Your council tax financial information
Introduction
The revenue budget includes our spending on day-to-day services, such as provision of care to older people, maintaining our parks and collecting waste. Setting our budget is very difficult, as local government is in severe financial difficulty across the country. A few councils have effectively declared themselves “bankrupt” because they cannot make ends meet, and many more are in trouble. The roots of this crisis are the previous Government’s grant cutbacks in the period since 2010, which hit deprived areas such as Leicester the hardest. We have also faced spending pressures: particularly in social care, where we are legally obliged to meet the needs of people who qualify for support, and to support families who are homeless.
Our budget strategy aims to ensure the city can balance its budget over the next three years. We will do this by using reserves we have set aside to cushion the impact on our services, and by seeking savings of £20m per year.
The Council’s gross expenditure, and how this leads to the amount of Council Tax we require, is explained in the table below. Most of our gross expenditure is funded from other sources, and the net service expenditure is a better indication of how our spending has changed over time. Expenditure has increased since last year’s budget, mostly on social care and services to homeless households.
Gross expenditure/council tax requirement
| Budget and council tax | 2024-25 (£) 000's |
2025-26 (£) 000's |
| Gross expenditure | 1,058,881 | 1,108,244 |
| Less income, incl government grants | (637,863) | (673,640) |
| Net service expenditure, excluding reserves and contingencies | 421,018 | 434,604 |
| Contingency/ other funds | 8,000 | 4,000 |
| Contribution to/(from) corporate reserves | (60,978) | (30,099) |
| Net expenditure | 368,040 | 408,505 |
| Funded from: | ||
| Retained business rates and government grants | (213,447) | (243,222) |
| Collection fund (surplus)/deficit | (1,006) |
1,693 |
| Council tax requirement | 153,587 |
166,976 |
Council tax
Council tax at Band D (Leicester City Council)
- Change: +5%
- 2024-2025: £1,924.63
- 2025 - 2026: £2,020.84
Council tax at Band D (Police and Crime Commissioner)
- Change: +4.9%
- 2024-2025: £286.23
- 2025 - 2026: £300.23
Council tax at Band D (Fire Authority)
- Change: +6.1%
- 2024-2025: 81.65
- 2025 - 2026: 86.65
Total council tax at Band D
- Change: +5%
- 2024-2025: £2,292.51
- 2025 - 2026: £2,407.72
For further information about the council tax breakdown, please see:
Other information
Environment Agency: Trent Regional Flood & Coastal Committee
The Environment Agency, which levies the City Council for flood defence purposes, has supplied the following information:
The Environment Agency is a levying body for its Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Functions under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 and the Environment Agency (Levies) (England and Wales) Regulations 2011.
The Environment Agency has powers in respect of flood and coastal erosion risk management for 2369 kilometres of main river and along tidal and sea defences in the area of the Trent Regional Flood and Coastal Committee. Money is spent on the construction of new flood defence schemes, the maintenance of the river system and existing flood defences together with the operation of a flood warning system and management of the risk of coastal erosion. The financial details are:
The majority of funding for flood defence comes directly from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). However, under the new Partnership Funding rule not all schemes will attract full central funding. To provide local funding for local priorities and contributions for partnership funding the Regional Flood and Coastal Committees recommend through the Environment Agency a local levy.A change in the gross budgeted expenditure between years reflects the programme of works for both capital and revenue needed by the Regional Flood and Coastal Committee to which you contribute. The total Local Levy raised by this committee has increased by 2.0%.The total Local Levy raised has increased from £2,313,472 in 2024/2025 to £2,359,742 for 2025/2026.The city council’s contribution to the levy is £99,513.
| 2024-25 (£) 000's |
2025-26 (£) 000's |
|
| Gross expenditure |
£67,518 |
£99,241 |
| Levies raised |
£2,313 |
£2,360 |
| Total council tax base |
1,930 |
1,959 |