Council Tax for 2020/2021

Flats

 

 

Castle Point Borough Council collects the Council Tax for itself and on behalf of these authorities:
1. Essex County Council
2. Essex PFCC - Policing and Community Safety
3. Essex PFCC - Fire and Rescue Authority

The table below shows the amount of Council Tax each of the above authorities has set for 2020/2021. When these amounts are added together, they give the total Council Tax for a property in each band.

 

Council Tax bands and rates

Band

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

 

£

£

£

£

£

£

£

£

Castle Point Borough Council

175.44

204.68

233.92

263.16

321.64

380.12

438.60

526.32

Essex County Council

880.74

1027.53

1174.32

1321.11

1614.69

1908.27

2201.85

2642.22
Essex PFCC - Policing & Community Safety

132.42

154.49

176.56

198.63

242.77

286.91

331.05

397.26
Essex PFCC - Fire and Rescue Authority

49.26

57.47

65.68

73.89

90.31

106.73

123.15

147.78

Total

1,237.86

1,444.17

1,650.48

1,856.79

2,269.41

2,682.03

3,094.65

3,713.58

We also collect from residents of Canvey Island an additional amount for the Canvey Island Town Council. The amounts for each band are:

Canvey Island Town Council Council tax bands and rates

Band

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

Canvey Island Town Council

14.04

16.38

18.72

21.06

25.74

30.42

35.10

42.12

Total

1,251.90

1,460.55

1,669.20

1,877.85

2,295.15

2,712.45

3,129.75

3,755.70

 

Adult Social Care 

For 2020/2021, Essex County Council's Council Tax has increased overall by 3.99% of which 2% is directly attributable to the funding of adult social care. For further information click here

Statement concerning adult social care funding:

The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has made an offer to adult social care authorities. ("Adult social care authorities" are local authorities which have functions under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, namely county councils in England, district councils for an area in England for which there is no county council, London borough councils, the Common Council of the City of London and the Council of the Isles of Scilly.)

The offer was the option of an adult social care authority being able to charge an additional "precept" on its council tax without holding a referendum, to assist the authority in meeting its expenditure on adult social care from the financial year 2016-17. It was originally made in respect of the financial years up to and including 2019-20. If the Secretary of State chooses to renew this offer in respect of a particular financial year, this is subject to the approval of the House of Commons.

 

Leaflets and Financial Information

Below are the leaflets that form part of your annual Council Tax bill, please click on the relevant guide to download and view the leaflet:

Council Tax Information Leaflet 2020-2021.pdf 126KB 

Financial Information 2020-21.pdf 205KB

Essex Police, Fire and Rescue Service Leaflet 2020-21 pdf 2MB 

For the financial information relating to the other authorities please click on the following links:

 

Explanation of the Adult Social Care Precept and its Presentation on Council Tax Bills

The Adult Social Care precept was introduced in 2016/17 as a means for Local Authorities with responsibility for Adult Social care to raise additional income to fund growing pressures within this essential local service.

As part of the annual Local Government Finance process there is an announcement each year from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government which defines the percentages by which the total Council Tax for any authority can be increased before a referendum of the local electorate is required. Since the introduction of the Adult Social Care precept this limit has included a percentage for relevant basic Council Tax and a percentage for the Adult Social Care precept, which when added together give the maximum percentage increase to Council Tax before a referendum is required. The relevant report for 2020/21 can be found on the link below. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/863872/Council_Tax_Referendum_Principles_Report_2020-21_HC70.pdf

When the Adult Social care precept was introduced, central government introduced legislation which required billing authorities to show that the Council Tax for those authorities able to utilise the Adult Social Care precept is shown as two separate lines, one which shows the total amount of the relevant authorities precept relating to the Adult Social Care precept since its introduction, and another which shows the element of authorities Council Tax precept which relates to the relevant basic amount of Council Tax. In addition, the percentage change relating to each element of the total increase in the Council Tax precept is reported against each line. This percentage change has to reflect the change of each element of the increase to the total precept and not the change in the value of each line from the previous year.

Castle Point Borough Council is the billing authority and collects the Council Tax for itself, other preceptors and Essex County Council, which is the authority with responsibility for Adult Social Care.

It is in the presentation of the two elements of the Essex County Council precept required under the ‘The Council Tax (Demand Notices) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2016’ that queries from residents have arisen.

For the purposes of setting the Essex County Council precept there is only a single Council tax amount on which the allowed percentage increases are applied. In 2020/21 Essex County Council chose to increase the Adult Social care precept by the maximum 2.0% and the relevant basic amount by 1.99%. This means that the total Council Tax payable to Essex County Council has increased for all Council Tax bands by 3.99%, which is below the threshold at which an increase would be considered ‘excessive’. The total Essex County Council precept for a band D property in 2019/20 was £1,270.44, and this has increased, by the 3.99% above, to £1,321.11 in 2020/21.

Of the 3.99% increase agreed for 2020/21, 2.0% relates to the Adult Social care precept. This equates to an increase of £25.38. The remainder of the increase (£25.29) relates to the relevant basic amount increase. Since the legislation requires that the total Adult Social care precept is shown as the cumulative total since the additional precept was introduced, the figure on the face of the 2020/21 demands for a band D property is £116.19, which reflects the £25.38 increase from 2020/21 added to the £90.81 relating to 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20 combined. Whilst the reported percentage increases for the Adult Social care precept is 2.0% the increase between £90.81 and £116.19 is clearly not 2.0%. This is due to the fact that the 2.0% is calculated on the whole of the Essex County Council precept (as explained above).

The current presentation of the Adult Social care precept on Council Tax demands does cause some confusion, as it appears that there is an element of Council Tax which has increased by a percentage significantly greater than that allowed. However as demonstrated above this is due to the presentational requirements set down in legislation rather than there being an excessive increase in the Council Tax precept levied by Essex County Council. This has been the case since the Adult Social care precept was introduced, and has resulted in contact from residents who do not understand or are confused by the presentation of their Council Tax demands.

Castle Point Borough Council, as the billing authority, can assure its residents that that it has not contravened any legislation or regulations in regard to this matter. Other billing authorities have the same presentational issues.

Any further enquiries regarding the Adult Social Care precept should be directed to Essex County Council, not to Castle Point Borough Council.