Council Tax Leaflet Information 2021-22

Information about Council Tax, Bands and Charges

All domestic properties in the country must pay Council Tax. This includes houses, flats, caravans and boats.

How is Council Tax Calculated?

Each property is placed in a band according to its value (based on the market value of the property in 1991).

Bands range from A to H, with A being the cheapest and H being the most expensive.

To find out the band of your property please visit the Valuations Office Agency website.

The table below shows the current property banding for Council Tax and then the amount of Council Tax each band has to pay depending on where you live in the City.

Council Tax 2021-22 - The amount you pay

Each domestic dwelling has been allocated to one of eight bands according to the open market value as of the 1st April 1991. The amount per band is as follows:

Changes in house prices mean that your homes current value may be different than it would have been in April 1991. But this does not mean that the Council Tax valuation is wrong and is, therefore, not likely to be grounds for appeal.

To find out how to appeal against your Council Tax band, please use our How to Appeal Against Your Council Tax Band page.

How the Council Tax Money is Spent

In total, we will get £331.6m in revenue for the year 2021/22. Of that amount, £87.6m is from the Council Tax charge placed on residential properties in Southend for City Council services. The rest of the money comes from Government Grants, Business Rates and other grants, rents and incomes available to us.

This year there has been an increase of 3.99% in the Council Tax for Southend-on-Sea CityBorough Council, being a 1.99% general rise and a 2.0% Adult Social Care precept.

The table below shows the breakdown of our spending on services in 2021/22.

Councils spending on services 2021/22:

Levies

The City Council is required to contribute to the services provided in Southend-on-Sea by the following bodies.

Flood status warnings and information booklets are available from the 24 hour floodline service on 0845 988 1188.

Councils Spending 2021 - 2022 at Council Tax Band D Equivalent

* this includes a 2.0% increase specifically for Adult Social Care.

How the money will be spent (£m)

Where the money comes from (£m)

Capital Investment in Southend

The council has plans to spend a total of £79.9 m on capital schemes for 2021 - 2022.

Calculation for the percentage increase for the 2021/22 Council Tax

The overall health and economic impact of Covid-19 over the last 12 months has been unprecedented. It remains a challenging time for everyone. The Council is determined to try to continue to support the most the most vulnerable and to also ensure that the key elements that will lead to a stronger recovery for the town, our local residents and our businesses are put in place for the future.

In these difficult times we are continuing to work hard to make lives better for local people and we will continue to try to support improvements in the health and economic wellbeing of everyone. Our financial plans for 2021-22 are designed to to help Southend-on-Sea recover from the pandemic and thrive in the future. We have tried to carefully balance our spending on key priority services with the level of resources we have available. We must build a sustainable financial future together that delivers good value for money for our local residents, businesses and visitors.

We are planning extra investment in the key areas that local people have said are most important to them, with the largest proportion of your council tax going towards looking after most vulnerable in our society. This will help to respond to the large increases in demand from older residents, children and families. We are also planning the biggest ever investment into our infrastructure, fixing more local roads and pavements. Housing also remains a top priority with major investment into creating more affordable housing and improving our local housing stock. More school places will be delivered, plans to tackle climate change will be enhanced and more investment made available to maintain our seafront and iconic Southend Pier.

We will continue to try and develop the right local conditions to attract extra private investment into the town. Strive to create new local job opportunities and enhance economic prosperity through major projects such as the Airport Business Park Southend and Better Queensway which is the largest housing and regeneration project the council has undertaken since the 1960's.

To support the delivery of these plans, the Council Tax for Southend-on-Sea has been increased by 3.99% which includes 1.99% for general use and 2.0% to support Adult SocialCare. In addition, there is also a 4.98%increaseadded from Essex Police.Essex Fire and Rescue Services and Leigh Town Council (where applicable) are not proposing any increase for 2021-22.Overall your Council Tax level still remains as one of the lowest in the country.

Government statement concerning adult social care funding

The Secretary of State for the Housing Communities and Local Government has made an offer to adult social care authorities (Adult social care authorities are local authorities which have functions under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, namely county councils, London city councils, the Common Council of the City of London and the Council of the Isles of Sicily).

