tax for financial years from the financial year beginning in 2016 without holding a referendum, to assist the authority in meeting expenditure on adult social care. Subject to the annual approval of the House of Commons, the Secretary of State intends to offer the option of charging this “precept” at an appropriate level in each financial year up to and including the financial year 2019-20.”