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A fair deal for North Somerset

Where our funding comes from and how we spend it

We have created a graphic to show each of our funding streams and how they contribute to our overall budget.

An infographic showing where the funding comes from for the council, with the majority being central government, council tax, and business rates

In summary:

  • most of our funding comes from central government, around 40%
    • this can only be spent on specific things, such as schools, housing benefits, or roads
  • 33% comes from council tax
  • 13% comes from charges you pay for services, such as planning, licensing, social care and parking
  • 11% comes from business rates paid by local businesses
  • 3% comes from other sources such as investments or rental income

Due to budget cuts over the years, the money we receive from central government has dropped significantly. 

In 2014/15, 25% of our income used to from government funding. This is now down to 12% in 2024/25.  

Vital services

Councils deliver hundreds of services vital to their local area.  

In North Somerset, this includes: 

  • Adult Social Care – services to support older people and adults over 18 with learning disabilities 
  • Childrens Social Care - supporting children in care, fostering, adoption, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision and planning for school places 
  • waste collection and disposal 
  • homelessness prevention 
  • planning 
  • parks 
  • libraries 
  • street cleaning 
  • road and street maintenance 
  • trading standards, food safety, environmental health, licensing, registrar services 
  • community safety services 
  • and much more 

Where our funding is spent

We set our budgets and use our funding to deliver a full range of services each year.  

In some cases, such as Adult and Children’s social care and SEND provision, these services are a lifeline and we have a statutory commitment to deliver them.  

In other cases, such as street maintenance and parks, they are a key part of what makes North Somerset a great place to live, work and visit.  

We have created an infographic to show you the percentages of where we spend our funding. 

Infographic showing the breakdown of how North Somerset Council spends it's money, with the highest being adult and children's social care and support services

In summary, out of every £100 we receive

  • £29 goes to adult social care
  • £23 goes to children and young people's social care
  • £14 goes to other support services, such as elections
  • £11 goes to housing benefits
  • £7 goes to waste and recycling collections, and maintaining parks, gardens, and natural landscapes
  • £6 goes to planning and building affordable homes
  • £3 goes to maintaining roads, street lights, and public transport
    • same amount also to public health programmes
    • same amount also to libraries, registration and business support
  • £1 goes to our online and customer services

Across the board, demand for our services has increased, but unfortunately our available government funding has not.

For more information around our cost and service demand, see our dedicated webpage to find out more.

Increasing costs and demand for services