The offer for the financial year 2021-22is the option of an adult social care authority being able to increase their council tax by a further 3% on top of the core principle (with the option to defer some or all of the increase until 2022-23), without holding a referendum, to assist the authority in meeting expenditure on adult social care.

Calculation for the percentage increase for the 2021-22Council Tax

The council has increased the Council Tax charge for 2021-22by 3.99%.

This is an increase of 1.99% on the standard Council charge and a 2.0% increase on the Adult Social Care (ASC) Precept charge which is used to help fund the rising cost of social care services for older and disabled adults.

How we calculate the increases

The standard Council charge and the ASC Precept make up the ‘Total Council Charge’. It is the overall charge that is used to work out both increases for 2021-22.

The Total Council Charge for 2020-21was £1,437'39for a Band D property.

The £1,437.39was made up of the standard Council charge for 2020-21of £1,311.60plus an ASC Precept of £125.79.

Standard Council charge increase – 1.99%

Firstly, we multiply the Total Council Charge for 2020-21by 1.99%.

£1,437.39x 1.99% = £28.59

We then add that increase to the 2020-21standard Council charge.

£1,311.60+ £28.59= £1,340.19

ASC Precept charge increase – 2.0%

Firstly, we multiply the Total Council Tax Charge for 2020-21by 2.0%

£1,437.39x 2.0% =£28.74

We then add that increase to the 2020-21ASC Precept charge

£125.79+ £28.74= £154.53

Total Council charge for 2021-22

The Total Council charge for 2021-22is the new standard council charge (£1,340.19) plus the new ASC Precept charge (£154.53) which equals £1,494.72.

Leigh-on-Sea Town Council - Council Tax 2021-22

Leigh Town Council appreciates that the past 12 months have been a difficult time for many residents financially and still remains so. We have therefore put a few projects on hold and as always reviewed some of the services to ensure we provide cooensurate vale for our residents.The majority of our core facilities and services remain intact and we will provide all of them without increasing the precept. Therefore in 2021-22 we are pleased to announce that there is no increase to tax paid to Leigh Town Council for any band of tax payer.

The council continues to remain totally committed in helping to provide services to meet the needs and aspirations of our community and the 2021-22budget will provide the following:

What is your money spent on?

• help, support and provide information for our residents on a huge range of issues
• our role as statutory consultee on planning, highways and licensing issues to help influence the shape of the future of Leigh
• working with volunteers and partners and supporting community groups
• helping to protect the environment and heritage of Leigh
• undertake Community Infrastructure Levy projects for the benefit of Leigh and our residents
• steps to implement a Special Constables programme for the Leigh Town Council area
• funding a school crossing patrol
• providing and managing community facilities in particular the Community Centre, Skate Park, Strand Wharf, Bell Wharf beach paddling pool and 17 acres of allotment space
• community engagement with our residents
• a community news magazine twice a year and a newsletter in the local press twice a year
• regular and new town events (COVID restrictions permitting)
• supporting the arts in Leigh with our Art Wall exhibitions and Artist in Residency Programme
• Library Gardens Festive Christmas displays
• christmas lights, street decorations
• promotion of initiatives and incentives to help local businesses
• representing our residents to other authorities
• a Council run monthly Farmers Market(COVID restrictions permitting) but in the meantime providing a 'virtual Farmers Market platform
• provision of two weekly youth clubs and a youth forum(COVID restrictions permitting)
• a Council run community centre childrens holiday programme or alternativeactivities whilst COVID restrictions apply
• a community trips scheme supporting elderly residents and providing social contact including a social club every two weeks to combat isolation(COVID restrictions permitting)
• Keeping in Touch; monthly magazine and regular telephone calls to our community trip members whilst COVID restrictions apply including shopping delivery
• a chatty bench initiative to help those that feel socially isolated(COVID restrictions permitting)
• be a local employer of 10staff to facilitate and manage all Council services
• be a facilitator of a community cafe; which is a local employer of staff
• continue with repairs and improvements at the community centre
• host the Annual Town Community Meeting

Leigh-on-Sea Town Council expenditure plans 2021-22