Budget challenge

A large proportion of the money to fund the services residents need and rely on used to be provided through a core grant from the government. Councils add to this through Council Tax and other fees and charges.

However, this has changed over the years. We stopped receiving a core grant from government and are now limited to the amount of Business Rates we can keep. This means we have had to become much more commercially focused, increase income and make savings to help us pay for core services.


Despite the cuts in our funding from government, we have continued to provide and improve a wide range of services.

Last year (2022-2023) we spent around £90m delivering services. Of this, £65.6m comes from government grant, subsidies, fees and charges. The extra £4.4m net needed to run council services were funded by our share of Business Rates, New Homes Bonus and Council Tax (£13.9m).

Of every £1 collected in Council Tax, 12p comes to Colchester City Council. Out of that money, we provide a range of services that residents depend and reply on. Between April and March 2024, we will have spent around £90 million delivering these services.