How your Council Tax is spent
Council Tax makes up nearly 80% of our external income. We no longer receive any general funding from central government.
Our costs continue to rise due to inflation and we have an increasing demand for services to protect, support and care for our vulnerable adults and children. We're more dependent than ever on the income we receive from Council Tax to deliver the services our residents rely on each day.
Your Council Tax helps pay for vital local services, including:
- housing
- caring for people in need
- roads and transport
- libraries
- protecting our environment
- bin collections
- recycling
How the new council is funded
Council Tax |
78% |
Business rates |
12% |
New Homes Bonus |
2% |
Other grants |
8% |
Who spends your Council Tax
When you pay your Council Tax, this money is shared with other local service providers .
- Buckinghamshire Council
- Police and Crime Commissioner for the Thames Valley Area
- Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority
- Parish and town councils
Buckinghamshire Council has a total budget of £458.9m for 2021 to 2022.
Revenue and capital budgets 2021/22
| Directorate | Main services | Net budget | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Adults & Health |
Social Care for Adults |
156,463 | 38% |
|
Children’s Services |
Children’s Social Care and prevention, Education and Schools |
109,215 | 26% |
| Communities |
Culture, Sport & leisure, Highways & technical Services, Neighbourhood Services, Transport |
66,478 | 16% |
|
Deputy Chief Executive |
Localities & Partnerships, Policy & communication, Service Improvement |
22,288 | 5% |
|
Planning, Growth & Economy |
Housing & economic Development, Housing & regulatory Services, Planning & Environment, Property & Assets, Strategic Transport & Infrastructure |
18,970 | 5% |
| Resources |
Business Operations, Finance, Human Resources, ICT |
40,378 | 10% |
| Directorate Budgets total | 413,792 | ||
|
Corporate costs |
Capital Financing, Treasury Management, Corporate Contingency budgets, Other Corporate Costs |
45,976 | |
|
Use of / Contributions to Reserves |
Use of and contributions to Reserves |
1,218 | |
| Net operating Expenditure | 458,939 |
| Directorate | Expenditure | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
|
Children’s Services |
58,198 | 33% |
| Communities | 58,067 | 33% |
|
Planning, Growth & Economy |
61,018 | 34% |
| Resources | 400 | 0% |
| Corporate | 750 | 0% |
| Capital expenditure | 178,433 |
In this year’s budget there is additional investment in both Adults (£9.6m) and Children’s Social Care (£11.4m) budgets to address the continued increase in demand, cost and the complexity in these services areas.
We'll be investing over the next 4 years:
- £163m on Schools
- £135m on Strategic Infrastructure and Highway projects, including Princes Risborough and Aylesbury South Western Link Road
- £130m on Strategic Highway Maintenance, including £62.4m on the Strategic Highway Maintenance programme, £8.3m for Footways, £17.4m for Plane & Patch and £9.5m for Drainage schemes
- £50m to support Economic Regeneration
- £20m on Waste, largely linked to the replacement of Waste vehicles
- £15m on Leisure Centres, primarily linked to the Chiltern Lifestyle Centre