School Closures Tomorrow

Council Tax and Budgets

We continue to listen to what is important to our residents and this is reflected in our budget this year. 

We are funding a record £25 million extra for adults and children’s social care to protect the most vulnerable in our society. 

At the same time, we are investing in the things that residents tell us are important and need improving, such as better roads and pavements, tackling congestion and improving public transport. 

We are doing all this whilst keeping the level of our Council Tax to one of the very lowest of any County Council in the country. The increase is less than inflation and equivalent to £1 per week for a Band D property

In response to what you have told us, we are investing an extra…

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£12m to improve pavements over the next 3 years

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£6m to improve street lights over the next 2 years

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£36m to improve roads over the next 3 years

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£3.75m to address local highways over the next 3 years

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150,000 trees to be planted to develop sustainable woodlands

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Highways call centre hours extended to 7am to 7pm Monday to Friday

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£11m on improving rail transport including a new Redditch station

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£3m over the next 3 years to renew highways drainage and flood mitigation works

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£53m for a new secondary school for Worcester and school places across the county

A record £25m extra to protect the most vulnerable

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An additional £17.1m in 2022/23 to support those who need adult social care

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An extra £7.9m in 2022/23 to improve outcomes for our children and young people

Where the money comes from to pay for the 2022-23 Budget

The majority of the Council’s funding is from Council Tax income and the County area is allowed to keep up to 50% of the business rate growth collected in Worcestershire since the introduction of the Business Rates Retention Scheme in April 2013. 

The cost of providing our services in 2022-23, net of specific grants, is £375.4 million which has increased by £19.9 million from the previous year. Additional cost pressures in respect of inflation and increases in the demand for services such as the extra numbers of people needing social care are the main reasons for this increase some of which are significantly higher than the general rate of inflation.

Summary of budget spend for 2022-23

  • £155m Adult social care, Public Health and Communities 
  • £109m Children’s Services
  • £57m Economy and Infrastructure 
  • £52m Support services including finance and legal 
  • £373m TOTAL budget  

More detail is available on how the money is spent – summary of gross expenditure, income and staffing:

Council tax and budget leaflets from 2014 onwards

For further information relating to the County Council element of your council tax, please telephone Worcestershire Hub on 01905 765765.

If you wish to query the District Council element, please contact your local District Council.

Worcestershire County Council Net Budget

Worcestershire County Council Net Budget documents from 2015 onwards

Total Worcestershire Public Expenditure

Total Worcestershire Public Expenditure from 2013 onwards