Budget and council tax in summary

  

Looking after Hampshire, looking out for you

Every local community in Hampshire benefits from local schools, recreation facilities, social services, road maintenance and other services the County Council provides. Our priority in delivering services is to ensure that Hampshire is a safe and secure place to live. For many this could mean seeing the reassuring presence of a Community Support Officer or knowing that Hampshire’s natural beauty is being protected. However a growing number are dependent on the County Council to enhance their quality of life in more fundamental ways for example through social care. This is a time of unprecedented demand on our services and constrained Government funding. The goal of ensuring that all council taxpayers and especially those residents most reliant on our services are protected from these budget pressures is the biggest challenge facing the County Council today.

Making your money go further

We aim to provide council taxpayers with high-quality services, while maintaining one of the lowest council tax rates. To do this we are continually looking at new ways of doing business and saving money. We are planning another £15 million efficiency savings for 2008/09, on top of the savings identified in previous years. We are looking at how our buildings use of technology and support services can help us make savings. For example, we are carrying out our biggest ever review to match the number and location of County Council buildings with the changing needs of residents and service users. We will sell or lease any surplus land and buildings identified in the review, generating capital that can be used to fund improvements in service delivery and pay for maintenance of the remaining property.

We are also changing the way we deliver our services to make sure we meet your changing priorities and needs while ensuring cost efficiency and effectiveness. When fully operational our new Contact Centre, Hantsdirect, will save £1 million a year and make it easier for you to contact us. As more residents need more services, our challenge is to adapt and innovate so we can continue to provide high quality services and support within our resources.

How your services are funded

The Government grant provides funding for 22% of the cost of the services we provide other than schools which are fully funded by a direct grant. This means council tax provides 78% of the money needed to look after vulnerable people, the elderly, young people, maintaining our roads and provide other services.

The County Council is expecting to make £15 million efficiency savings in 2008/09 adding to the £48 million identified in the last four years. After taking these into account we have set a council tax rise of 4.5% leaving the amount you pay in council tax still amongst the lowest for counties in England.

If you have any questions about the content of these pages please contact the County Treasurer's Department