Local authorities in England have multiple levels of governance. The layered and complex nature of local government creates confusion as to how council tax is charged and allocated across its many levels. Within a council tax bill, there can be differing council tax precepts attributed to the multiple layers of local governance depending on the authority.
Using council tax data from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, this note analyses seven different types of local public bodies that form local government in England. This includes metropolitan and London boroughs, unitary authorities, county councils, district councils, parish and town councils, police and crime commissioners and fire authorities. All these layers of local government charge council tax at varying rates depending on the local authority's jurisdiction. Even within similar local authority types there can be large disparities between the role and responsibilities of public authorities, causing some to charge higher levels of council tax than their counterparts.
This note identifies the ten highest council tax levels per local authority type, clarifying the different amount of tax each layer of local government accounts for.
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Key findings
- Gateshead had the highest council tax of any metropolitan or London borough with average band D council tax of £2,174 in 2024-25.
- The city of Nottingham had the highest average band D council tax of any unitary authority at £2,155 in 2024-25.
- Oxfordshire had the highest average band D council tax of any county council at £1,821 in 2024-25.
- Ipswich was the district council with the highest average band D council tax at £407 in 2024-25.
- Falmouth had the highest average band D council tax precept of any parish or town council at £431 in 2024-25.
- The Surrey police and crime commissioner had the highest average band D council tax precept of any police and crime commissioner at £324 in 2024-25.
- Of the combined fire authorities and metropolitan fire and rescue authorities, Durham had the highest average band D council tax precept at £118 in 2024-25.