RBKC’s Budget and Council Tax Requirement for 2024/25
The Council will spend £462 million in 2024/25 on a wide range of day-to-day local services such as:
- social care
- the environment
- leisure facilities
- highways
- transport services
- housing needs
- education and skills development
The charts and table below show the full breakdown of the budget (this excludes Housing Benefit payments and dedicated schools grant which are reimbursed by Government).
| 2023-24 | 2024-25 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net £'000 | Spend £'000 | Income £'000 | Net £'000 | |
| Adult Social Care | 38,319 | 83,163 | (37,933) | 45,230 |
| Public Health | 0 | 27,312 | (27,312) | 0 |
| Children's Services | 47,195 | 72,425 | (22,970) | 49,455 |
| Environment and Neighbourhoods | 23,658 | 96,291 | (77,394) | 18,898 |
| Housing and Social Investment | 26,238 | 88,871 | (68,311) | 20,560 |
| Resources and Customer Delivery | 19,548 | 69,585 | (54,180) | 15,405 |
| Chief Executive | 4,557 | 17,943 | (5,290) | 12,653 |
| Grenfell Recovery | 8,169 | 5,747 | 5,747 | |
| Delivery of Grenfell work | 0 | 680 | 680 | |
| Total Service Costs | 167,684 | 462,018 | (293,390) | 168,628 |
| Levies | 9,824 | 11,646 | 0 | 11,646 |
| Grenfell Corporate | 1,596 | 1,180 | 0 | 1,180 |
| Social Care Contingency | 0 | 1,805 | 1,805 | |
| Provision for inflation | 11,624 | 12,050 | 12,050 | |
| Capital, interest, and investment income | (8,336) | 7,232 | (5,643) | 1,588 |
| Transfers to/from Reserves | 3,002 | 9,354 | (10,415) | (1,061) |
| Budget Requirement | 185,394 | 505,284 | (309,448) | 195,836 |
| Social Care Grant and New Homes Bonus | (8,544) | (18,374) | (18,374) | |
| Retained Business Rates (includes Revenue Support Grant) | (68,555) | (70,437) | (70,437) | |
| Collection Fund | 852 | (2,000) | (2,000) | |
| New and additional grants | (10,617) | (368) | (368) | |
| Total external funding | (86,864) | 0 | (91,179) | (91,179) |
| Council Tax Requirement | 98,530 | 104,657 | ||
| Council Taxbase | 97,732 | 98,878 | ||
| Council Tax per Band D without Garden Square levies | 988.26 | 1,037.58 | ||
| Greater London Authority Precept | 434.14 | 471.40 | ||
| Total Band D Council Tax | 1,422.40 | 1,508.98 | ||
| Council Tax per Band D with Garden Square levies | 1,008.15 | 1,058.45 | ||
| Greater London Authority Precept | 434.14 | 471.40 | ||
| Total Band D Council Tax | 1,422.40 | 1,529.85 | ||
The Council Tax requirement
The Council Tax requirement after taking into account all income and Government funding is £104.7 million. This is an increase of £6.1 million from 2023/24 broken down as follows:
| Budget Change | £'000 |
|---|---|
| Social Care Pressures and Contract Inflation | 2,710 |
| Creation of Social Care Contingency | 1,805 |
| Provision for (non-social care) Contract Inflation | 4,849 |
| Provision for pay inflation 2024-25 | 4,495 |
| Provision for extra pay award in 2023-24 | 1,594 |
| Provision for additional contract inflation in 2023-24 | 493 |
| Changes in funding of the Council’s Grenfell recovery work* | (2,500) |
| Increased borrowing costs due to higher interest rate environment and capital programme review and reduced investment income | 8,874 |
| Increase in External Funding | (6,222) |
| Increase in Fees and Charges Income | (2,547) |
| Increase in levy charges | 1,824 |
| Service Growth Pressures | 6,412 |
| Service Savings | (7,969) |
| Corporate Budget Savings | (4,669) |
| Reduction in Collection Fund Deficit | (919) |
| Reduction in transfer to reserves | (4,444) |
| Transfer to Ward Implementation and Reorganisation Reserve | 2,104 |
| Other | 238 |
| Total Increase in Council Tax Requirement | 6,128 |
| Increase in Council Tax Base | (284) |
| Extension of empty homes Council Tax Premium | (871) |
| Total Change funded by increase in Council Tax |
4,973 |
The Grenfell Recovery Programme (2019-24) was funded from a ringfenced budget of £50m committed in 2019. The programme will begin to come to an end in 2024. From 2024/25, the Council and other parties have committed additional funding for support to bereaved, survivors and the immediate local community from 2024-28. This will be funded separately.
What the Council spends on
The diagram ‘How each £100 of Council Tax is spent’, illustrates how each £100 of Council Tax is allocated to different areas of spending for 2024/25. There are 8 areas, and each of the areas receives the following amounts out of each £100 spent by the Council:
- Children’s Services receives £28
- Adult Social Care receives £26
- Housing and Social Investment receives £14
- Environment and Neighbourhoods receives £10
- Resources and Customer Delivery receives £8
- Communities and Chief Executive receives £7
- London-wide payments and levies receives £6
- Council Plan Implementation – Ward Improvements receives £1
How is it paid for?
Council Tax is just one source of the Council’s income. The diagram ‘Sources of funding per £100 of income’ shows sources of funding per £100 of income as follows:
- Government and Other Grants give the Council £31
- Council Tax gives £17
- Dedicated Schools Grant gives £13
- Business Rates and Revenue Support Grant give £11
- Rental Income - the Council gets £8
- Parking income gives £8
- Fees and Charges give £7
- Other Income gives £5
Capital Expenditure – Investment into the borough’s homes, roads, schools, leisure facilities.
The ‘Capital expenditure’ diagram shows how the money for capital spending in the borough is split by themes for 2024/25.
The total sum for capital spending is £80.069m. This is divided as follows:
- £38.278m for the housing sector - new homes and temporary accommodation.
- £18.436 is spent on schools
- £3.932m is spend on other property
- £919k allocated for highways
- £6.692m is spent on the environment
- £500k for early years
- £1.813m for parks
- £175k for libraries
- £160k for Children’s Social Care
- £5.941m for Adult Social Care
- £70k for other capital spending
How the Council's capital expenditure will be funded in 2024/25
The ‘Capital funding’ diagram shows the expected funding sources for the Council's general fund capital spending of £80.069m in 2024/25.
Borrowing will provide £53.733m of the funds. Capital grants and contributions will supply £17.944m. Section 106 and Community Infrastructure Levy contributions will make up £6.649m. Revenue contributions to Capital Outlay will contribute £1.679m. Lastly, the Council will use £64k of earmarked reserves.
Looking beyond 2024-25
The Council has set a balanced budget for the 2024/25 financial year, however there are many challenges ahead. The forecasted budget gap is set to reach between £19m and £32m over the 3 years from 2025/26 depending on the future of Government grants and funding. Further details on how the Council is addressing these challenges, our pressures and risks over the next few years are set out in the budget report.