The Government Publishes Council Tax Levels for 2023/24
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has published information on council tax levels set by councils in England for the financial year 2023/24.
Critical data specific to local (parish and town) councils include:
The average Band D precept charged by local precepting bodies (including local councils) for 2023/24 will be £78.79, an increase of £3.98 or 5.3% in 2023/24.
Parish precepts in 2023/24 will total £708 million, which is £53 million higher than in 2022/3 and 1.8% of overall council tax.
The statistical release also shows:
The average Band D council tax set by local authorities in England (including local councils) for 2023/24 is £2,065, an increase of £99 or 5.1% on the 2022/23 figure of £1,966.
The council tax requirement is £38.7 billion, £2.4 billion higher than in 2022/23.
The total tax base for setting council tax for 2023/24 was 18.7 million Band D equivalent dwellings and 18.5 million in 2022/23.
Southwater Parish Council approved the budget for financial year 1st April 2023 to 31st March 2024 at the Full Council Meeting of 18th January 2023. This represented a total precept requirement of £485,772, resulting in a Band D Council Tax of £101.77, signifying a decrease of 11.9% from 2022/23. To view the approved budget please visit Annual Budget | Southwater Parish (southwater-pc.gov.uk)
Council Tax is collected by the billing authority, Horsham District Council (HDC) who collects on behalf of West Sussex County Council (WSCC), itself (HDC), Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner, and Parish (or Town) Councils.
Unlike County and District Councils, Parish Councils do not typically receive any direct funding from Central Government and so the Council Tax precept forms the majority of a Parish (or Town) Council’s income, which is spent on a wide range of services in the community.
The percentage of your Council Tax precept that the Parish Council receives is typically the smallest proportion of the Council Tax paid to (collected by) the District (or Borough) Authority with the County Council Tax comprising the largest proportion collected by the District (or Borough) Authority.
For example, in 2022-23, a Band D property in Southwater would pay a total charge of £2,058.24. Of this amount £1,555.74 is due to West Sussex County Council, £224.91 goes to the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner, £162.90 goes to Horsham District Council and the Parish Council retains £115.50.