Council Tax Charges 2024-25
Winchester City Council has agreed that there should be a 2.6% increase in Council Tax for 2024/25; the Band D Council Tax will increase by £4.07 to £159.36 for 2024/25 in order to meet the estimates of expenditure for services administered by the Council.
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How each £1 is Spent
In 2024/25 it will be:
Hampshire County Council – 71.30p
Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire – 12.16p
Winchester City Council – 7.41p
Parishes and Town – 5.28p
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue – 3.85p.
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Priorities
Winchester City Council is presenting a balanced budget for 2024/2025 and a stable position for the next 2 years; which includes continued investments in council plan priorities.
Across the country, the financial landscape is particularly challenging for local government.
Winchester City Council is not without its pressures - particularly the uncertainty about future funding, with no indication of settlements beyond this next year.
However, through careful financial management, the council can present a balanced and stable budget for the next two years. After 2026, we are estimating there will be a £3 million funding gap by 2027.
To prepare for this, we’ve launched a Transformation Challenge 2025 (TC25) programme – this has already identified immediate savings of £0.6m which have been removed from the baseline budget.
Transformational changes over the next few years are underway, which include plans to improve our online services, so people can easily do their council business at a time that suits them (and freeing up traditional methods for those who don’t.) This includes online services for planning matters making submissions of applications easier and the processing of them more efficient. Invest to save funding is set aside to support this programme.
Council Tax
Council Tax at Band D for City Council services for 2024/25 will be increased to £159.36, an increase of £4.07 per year, reflecting an average (below inflation) Council Tax increase of 2.6%.
Council Tax Reduction scheme income bands have been revised to ensure residents continue to receive the same level of support after the increase in Universal Credit from April 2024.
The 2024/25 budget continues to invest in the aspirations of the council plan:
- Council Plan Priority – Greener Faster
We are investing in expanding recycling and food waste collection, planning to reduce carbon emissions of our waste vehicle fleet.
- Council Plan - Cost of Living focus
Recognising the ongoing cost of living pressures, we’re setting aside budget for a council tax support fund, extending the exceptional hardship fund for struggling households and capping annual increase in rent.
- Council Plan - Homes for All priority
Additional support has been allocated for the council’s homelessness prevention strategy and the 100% long term empty property premium, for unoccupied and unfurnished properties, will now take effect after 1 year, rather than 2.
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