Where Your Council Tax Goes

Contents

What am I paying for services from Rushcliffe?
What do I get for my money?
Why has my Council Tax bill increased?
Adult Social Care
Maximum increases
Breakdown of Council Tax bills by band

We have found that when our customers talk to us about the Council Tax, the same or similar questions often reoccur. Below is a list of the most frequently asked questions with our answers. If you have any other questions about the tax or there are any other issues you would like to discuss with us, please do not hesitate to contact us.

These frequently asked questions are divided into two sections. The section below explains how the charge is determined and what we are spending your money on in 2024/25. The main Council Tax page answers questions about how to pay, claim discounts, query the charge or your banding and other information, to access the main Council Tax page.

What am I paying for services from Rushcliffe?

From April Rushcliffe Borough Council’s element of the council tax is as follows:

Rushcliffe part of council tax bill per property band
First column = property band. Second column = annual council tax charge. Third column = annual increase. Fourth column = increase per week.
Property in Band	Annual Council Tax	Annual Increase	Increase per Week
A	£105.25	£2.62	£0.05
B	£122.80	£3.06	£0.06
C	£140.34	£3.50	£0.07
D	£157.88	£3.93	£0.08
E	£192.96	£4.80	£0.09
F	£228.05	£5.68	£0.11
G	£263.13	£6.55	£0.13
H	£315.76	£7.86	£0.15

What do I get for my money? Are Rushcliffe Borough Council's services good value?

Rushcliffe's portion of your council tax bill this year for a band D property is £157.88 – only 43 pence per day, an increase of £3.93 in a band D charge. We will still remain a district with the lowest council tax in the county and in the lowest 25% in the country and we continue to provide excellent value services.

The first priority in Rushcliffe’s Corporate Strategy is ‘our residents’ quality of life’ and Rushcliffe is regularly rated in both local and national surveys as one of the best places to live in the UK. The Council continues to provide quality services, maintaining discretionary services, and has committed to investing in the environment, supporting targets for carbon reduction, a commitment to economic growth with projects such as the Freeport and Development Corporation and Combined Mayoral Authority, meeting challenging housing targets, supporting the vulnerable and improving services having recently built a new leisure centre and crematorium and further improvements to our leisure centres planned.

The Council continues to focus on identifying savings with over £5.1m delivered since inception and a further £1.7m planned savings target over the next five years as the Council strives to support residents amidst cost of living challenges (with continued high inflation) and to enable us to continue delivering excellent value services to its residents despite difficult economic background.

For more details, see the Council Tax Charges - Enquiries leaflet

Why has my Council Tax bill increased?

Your Council Tax bill has increased, because of increases from all of the organisations who receive a portion of it. Rushcliffe Borough Council has taken the decision to increase its part of the Council Tax charge by 2.55% for 2024/25.

The annual increase in the Rushcliffe element equates to £3.93 for the year for a Band D property, or 8 pence per week. The increase is to help the Council to deliver excellent services whilst the level of central government grant we receive diminishes. For district councils, our Council Tax charge remains in the lowest 25% across the country.

Rushcliffe Borough Council's share of your bill accounts for just under 7% of the total. You also pay for services provided by Nottinghamshire County Council, Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner, and, where applicable, your local Parish Council. We cannot comment on these services.

However, to find out more about these services please use the links below:

Adult Social Care

The calculation for the increase of the adult social care element of the Nottinghamshire County Council’s precept is determined in accordance with The Council Tax (Demand Notices) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2017. These amended regulations were designed to ensure consistency across all local authorities in how the precepts were displayed on the demand notice. The figures below show how the figure has been calculated, which relate to a band D property:

The following figures relate to the charges for a Band D property.

In 2023/24, the charges were:

Main precept £1,493.71

Adult social care element £229.95

Total charge £1,723.66

For 2024/25, Nottinghamshire County Council has determined to increase their main precept by 2.84% and their adult social care element by 2.0%.

The main precept has increased by 2.84% (note - this is displayed on the bill as 2.8% as we must display percentage increases only to one decimal place):

2023/24 total charge £1,723.66

2.84% increase £48.95

The adult social care element has increased by 2.0%:

2023/24 total charge £1,723.66

2.0% increase £34.47

Therefore the revised charge for 2024/25 is:

Main precept £1,493.71 + £48.95 = £1,542.66

Adult social care £229.95 + £34.47 = £264.42

Total £1,723.66 + £83.42 = £1,807.08

Maximum increases

On 7 February 2024 the House of Commons approved the Referendums Relating to Council Tax Increases (Principles) (England) Report 2024/25.

For 2024/25, the report provides for a core council tax referendum principle of 3%. This means that, as a minimum, local authorities will be able to increase their relevant basic amount of council tax (essentially their average band D council tax including special expenses and levies but excluding local precepts) by up to 3% without having to hold a referendum.

The report also sets out additional flexibilities for different categories of authority for 2024/25. These are as follows:

Councils with responsibility for adult social care can increase their council tax by an additional 2% Adult Social Care Precept. This means that a referendum will be required if the authority sets an increase of 5% (comprising 2% for the Adult Social Care Precept, and 3% for other expenditure) or more than 5%.
Shire District Councils – a referendum will be required if the authority sets an increase of 3% (or more than 3%), or more than £5, whichever is greater.
Police and Crime Commissioners – a referendum will be required if the authority sets an increase of more than £13.
Fire and rescue authorities – a referendum will be required if the authority sets an increase of 3%, or more than 3%.

Breakdown of Council Tax bills by band

Breakdown of council tax bills by property band.
First column = property band. Second column = Nottinghamshire County Council charge. Third column = Adult social care element. Fourth column = Combined fire authority charge. Fifth column = Police charge. Sixth column = Rushcliffe borough plus parish (average parish). Seventh column = Total charge.
Property in Band	Nottinghamshire County Council £	Adult Social Care Element £	Combined Fire Authority £	Police £	*Borough £	Total £
A	1,028.44	176.28	61.47	188.10	156.76	1,611.05
B	1,199.85	205.66	71.72	219.45	182.89	1,879.57
C	1,371.25	235.04	81.96	250.80	209.02	2,148.07
D	1,542.66	264.42	92.21	282.15	235.14	2,416.58
E	1,885.47	323.18	112.70	344.85	287.39	2,953.59
F	2,228.29	381.94	133.19	407.55	339.65	3,490.62
G	2,571.10	440.70	153.68	470.25	391.90	4,027.63
H	3,085.32	528.84	184.42	564.30	470.28	4,833.16

* This figure represents the average borough / parish / special expense charge.

What are the Special Expenses included in my bill? (applicable only to West Bridgford, Ruddington and Keyworth)

Where there is no parish council the equivalent recreation and community services provided have to be paid for by Rushcliffe Borough Council. To cover these costs the residents of West Bridgford pay Special Expenses. These cover certain parks and playing fields, community centres, litter bins, benches and seats and children's play areas.

The Special Expenses for Ruddington and Keyworth relate to funding arrangements for cemeteries.

Council tax leaflets

Precept leaflets are available for the following Parish/Town Councils:

Bingham Town Council leaflet 2024-25

Cotgrave Town Council leaflet 2024-25

East Leake Parish Council leaflet 2024-25

Keyworth Parish Council leaflet 2024-25

Radcliffe on Trent Parish Council leaflet 2024-25

Ruddington Parish Council leaflet 2024-25

Accessible parish leaflets: