Councillors vote on Council Tax for 2024/25

Date published: 22nd February 2024

Councillors voted to increase North Norfolk District Council’s share of Council Tax for 2024-25 by 3% at last night’s Full Council meeting.

This reflects an annual increase of £4.95 or less for the District element of Council Tax for 84.6% of properties in the district.

This increase only reflects the portion of Council Tax North Norfolk District Council charges and collects. Any changes to the charges levied by Norfolk County Council, Parish Councils and Norfolk Police and Crime Commissioner will still be reflected in Council Tax bills for 2024/25 – accounting for more than 90% of the total cost to tax-payers in our district.

In the 2024/25 Council Tax budget, just 8p per £1 of Council Tax went to North Norfolk District Council for all the services it provided, with 75p going to Norfolk County Council, 14p going to the Police and Crime Commissioner and 3p going to Town and Parish Councils.

Each year, the Council sets its budget and allocates its proportion of Council Tax income towards the functions and services it provides to residents in North Norfolk.

The Council is facing a financial shortfall of £1.5m next year, with principal contributing factors including a sharp increase in the cost of providing temporary accommodation and national factors such as rising energy costs and inflation.

Cllr. Tim Adams, Leader of North Norfolk District Council, said:

“The 2024/2025 budget has been produced during a very challenging time for the local government sector as a whole, with significant increases in costs, particularly related to homelessness and temporary accommodation which is now costing the authority around £1m a year.

This budget reflects this challenging context, with savings and additional revenue of £1.225m to close this gap. This, sadly, will result in some reductions in discretionary services during the year. The Council tax rise can only provide £205,000, and therefore not enough to close the total deficit of £1.5m.

Following years of robust and careful budgetary decisions, we are pleased that the authority is still in a position where it has no external debts, which is increasingly rarer among Councils nationally, and a position we will seek to retain as much as possible.

Despite the challenges, our capital budget does provide for continued investment in Council facilities and property, contributing to a reduction in running costs, meeting net zero objectives and provision of sports and leisure facilities providing for residents and supporting our visitor economy.”

What services does my Council Tax pay for?

Norfolk County Council’s 2024/25 budget is £528 million and covers services such as children’s services (including schools), adult social services, community and environment services and general finance (inc. money set aside for capital projects).

At North Norfolk District Council’s level, expenditure is split into capital and revenue – capital spending is one-off projects such as The Reef, major improvement works (such as Cromer Pier works), initiatives (such as new affordable housing and purchase of temporary accommodation) or infrastructure procurement (such as the development of Changing Places and improved public toilets in recent months).

Revenue spending covers the Council’s wider service provisions, such as coastal management, environmental services and culture and recreation (including leisure centres and public parks).

View a breakdown of how tax income is dispersed: Home | Council Tax: How is it spent (north-norfolk.gov.uk)

The Council Tax precept for the Police and Crime Commissioner sets the budget for policing in the county – see the full breakdown from Norfolk Police

View details of the Council Tax precept for Norfolk County Council: Council tax - Norfolk County Council