Where we get our money from and where we spend it

Your council is funded from five sources

• Government grant – the amount allocated by the Government each year to help fund services.
• Council Tax – paid by residents. The type of housing in Redcar and Cleveland – a majority of properties in bands A-C – means the council raises less than other councils with more housing in the higher Council Tax bands.
• Business Rates – paid by businesses in the borough. However, small businesses do not pay Business Rates, so this does not apply to the majority of companies in Redcar and Cleveland. The level of Business Rates is set by the Government and the council has no influence over this.
• Sales, fees and charges for council services – essential services are funded by the sources above, but additional services are charged for, with the fees for some being set by the Government and some set by the council’s Cabinet.
• Specific grants – money provided for specific services or projects. This money is ring-fenced for the specific purpose and cannot be used to fund everyday services.

The amount of funding from the Government has significantly reduced over the past decade.

Your council has around £100m less to spend each year and has around 1,000 fewer staff compared to 2010.

The breakdown of our current funding, excluding one-off specific grants which are not guaranteed to be repeated, is below:

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The council provides many services each day, from supporting the vulnerable, to maintaining roads and keeping the borough clean.

Demand for our services means providing social care – supporting and protecting vulnerable children and adults – accounts for almost 60% of our budget. There is no sign of that demand reducing and we expect that percentage to rise next year.

This will mean there is less money to provide all our other services.

The proportions of where we currently spend our money is shown below:

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