Keeping our promise to ensure council tax stays as low as possible for the years ahead

Leader of Hampshire County Council, Councillor Ken Thornber, answers your questions about the county’s budget and council tax for 2010/11.

How do you spend the money from council tax?

We spend the money on a wide range of services. For example, each band D council tax payer makes a contribution to each service, as shown in the table opposite. We plan to spend £1,830 million on services this year, compared with £1,749 million last year. Towards this we receive £162 million from fees and charges and funding from the Government. Allowing for grants and income, this gives us a budget of £672 million — an increase of £15 million — to spend on services.

What about schools?

Although the Council is responsible for deciding how much individual schools get in their budgets, your council tax does not contribute towards the direct cost of running schools. The Government pays the full cost of schools through a specific grant.

Does all the council tax go to the County Council?

As the largest local authority in Hampshire, the County Council receives the majority of the council tax money you pay. However, your money also goes towards the cost of services provided by Hampshire Police Authority, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority and your local district or borough council. Where they exist, parish or town councils also receive funding. These are all separate organisations, each responsible for their own budgets and services.

Why is council tax going up?

Hampshire is having to find extra money to cope with the growing demands of an ageing population. This means providing not only more social care, but more intensive care. The number of disabled young people living into adulthood is also rising, and we expect to care for growing numbers of vulnerable children. Despite these challenges, the increase in council tax for next year is 1.9%, equivalent to the increase last year — the lowest ever set by the County Council. This rise, promised last year, will help us ensure that we continue to offer residents value for money.

Aren’t these extra costs met by increases in funding from the Government?

In 2010/11 our government funding will increase by only 1.5%, well below the average increase of 4% for counties. We must balance our budget despite being one of only six counties allocated the minimum rise in grant, which equates to a sum of less than £2 per year per resident in Hampshire.

What are you doing to be more efficient?  

In the face of difficult economic times, we will aim to keep providing the highest quality services and good value for money, and plan £32.3 million efficiency savings in 2010/11. Like any modern business, we have an ongoing strategy to improve productivity and efficiency, good housekeeping and closer working with our partners.

For example, in the year to March 2010 we expect to make £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. We have invested these efficiency savings to protect services and reduce council tax rises.

Why is such a large part of the budget spent on adult social care services?

The costs of providing social care services (nursing care, residential care, day care and home care) are rising due to an ageing population living longer, which means increasing numbers of elderly people are developing dementia and needing extra care.

From next October, free personal home care for adults with higher needs will commence, if a proposed law is passed. It is expected there will be insufficient funds nationally and there will be more pressure in future years for a rise in council tax, to bridge a gap in funding.

Our care services are stretched, but we are strengthening them to ensure continuing and improved safeguarding of our vulnerable residents.

What your council tax goes towards:

Social care for older people and adults with disabilities	£413.61
Non-schools children’s services including social care	£215.23
Repair and maintenance of roads, public transport and planning	£103.02
Culture, communities and other services	£99.70
Waste management	£71.50
Borrowing costs	£65.29
Future inflation contingencies and reserves	£41.71
Capital costs paid for from revenue	£27.82
Total band D council tax	£1,037.88

£1,000 will pay for one of the following:

• 14.5 tonnes of household waste to be disposed of.

• 50 undercover checks that help ensure alcohol and cigarettes aren’t sold to underage youngsters.

• 143 older people to spend a day in day care.

• School escorts to accompany six children with learning disabilities to school every day for a week.

• Salt for a daily run covering 480 miles of Hampshire’s roads in bad weather.

• The creation of a ‘no cold calling zone’ for 500 homes, to help prevent doorstep crime.

Further information

For questions on our budget, contact: County Treasurer’s Department, Hampshire County Council, The Castle, Winchester SO23 8UB

Phone: 01962 847519
Email: budget@hants.gov.uk
Web: www.hants.gov.uk/budget

Claim the benefit

For information on Council Tax Benefit see your Council Tax bill or contact your district council.