Paying your Council Tax

The Council Tax you pay, which makes up 9% of total council income, goes towards the cost of providing a wide range of services for the people of Manchester. These include:

• Youth services 
• Libraries
• Parks, open spaces and galleries 
• Leisure facilities, including swimming pools and recreation centres 
• Social care for the elderly, children and other vulnerable members of the community 
• Support for the voluntary sector 
• Planning and building control 
• Refuse collection, street cleaning and other environmental issues 
• Maintenance of roads and bridges 
• Traffic management and road safety 
• Parking services and control 
• Elections, registrars of births, marriages and deaths 
• Cemeteries, crematoria and mortuary services 
• Consumer protection 
• Economic development and regeneration 
• Community development services 
• Housing, including the provision of social housing, housing strategy and advice and services for the homeless 
• Housing Benefits and Council Tax administration.

The Council is also responsible for schools and other educational services for children but these are paid for through the Dedicated Schools Grant  which for 2011/12 is £349million. This is a grant from the Government and does not fall on the Council Tax.

The Council has frozen Council Tax in 2011/12 for the second year running. For the past decade we have kept any Council Tax increases to below inflation and now have one of the lowest Council Taxes in Greater Manchester. We continue to look for more efficient ways of delivering the services we provide. 

For a detailed breakdown of spending on Manchester City Council Services in 2011/12 we have produced a leaflet called Council Tax - Your services explained.