Budget Consultation 2022-23

Consultation has concluded


Update 5 January 2022

Thank you to everyone that gave their views. The consultation report is now available in the documents section.
Your responses will be considered by Councillors at their Cabinet Committee and Cabinet meetings taking place throughout January before the budget is debated at and approved by County Council in February.


The financial outlook for Kent County Council (KCC) is currently highly uncertain and in all probability, we will like last year, have a budget gap to close. The lasting impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic recession on council spending and income remains unclear. This means that forecasting future years’ spending, income levels from service users and from residents and businesses is less reliable than we have been used to in previous years. Added to this uncertainty we do not yet have any indication from government on what our grant funding will be next year or their expectations regarding council tax increases. 

Have your say

We need to consider that we may have to make some difficult decisions in the near future, but before we do this, we would like to hear your views on:

  • The future of services – how comfortable would you be to see spending reductions on a range of services?
  • Council tax – is a modest rise acceptable if it helps to sustain the services you most value?
  • Doing things differently – what are the most important things we should consider when deciding how to do things differently? 

It is vital that we take account of as many people’s views as possible to inform the very difficult decisions we may have to make. 

We recommend that you read the consultation document which is available in the Documents section. 

Give us your views by completing our questionnaire.

Your responses will be considered by Councillors at their Cabinet Committee and Cabinet meetings taking place throughout January 2022 before the budget is debated at and approved by County Council in February 2022.

How we spend our annual revenue budget

We provide a huge range of essential services to Kent residents, spending over £1.7 billion (excluding schools) each year. 

For every £100 we spend, this is how it is split between the various services we provide:

Pie chart showing 1-14 and a pound coin in the middle

No
Service
Amount
1Adults and older people£35
2Children's social care£12
3Children's other services£9
4Borrowing costs£7
5Management, support services and overheads£7
6Transport services£5
7Schools and high needs£5
8Waste services£5
9Public health£4
10Highways£3
11Other direct services to the public£2
12Community services£2
13Operational premises£2
14Schools' services£2


How we are funded

Funding for our revenue budget comes from many sources. Nearly half of our budget (excluding schools) is made up of money we receive from Council Tax.

Each year we set a budget to decide how much we're able to spend on services for Kent residents and businesses for the next financial year, compared to how much income we're likely to get from government and local taxation (Council Tax and Business Rates) to fund this.

For every £100 in funding we receive, this is how it is split between the different sources of income:

Pie chart showing 1-6 with a stack of pound coins in the middle

NoFundingAmount
1Council Tax (*)£46
2Grants (ring-fenced for a specific purpose)£19
3Grants (un-ring-fenced) (*)£16
4Income from service users£15
5Business Rates (*)£3
6Revenue Support Grant£1

* includes one-off covid funding from Government


Update 5 January 2022

Thank you to everyone that gave their views. The consultation report is now available in the documents section.
Your responses will be considered by Councillors at their Cabinet Committee and Cabinet meetings taking place throughout January before the budget is debated at and approved by County Council in February.


The financial outlook for Kent County Council (KCC) is currently highly uncertain and in all probability, we will like last year, have a budget gap to close. The lasting impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic recession on council spending and income remains unclear. This means that forecasting future years’ spending, income levels from service users and from residents and businesses is less reliable than we have been used to in previous years. Added to this uncertainty we do not yet have any indication from government on what our grant funding will be next year or their expectations regarding council tax increases. 

Have your say

We need to consider that we may have to make some difficult decisions in the near future, but before we do this, we would like to hear your views on:

  • The future of services – how comfortable would you be to see spending reductions on a range of services?
  • Council tax – is a modest rise acceptable if it helps to sustain the services you most value?
  • Doing things differently – what are the most important things we should consider when deciding how to do things differently? 

It is vital that we take account of as many people’s views as possible to inform the very difficult decisions we may have to make. 

We recommend that you read the consultation document which is available in the Documents section. 

Give us your views by completing our questionnaire.

Your responses will be considered by Councillors at their Cabinet Committee and Cabinet meetings taking place throughout January 2022 before the budget is debated at and approved by County Council in February 2022.

How we spend our annual revenue budget

We provide a huge range of essential services to Kent residents, spending over £1.7 billion (excluding schools) each year. 

For every £100 we spend, this is how it is split between the various services we provide:

Pie chart showing 1-14 and a pound coin in the middle

No
Service
Amount
1Adults and older people£35
2Children's social care£12
3Children's other services£9
4Borrowing costs£7
5Management, support services and overheads£7
6Transport services£5
7Schools and high needs£5
8Waste services£5
9Public health£4
10Highways£3
11Other direct services to the public£2
12Community services£2
13Operational premises£2
14Schools' services£2


How we are funded

Funding for our revenue budget comes from many sources. Nearly half of our budget (excluding schools) is made up of money we receive from Council Tax.

Each year we set a budget to decide how much we're able to spend on services for Kent residents and businesses for the next financial year, compared to how much income we're likely to get from government and local taxation (Council Tax and Business Rates) to fund this.

For every £100 in funding we receive, this is how it is split between the different sources of income:

Pie chart showing 1-6 with a stack of pound coins in the middle

NoFundingAmount
1Council Tax (*)£46
2Grants (ring-fenced for a specific purpose)£19
3Grants (un-ring-fenced) (*)£16
4Income from service users£15
5Business Rates (*)£3
6Revenue Support Grant£1

* includes one-off covid funding from Government