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Where your council tax goes in Bristol
Last updated . Figures refresh every night. How each figure is worked out.
A Band D council tax bill in Bristol is £2,713.68 for 2026-27, split between Bristol £2,266.04, Bristol: adult social care precept, this year's increase £44.01, Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable £308.20, Avon Combined Fire and Rescue Authority £95.43. Shared out in proportion to what each body spends, the largest single line is adult social care at Bristol: £834.56 of the bill. Council tax pays for 21% of the council's own spending; the rest is government grant, business rates and fees.
Figures for the 2026–27 financial year. Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Key figures
- £2,713.68Band D bill, 2026-27
- £2,266.04Goes to Bristol itself (84%)
- £834.56Largest line: adult social care
- 20.7%Of the council's money that comes from council tax, 2025-26
Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Who gets your bill
Figures are for a Band D home. Bands A to H pay a fixed fraction of this, set in law.
And where does that bit go?
Choose any part of the bill to see how it divides, then keep going as far as the published returns allow. Every level has its own link you can share.
Your bill: £2,713.68
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Bristol £2,266.04
Bristol
£2,266.04 of your bill goes to Bristol. It is shared out below in proportion to how Bristol spent its money in 2025-26, its latest published return.
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Adult social care £834.56
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Children's social care £556.16
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Education £376.66
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Environment and regulation £188.71
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Housing (not council homes) £113.65
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Running the council £75.63
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Planning and development £39.87
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Public health £20.40
Roads and transport brought in £12.2m more than it cost in 2025-26, so it takes no share of your bill.
Before sharing out your bill, the part of education paid for by the Dedicated Schools Grant (£241.2m) and public health paid for by the public health grant (£38.6m) is taken off, because council tax does not pay for it.
Which councils count as similar
Medians are across the 10 unitary councils in England closest in population: Wiltshire, Durham, West Northamptonshire, Cheshire East, Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Somerset, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Dorset, North Yorkshire. Per-resident figures use ONS mid-year population estimates.
Adult social care
£834.56 of your bill goes to adult social care at Bristol. Here is how its £245.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Learning disability support £278.70
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Physical support £222.60
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Mental health support £158.72
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Care assessment and safeguarding £66.25
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Social support (carers, substance misuse, isolation, asylum) £40.12
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Sensory support £9.26
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Assistive equipment and technology £7.61
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Information and early intervention £0.06
Named suppliers
In Bristol's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-09 to 2026-08, payments our keyword matching links to adult social care came to £22.0m across 7,180 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Patience Company Ltd: £2.2m (837 payments)
- Bosun Care Limited: £1.9m (731 payments)
- New Chapters Support & Wellbeing Ltd: £1.9m (785 payments)
- Maples: £1.8m (979 payments)
- Sports Heroes Ltd: £1.5m (241 payments)
Learning disability support
£278.70 of your bill goes to learning disability support at Bristol. Here is how its £84.2m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £247.81
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Aged 65 and over £30.88
Physical support
£222.60 of your bill goes to physical support at Bristol. Here is how its £67.3m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £130.19
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Aged 18 to 64 £92.41
Mental health support
£158.72 of your bill goes to mental health support at Bristol. Here is how its £48.0m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £121.96
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Aged 65 and over £36.75
Support with memory and cognition
£51.23 of your bill goes to support with memory and cognition at Bristol. Here is how its £15.5m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £37.71
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Aged 18 to 64 £13.52
Sensory support
£9.26 of your bill goes to sensory support at Bristol. Here is how its £2.8m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £5.50
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Aged 65 and over £3.76
Children's social care
£556.16 of your bill goes to children's social care at Bristol. Here is how its £163.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Children looked after £330.25
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Safeguarding and social work £111.03
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Family support £80.45
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Asylum-seeking children £21.81
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Youth justice £7.73
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Services for young people £3.31
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Other children's and families' services £1.58
Named suppliers
In Bristol's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-09 to 2026-08, payments our keyword matching links to children's social care came to £64.5m across 6,904 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Venturers' Academy E-Act: £4.7m (12 payments)
- Cabot Learning Federation T/A Snowdon Village: £2.1m (12 payments)
- Oasis Support Ltd: £1.9m (1349 payments)
- The National Fostering Agency Ltd: £1.5m (395 payments)
- The Adolescent & Children'S Trust: £1.3m (12 payments)
Education
£376.66 of your bill goes to education at Bristol. Here is how its £352.1m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Primary schools £125.16
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Early years and nursery £83.87
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Secondary schools £56.06
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Other education £47.72
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Special schools and alternative provision £42.66
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Post-16 £21.20
Named suppliers
In Bristol's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-09 to 2026-08, payments our keyword matching links to education came to £27.8m across 2,416 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Invesis UK Limited T/A Bristol Schools Limited: £11.5m (282 payments)
- Bristol Pfi Ltd (Unitary Charges Only): £4.7m (15 payments)
- EW Beard Limited: £3.1m (18 payments)
- Bath And North East Somerset Council - Pensions: £1.5m (16 payments)
- Constellia Public Limited: £623k (46 payments)
Environment and regulation
£188.71 of your bill goes to environment and regulation at Bristol. Here is how its £55.6m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Recycling and waste minimisation £44.48
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Waste collection £41.26
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Waste disposal £36.10
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Street cleaning £32.17
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Environmental health, food safety, pest control and licensing £11.55
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Community safety and CCTV £8.39
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Trade waste £8.08
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Other environmental services £3.50
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Trading standards £2.63
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Flood defence, land drainage and coast protection £0.41
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Public toilets £0.14
Named suppliers
In Bristol's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-09 to 2026-08, payments our keyword matching links to environment and regulation came to £11.0m across 501 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- South Gloucestershire Council (Main Order Account): £4.7m (10 payments)
- Bristol Waste company Limited: £3.5m (1 payment)
- Arcadis LLP: £590k (19 payments)
- Cotswold Estates & Gardens Ltd: £310k (14 payments)
- Constellia Public Limited: £229k (74 payments)
Housing (not council homes)
£113.65 of your bill goes to housing (not council homes) at Bristol. Here is how its £33.5m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Homelessness and temporary accommodation £35.92
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Housing strategy, advice and enabling £31.41
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Supporting People and welfare services £31.30
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Housing benefit administration and discretionary payments £13.31
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Private sector housing renewal £1.10
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Other General Fund housing £0.62
Named suppliers
In Bristol's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-09 to 2026-08, payments our keyword matching links to housing (not council homes) came to £95.7m across 3,423 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Stepnell Ltd: £23.1m (95 payments)
- Hill Partnerships Limited: £8.9m (12 payments)
- One Lockleaze Llp: £5.1m (14 payments)
- Alex Fry Rental Properties Ltd: £3.1m (240 payments)
- Ocean Property Lawyers Ltd: £2.5m (8 payments)
Council homes are not in this. Council housing is paid for through the Housing Revenue Account, from tenants' rents, and the law keeps it separate from the General Fund that council tax goes into. Bristol's Housing Revenue Account took in £156.8m and spent £158.0m in 2025-26. What council tax does and doesn't pay for.
Running the council
£75.63 of your bill goes to running the council at Bristol. Here is how its £22.3m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Local welfare assistance £24.77
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Corporate and democratic core £20.97
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Collecting council tax and business rates £13.29
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Non-distributed costs (past pensions, unused assets) £7.99
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Elections and electoral registration £3.98
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Coroners' and other courts £3.11
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Emergency planning £1.52
Named suppliers
In Bristol's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-09 to 2026-08, payments our keyword matching links to running the council came to £10.8m across 1,737 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Names withheld by the council: £1.4m (641 payments)
- Specialist Computer Centres PLC: £1.4m (4 payments)
- Grant Thornton UK LLP: £999k (8 payments)
- CLC Contractors Limited: £772k (61 payments)
- G2V Recruitment Group Limited t/a Vivid Resourcing: £409k (121 payments)
Parks, leisure, libraries and culture
£60.40 of your bill goes to parks, leisure, libraries and culture at Bristol. Here is how its £17.8m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Libraries £21.34
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Parks and open spaces (including play areas) £21.05
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Museums, arts, heritage and archives £17.70
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Community centres and public halls £0.31
Named suppliers
In Bristol's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-09 to 2026-08, payments our keyword matching links to parks, leisure, libraries and culture came to £14.0m across 1,140 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Bristol Active Ltd: £3.5m (17 payments)
- SLM Ltd: £2.8m (7 payments)
- Constellia Public Limited: £823k (32 payments)
- Invesis UK Limited T/A Bristol Schools Limited: £734k (15 payments)
- Kompan Ltd: £645k (10 payments)
Planning and development
£39.87 of your bill goes to planning and development at Bristol. Here is how its £11.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Economic development and business support £24.79
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Community development £11.83
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Environmental initiatives £2.99
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Building control £0.26
Named suppliers
In Bristol's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-09 to 2026-08, payments our keyword matching links to planning and development came to £1.3m across 188 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Constellia Public Limited: £371k (61 payments)
- Bath And North East Somerset Council - Pensions: £136k (1 payment)
- Southmead Development Trust Ltd: £113k (1 payment)
- Bath Demolition Ltd: £93k (4 payments)
- Suttle Projects Limited: £89k (5 payments)
Public health
£20.40 of your bill goes to public health at Bristol. Here is how its £44.6m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Drug and alcohol services £7.41
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Health visiting and children's 0-5 services £5.11
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Sexual health £2.54
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Other public health £2.29
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Obesity and physical activity £0.92
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Children's 5-19 programmes £0.91
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NHS health checks and health protection £0.63
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Stop smoking and tobacco control £0.53
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Public mental health £0.07
Named suppliers
In Bristol's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-09 to 2026-08, payments our keyword matching links to public health came to £32.7m across 213 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Turning Point (Services) Limited: £10.9m (33 payments)
- Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB: £10.8m (3 payments)
- University Hospitals Bristol and NHS Foundation Trust: £5.6m (15 payments)
- SH24 Digital Ltd: £1.6m (29 payments)
- Addiction Recovery Agency Ltd: £1.3m (23 payments)
Bristol: adult social care precept, this year's increase
£44.01 of your bill is this year's adult social care precept, which councils may raise on top of the usual limit for adult social care. It is shown against how Bristol's adult social care spending of £245.7m divided in 2025-26. MHCLG publishes only this year's increase; the running total since 2016-17 printed on your bill is in the council part above.
