Budget and council tax in summary

Looking after Hampshire, looking out for you

Hampshire County Council is one of only three county councils awarded the top rating by the Audit Commission. Praised for excellent financial planning, we have kept council tax low and reinvested efficiency savings to protect services. In 2010/11, we will provide 1.3 million residents with essential local services costing £1,830 million.

Our promise to keep council tax as low as possible

During these tough economic times, we aim to keep providing the highest-quality services and good value for money, and plan to make £32.3 million of efficiency savings in 2010/11 that will be ploughed back into safeguarding services. We also plan to save money by doing more with the money we have and working efficiently with our partner organisations. After taking these in to account we have set a council tax rise of 1.9% leaving the amount you pay in council tax still amongst the lowest for counties in England.

In the three years to March 2011, the Government expects councils to make savings equal to 10.3% of their spending. In the year to March 2010 we expect to add £21.6 million to the £26.5 million of savings achieved by March 2009 after reviewing costs, using smarter buying practices and reducing workforce costs. We made £8.6 million in savings by modernising and improving the way we buy adult social care services, and £3.1 million from our waste contract. Our running total was £48.1 million in savings by March 2010, nearly £8 million above the Government’s target. Savings have protected services and reduced Council Tax rises so that Hampshire still has one of the lowest council taxes compared to other county councils while maintaining high-quality services.

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.

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