How your Council Tax is spent

How your Council Tax is spent

Sefton Council has set a net budget before non-specific Government Grants of £393,333,010 (excluding Parishes) for 2026/2027. This is £26.2m more than the budget for 2025/2026. However, this is partly due to a number of specific grants (£4.2m) being transferred into Non-Specific Government Grants or General Government Grant shown below. Excluding this the net budget has increased by £22.0m. The analysis of the Council Tax Requirement and Budget Requirement is provided below:

Note 1: The table below highlights the major variances in the Budget Requirement (before non-specific Government Grants) between 2025/2026 and 2026/2027:

Sefton Council's Revenue Budget

View Sefton's Analysis of General Fund Expenditure & Income for 2026/2027 for more details.

Sefton's Estimated Balances

Sefton’s general revenue balances are estimated to be £0.1m as at 31 March 2026. The 2026/2027 Budget assumes general balances will be increased by £6.0m. This excludes reserves held by schools; these are estimated to be £13m as at 31 March 2026.

Capital Investment Plan 2026/2027 - 2028/2029

The Council's Capital Investment Plan for 2026/2027 – 2028/2029 currently totals £238.0m, 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 (£59.5m), the Strand – Repurposing Programme (£23.1m), Southport Pier (£19.7m), Southport Town Hall Square and Gardens (£9.6m), Adult Social Care (£18.0m), Highways and Public Protection (£55.7m) and Education Excellence (£21.1m). It should be noted that any resources identified as unspent in 2025/2026 at the year-end will slip into 2026/2027 and additional resources may yet be allocated to new schemes in 2026/2027 and future years.

Precepting Bodies

The Council collects council tax on behalf of itself and the following local organisations: