How council tax is spent

Guide to council tax 2025 to 2026

Your guide to council tax 2025 to 2026 (PDF 3.5MB)

 

How we calculate your council tax 

This year's financial package received from government assumed that councils will increase council tax and apply a social care precept by the maximum amount allowable.  This year’s council tax increase includes the maximum 2.99% uplift in the 'general' council tax element and a further 2.00% rise in the ring-fenced adult social care precept presented as a single increase of 4.99% on bills. 

Overall, the council tax for Redbridge including GLA precept in 2025/26 at band D increased by £99.80 which equates to an increase of 4.8% approximately £1.92 per week. 

The total Band D council tax including the GLA element is £2,189.67 and is made up as follows: 

 

	Redbridge   £	GLA  £	Total  £
Total council tax 2024/25	1,618.47	471.40	2,089.87
Increase in Redbridge council tax 2.99%	48.45	-	48.45
Increase in Adult Social Care Precept 2.00%	32.37	-	32.37
Greater London Authority Element 4.0%	-	18.98	18.98
Total Increase in council tax 2025/26	80.82	18.98	99.80
Total council tax 2025/26	1,699.29	490.38	2,189.67

 

How we spend our budget 

Our budget, which includes Government grants and your council tax, is used in the following ways:  

• To help deliver frontline services within the Borough 

• To fund vital support services to assist in frontline service delivery 

• to pay for the services we receive from a number of external bodies

2024/25  £m	How your money is spent	2025/26  £m
411.4	Children's Services	454.1
133.1	Adult Social Care Services	146.7
10.6	Leisure Services	11.4
52.4	Environmental Services & Highways (Civic Pride)	58.9
19.0	Regeneration & Property	12.9
50.2	Housing	44.8
165.3	Customer Care & Benefits including Concessionary Travel	165.7
6.9	Corporate Services	9.9
848.9	Gross Expenditure on General Fund Services	904.4
38.4	Housing Revenue Account (HRA)	43.6
19.1	Capital Financing	23.5
28.2	Unallocated Costs & Contingencies	32.4
20.4	Levies	21.7
955.0	Total Gross Expenditure including (HRA)	1,025.6
(160.7)	Rent, Fees & Charges and Other Income	(170.7)
(645.2)	Grants, Subsidies & Business Rates	(695.0)
(1.4)	Collection Fund Surplus	(1.3)
147.7	Council Tax Requirement	158.0

What we spend your council tax on 

Each year, once we are aware of the amount of funding we will receive from the government, we set the level of council tax to meet the cost of providing council services in the borough.  

This table tells you how much we plan to spend on services in the coming year and how much we spent on them last year.   

 

Changes in Spending	£m	£m
council tax Requirement 2024/25		147.7
Spending Changes
Growth for Existing Services and New Initiatives	22.1
New Savings	(19.3)
Levies	1.3
Capital Financing	6.1
Inflation / Contingencies	10.2	20.5
Funding Changes
Movement in Reserves	2.9
Collection Fund Surplus	(0.2)
Government Grants / Business Rates	(12.9)	(10.2)
council tax Requirement 2025/26		158.0

 

What else does your council tax pay for 

East London Waste Authority (ELWA) 

ELWA has the statutory responsibility for the disposal of household and commercial waste collected by the London Boroughs of Barking & Dagenham, Havering, Newham and Redbridge, and for the provision of Reuse and Recycling Centres in its area.  

Waste disposal is carried out under a 25-year Integrated Waste Management Services Contract by Biffi (formerly Renewi plc).  ELWA receives funding support via the government’s Private Finance Initiative.  

Budget 2025/26 

ELWA’s total levy requirement is £76.844m (2024/25: £75.740m). The 2025/26 budget includes an inflationary increase in contract and operational costs as well as provision for increases in waste tonnages. This is offset by use of the packaging extended producer responsibility funding and release of prior years’ budget surplus. Further information can be found at https://eastlondonwaste.gov.uk/

The increase for the London Borough of Redbridge is 1.68%.   

The major part of the ELWA Levy is apportioned on the basis of relative amounts of household waste delivered to ELWA by each of the four constituent London Boroughs, with the remainder apportioned according to their council tax Bases.  

The Levy on the London Borough of Redbridge for 2025/26 is £20.267m (2024/25:

£19.933m).

London Pensions Fund Authority (LPFA) 

The London Pensions Fund Authority (LPFA) raises a levy each year to meet expenditure on premature retirement compensation and outstanding personnel matters for which LPFA is responsible and cannot charge to the pension fund. These payments relate to former employees of the Greater London Council (GLC), the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) and the London Residuary Body (LRB). 

For 2025/26, the income to be raised by levies is set out below. The Greater London levy is payable in all boroughs, the Inner London levy only in Inner London Boroughs (including the City of London). The figures show the total to be raised.  

	£m
Inner London	7.0
Greater London	1.0
Total	8.0

The Levy on the London Borough of Redbridge for 2025/26 is £0.029m (£0.029m for 2024/25).  

From 2022 onwards, a portion of the amount previously raised as levies is being paid into the LPFA Pension Fund to address a funding deficit in respect of former GLC, ILEA, and LRB employees. 

As part of the 31 March 2025 triennial valuation, the Levy requirements will be reviewed and communicated to all the London Boroughs as part of the 2026/27 levy setting process.

Lee Valley Regional Park Authority  

Lee Valley Regional Park is a unique leisure, sports and environmental destination for all residents of London, Essex and Hertfordshire. The 26 mile long, 10,000 acre Park, much of it formerly derelict land, is partly funded by a levy on the council tax. This year there has been a 2.7% increase in this levy.

Budget/Levy 2024/25	2024/25  £m	2025/26  £m
Authority Operating Expenditure	15.3	15.6
Authority Operating Income	(7.8)	(8.0)
Net Service Operating Costs	7.5	7.6
Financing Costs - Debt servicing/repayments  - Capital investment	2.2	2.1  1.6
Total Net Expenditure	11.0	11.3
Net use of Reserves	(0.0)	(0.0)
Total Levy	(11.0)	(11.3)

The Levy on the London Borough of Redbridge for 2025/26 is £0.242m (£0.236m for 2024/25). 

The Environment Agency (EA) 

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 5,200 kilometres of main river and along tidal and sea defences in the area of the Thames 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: 

Thames Regional Flood and Coastal Committee  

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 1.99%

The total Local Levy raised has increased from £12.776m in 2024/25 to £13.030m for 2025/26.

The Levy on the London Borough of Redbridge for 2025/26 is £0.222m (£0.217m for 2024/25). 

	2024/25 £m	2025/26 £m
Total council tax Base	5.365m	5.453m
Gross expenditure	157.319	126.785
Levies Raised	12.776	13.030

 

Greater London Authority (GLA) 

The Mayor of London’s budget for 2025/26 sets out how he will fund his plans to continue building a fairer, safer, and greener London for everyone and provides resources to improve key public services in the capital. The budget ensures investment to tackle crime, build more affordable homes, reduce street homelessness, improve our transport network, and ensure London remains a world-leader in tackling air pollution and the climate crisis.

The budget prioritises resources for the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and London Fire Brigade (LFB) to keep Londoners safe. This includes resources for violence reduction initiatives, support for victims of crime, additional funding for frontline police officers, continued reform of the MPS and the delivery of projects to divert vulnerable young people away from gangs and violence. It also confirms funding to continue Universal Free School Meals in London’s state primary schools for a further academic year until July 2026.

Council tax for GLA services

The GLA’s share of the council tax for a typical Band D property has been increased by £18.98 (or 37p per week) to £490.38. The additional income from this increase in council tax will fund the MPS and the LFB. Council taxpayers in the City of London, which has its own police force, will pay £171.25.

 

Band D Council Tax (£)	2024/25	Change	2025/26
MOPAC (Metropolitan Police)	305.13	14.00	319.13
LFC (London Fire Brigade)	66.74	4.98	71.72
GLA	22.44	0.00	22.44
Transport for London	77.09	0.00	77.09
Total	471.40	18.98	490.38

 

Investing in frontline services

This budget will enable the Mayor to continue fulfilling his key priorities for London. This includes:

• Working with London boroughs to maintain existing concessionary travel and assisted door to door transport schemes. This includes, for example, maintaining free bus and tram travel for under 18s as well as free off-peak travel across the network for older Londoners, the disabled, armed forces personnel in uniform and eligible armed services veterans and protecting the Taxi card and Dial-a-Ride schemes
• Providing £147.5 million to continue to fund universal free school meals for London’s estimated 287,000 state primary school children for a third academic year. By July 2026 it is estimated that this programme will have saved London families up to £1,500 per child since its introduction in September 2023
• Ensuring the MPS has the resources it needs to tackle violent crime by investing additional resources in front line policing and crime prevention. The Mayor has doubled investment in policing to help tackle crime, including recurring funding for 1,300 additional police officers funded from council tax and business rates income. While the Mayor provides MOPAC and the MPS with as much funding as possible, the impact of significant real-terms national government cuts over the last 14 years has left the MPS in a difficult financial position
• Tackling the underlying causes of crime through the rollout of funding to support disadvantaged young Londoners to access positive opportunities and constructive activities that allow them to make the most of their potential, as well as resources for new violence reduction initiatives. The Mayor has funded more than 500,000 positive opportunities to help divert vulnerable young Londoners away from crime – including through London’s Violence Reduction Unit
• Providing resources to roll out a transformation programme to support the LFB in implementing the recommendations of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry and other key improvements. The LFB now responds to emergencies faster and is rated as outstanding in how it responds to major and multi-agency incidents
• Freezing bus and tram fares in 2025 and retaining the one-hour Hopper fare thus making transport more affordable for millions of Londoners. The Superloop network will also be expanded
• Building on the success of delivering the Elizabeth line on its full timetable and route. The Elizabeth line has increased central London’s rail capacity by ten per cent and saw over 500,000 passenger journeys between its opening date in 2022 and early 2025. This has made it the busiest rail line in the UK. This follows on from the opening of the Northern line extension to Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station in September 2021
• Rolling out new trains on the Piccadilly line, with the first new trains serving customers from 2025 and upgrading the signalling on the District and Metropolitan lines
• Continuing to improve accessibility across TfL’s network, increasing the availability of step-free access and toilets. In 2025/26, TfL will increase investment in step-free schemes to make progress towards its goal of halving step-free journey times across the network, as well as its target of making 50 per cent of London Underground stations fully accessible. All 41 Elizabeth line stations are now step-free
• Continuing to tackle London’s housing crisis, by investing £1.5 billion in 2025/26 to increase the number of Londoners who have a safe, decent and affordable home. The Mayor will also allocate resources to tackle homelessness and reduce rough sleeping
• Investing in schemes designed to make walking, cycling and public transport safer, cleaner and more appealing in partnership with London boroughs.

 

Summary of the GLA Group budget

The following tables compare the GLA Group’s planned spending for 2025/26 with last year and sets out why it has changed.

The GLA’s planned gross expenditure is higher this year. This reflects the additional resources the Mayor is investing in policing and the fire brigade. Overall, the council tax requirement has also increased for this reason. There has been a 2 per cent increase in London’s residential property taxbase.

Find out more about our budget at: www.london.gov.uk/budget.

 

How the GLA’s budget is funded (£ million)	2025/26
Gross expenditure	17,961.6
Government grants and retained business rates	-7,676.0
Fares, charges and other income	-8,312.4
Change in reserves	-391.3
Amount met by council taxpayers	1,581.9

 

Changes in spending (£ million)	2025/26
2024-25 council tax requirement	1,490.3
Net change in service expenditure and income	348.8
Change in use of reserves	53.4
Government grants and retained business rates	-327.2
Other changes	16.6
Amount met by council taxpayers	1,581.9