Budget and council tax 2026/27

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 for adults and children. Our Children’s Services are rated as Outstanding by Ofsted.

To enable the continued provision of these services, council tax will rise by just under 5% this year. The amount charged for each band will still continue to be one of the lowest of any county council in England.

The Council aims to continue to provide as high a quality of services as possible within the resources available. To deliver the best value for residents, we will always seek to operate efficiently and make new savings where it is possible to do so, with £40 million of savings in this year’s budget.

Due to growing numbers of people requiring adult social care and the cost of providing care, a large proportion of our budget is spent on this service. As shown in the chart below, about a quarter of the budget is spent on adult social care and public health services, which rises to about half of the budget if spending on schools is excluded. Demand continues to grow due to the ageing population and we also fund care for a significant number of younger disabled adults. The cost of providing care for each person also keeps rising due to high inflation affecting the care sector across the country.

Another item placing high pressure on the budget is the large increase over the last few years in the number of children meeting the nationally set criteria for council funded transport to school, especially those with special educational needs and disabilities. The cost of providing this service has almost doubled over the past four years, rising from £43 million to £83 million.

Finding sufficient resources to meet all of these pressures is challenging due to the Council receiving much less Government grant per resident than councils in many other parts of the country. Excluding grants ringfenced for specific services such as schools, last year in 2025/26 Hampshire County Council was allocated just £91 of general Government funding per person compared to the English average for the same set of services of £205 per person. This underfunding is being worsened by a new funding formula the Government is phasing in over the next three years. Our funding allocated through it will be £42.9 million lower in 2028/29 than it was in 2025/26, with £10.9 million of this reduction being made in 2026/27. We continue to call on the Government to provide a fairer deal for county areas.

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.

How the budget is funded