How your Council Tax is spent
Sefton Council has set a net budget before non-specific Government Grants of £364,148,538 (excluding Parishes) for 2025/2026. This is £33.7m more than the budget for 2024/2025. However, this is partly due to the Adult Social Care Discharge Grant (£3.7m) being transferred into the Local Authority Better Care Grant – which is part of the Council’s Retained Business Rates under pooling arrangements. Excluding this the net budget has increased by £30.0m. The analysis of the Council Tax Requirement and Budget Requirement is provided below:
|
Sefton MBC Budget Requirement |
2024/2025 |
2025/2026 |
| Gross Expenditure on Council Services | 673.4 | 730.3 |
| Gross Expenditure by Levying Bodies | 37.3 | 37.7 |
| Total Gross Expenditure | 710.7 | 768.0 |
| Total Gross Income | -380.3 | -403.9 |
| Sefton Budget Requirement before non-specific Government Grants (Note 1) | 330.4 | 364.1 |
| Non-Specific Government Grants | -71.9 | -87.8 |
| General Balances - Increase | 14.0 | 1.5 |
| Sefton Budget Requirement | 272.5 | 277.8 |
| Less: General Government Grant | -26.2 | -30.2 |
| Less: Retained Business Rates Income | -65.7 | -69.2 |
| Less: Business Rates Surplus (-) / Deficit | -11.0 | 2.7 |
| Less: Collection Fund Surplus – Council Tax | -1.3 | -2.6 |
| Sefton Council Tax Requirement | 168.3 | 178.5 |
| Council Tax (Band C) |
£1,730.14 | £1,816.48 |
Note 1: The table below highlights the major variances in the Budget Requirement (before non-specific Government Grants) between 2024/2025 and 2025/2026:
| £m | £m | |
| Pay and Price Inflation Contingency | 4.9 | |
| Additional Resources to Maintain and Improve Services | ||
| Additional Resources relating to Service Pressures - Social Care | 18.9 | |
| Additional Resources relating to Service Pressures – Other Services | 11.2 | |
| 30.1 | ||
| Increase in Levies | 0.5 | |
| Net Savings / Efficiency Measures | -5.5 | |
| Impact of the Adult Social Care Discharge Grant being transferred into the Local Authority Better Care Grant (which is part of Retained Business Rates) | 3.7 | |
| Change in Sefton Budget Requirement | 33.7 |
Sefton Council's Revenue Budget
View Sefton's Analysis of General Fund Expenditure & Income for 2025/2026 for more details.
Sefton's Estimated Balances
Sefton’s general revenue balances are estimated to be £18.0m as at 31 March 2025. The 2025/2026 Budget assumes general balances will be increased by £1.5m. This excludes reserves held by schools; these are estimated to be £13m as at 31 March 2025.
Capital Investment Plan 2025/2026 - 2027/2028
The Council's Capital Investment Plan for 2025/2026 – 2027/2028 currently totals £208.3m, including some indicative grant allocations, and is funded primarily from Central Government Allocations, Specific Capital Grants, Capital Receipts and Council Borrowing. The Plan includes schemes for the Marine Lake Event Centre (£59.1m), the Strand – Repurposing Programme (£12.2m), Other Strategic Investment (£12.0m), Adult Social Care (£25.5m), Highways and Public Protection (£65.6m) and Education Excellence (£19.4m). It should be noted that any resources identified as unspent in 2024/2025 at the year-end will slip into 2054/2026 and additional resources may yet be allocated to new schemes in 2025/2026 and future years.
Precepting Bodies
The Council collects council tax on behalf of itself and the following local organisations:
Precept Information 2025-2026
Environment Agency (North West Region) has provided the leaflet below outlining their budget/spending for 2025/26.
Environment Agency (North West Region) 2025-26
Contact:
National Customer Contact Centre
PO Box 544
Rotherham
S60 1BY
United Kingdom
Customer Service Line: 03708 506 506
Email: enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk
Incident Hotline (24hr): 0800 80 70 60
Floodline (24hr): 0345 988 1188
Web: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/environment-agency
Precept Information 2025-2026
Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority (MRWA) has provided the leaflet below outlining their budget/spending for 2025/26.
Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority (MRWA) 2025-26
Contact:
Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority
7th Floor
No.1 Mann Island
Liverpool
L3 1BP
Telephone: 0151 255 1444
E-mail: enquiries@merseysidewda.gov.uk
Web: www.merseysidewda.gov.uk /www.recycleright.org.uk /www.zerowastelcr.com
Precept Information 2025-2026
Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner has provided the leaflet below outlining their budget/spending for 2025/26.
Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner 2025-26
Contact:
Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Merseyside
Mather Avenue Training Centre,
224 Mather Avenue,
Liverpool,
L18 9TG.
Telephone: 0151 777 5155
Email: info@merseysidepcc.info
Web: www.merseysidepcc.info
Precept Information 2025-2026
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority has provided the leaflet below outlining their budget/spending for 2025/26.
Merseyside Fire & Rescue Authority 2025-26
Contact:
Mike Rea, B.A. (Hons), ACMA.
Director of Finance and Procurement
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority
Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters,
Bridle Road, Bootle
Liverpool, L30 4YD
Telephone: 0151 296 4000
E-Mail: mikerea@merseyfire.gov.uk
Web: www.merseyfire.gov.uk
Precept Information 2025-2026
Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor & Combined Authority has provided the leaflet below outlining their budget/spending for 2025/26.
Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor & Combined Authority 2025-26
Contact:
Mayor Steve Rotheram
Mayor of the Liverpool City Region
Mr John Fogarty, B.A. Hons, C.P.F.A.
Executive Director of Corporate Services: Liverpool City Region Combined Authority
No 1 Mann Island,
Liverpool,
L3 1BP
Telephone: 0300 131 2881
Web: www.liverpoolcityregion-ca.gov.uk