Council Tax 2020/2021

strawb_shortcake

This was on the south glos website when I went to pay my council tax this morning, not sure it will help those that need it most at the moment as many that weren't in receipt of a discount will need help, but it may catch up in due course

Coronavirus update: Following government announcements, we are now able to offer an extra £150 discount for every working age customer in receipt of Council Tax Reduction. This amount will automatically be applied to your account and a revised bill will be issued.  Please note if your bill is less than £150 you will receive a credit up to reduce your bill to £0. For example, if after we have applied Council Tax Reduction your bill is £100 we will apply a credit of £100 resulting in a nil balance and nothing to pay for the 2020/21 financial year.

You do not have to contact us as we will issue these new bills.  However, please note there may be a slight delay in doing so due to the high volume of cases we have to resolve.

HornetSaver

Jeremy535897 said:

bradders1983 said:

Council tax accounts for a miniscule part of a council budget, always makes me laugh when I see people who think their £100 or so a month funds the entire council budget.

"Overall, local government spending is paid for by three main sources:

• Central Government − 61%
• Business rates − 17%
• Council tax − 22%"

This from one council site, although the figures are national. So, a bit less than a quarter. So probably about 5% of someone's council tax goes to fund Kyle's list.
I'm not an apologist for, or connected with, any council, but there's no point in getting frustrated over a perception that's not reality.

That information seems to be outdated. The following has 2018/19 spending as:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/812505/Local_Authority_Revenue_Expenditure_and_Financing_2019-20_Budget__England.pdf

49% Government grants

32% Council tax

17% Business rates

2% Other.

And spending as:

37% Education

26% Social care (adult 17% child 9%)

12% Police

25% Other.

We're far beyond the scope of this thread now, but the 32% that is paid by Council tax, and debateably the 2% from reserves and revenue generation, are actually quite in line with those services which the typical person would understand themselves to be paying for through their council tax (those items which are not education or social care) with a gap of 3-5%. Now don't get me wrong, councils have a vital role to play at the current time and need every penny they can get to use as freely as possible, I'm certainly not one of those calling for some sort of blanket reduction. But I fully understand why some are scratching their heads.