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Learning disability support £14.70
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Physical support £11.74
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Mental health support £8.37
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Care assessment and safeguarding £3.49
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Social support (carers, substance misuse, isolation, asylum) £2.12
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Sensory support £0.49
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Assistive equipment and technology £0.40
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Information and early intervention £0.00
Learning disability support
£14.70 of your bill goes to learning disability support at Bristol. Here is how its £84.2m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £13.07
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Aged 65 and over £1.63
Physical support
£11.74 of your bill goes to physical support at Bristol. Here is how its £67.3m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £6.87
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Aged 18 to 64 £4.87
Mental health support
£8.37 of your bill goes to mental health support at Bristol. Here is how its £48.0m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £6.43
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Aged 65 and over £1.94
Support with memory and cognition
£2.70 of your bill goes to support with memory and cognition at Bristol. Here is how its £15.5m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £1.99
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Aged 18 to 64 £0.71
Sensory support
£0.49 of your bill goes to sensory support at Bristol. Here is how its £2.8m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £0.29
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Aged 65 and over £0.20
Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable
£308.20 of your bill is this year's adult social care precept, which councils may raise on top of the usual limit for adult social care. It is shown against how Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable's adult social care spending of £466.8m divided in 2025-26. MHCLG publishes only this year's increase; the running total since 2016-17 printed on your bill is in the council part above.
Avon Combined Fire and Rescue Authority
£95.43 of your bill goes to Avon Combined Fire and Rescue Authority. It is shared out below in proportion to how Avon Combined Fire and Rescue Authority spent its money in 2025-26, its latest published return.
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Fire and rescue £92.67
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Running the council £2.76
Which councils count as similar
Medians are across the 10 fire and rescue authorities closest in population: Nottinghamshire Combined Fire and Rescue Authority, Staffordshire Combined Fire and Rescue Authority, Leicestershire Combined Fire and Rescue Authority, Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Authority, Cheshire Combined Fire and Rescue Authority, Derbyshire Combined Fire and Rescue Authority, South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority, Berkshire Combined Fire and Rescue Authority, South Wales Fire Authority. Per-resident figures use ONS mid-year population estimates.
Fire and rescue
£92.67 of your bill goes to fire and rescue at Avon Combined Fire and Rescue Authority. Here is how its £63.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Firefighting and rescue £82.17
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Community fire safety £10.32
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Fire emergency planning £0.18
Parks, street cleaning and roads here
What Bristol spent, net of income, on the lines readers ask about most. Roads and street cleaning are also shown per mile of road the council looks after, where it is the highway authority. Gully cleaning and verge cutting are inside routine maintenance; no return splits them out.
| Line | Net spending | Per resident | Similar councils, per resident | Per mile of road | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Parks and open spaces (including play areas)Details for Parks and open spaces (including play areas) | £6.6m | £13 | £18 | — | down 16.2% on 2024-25 |
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Street cleaningDetails for Street cleaning | £9.5m | £19 | £7.99 | £13,441 (similar: £1,738) | up 5.5% on 2024-25 |
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Road and bridge maintenanceDetails for Road and bridge maintenance | £5.2m | £11 | £26 | £7,416 (similar: £5,042) | up 31.0% on 2024-25 |
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Environmental, safety and routine maintenanceDetails for Environmental, safety and routine maintenance | £1.1m | £2.16 | £22 | £1,515 (similar: £3,344) | up 8.8% on 2024-25 |
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Structural maintenance (resurfacing, bridges)Details for Structural maintenance (resurfacing, bridges) | £4.2m | £8.42 | £6.75 | £5,901 (similar: £1,206) | up 38.2% on 2024-25 |
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Winter service (gritting)Details for Winter service (gritting) | £475k | £0.96 | £4.11 | £672 (similar: £904) | down 18.7% on 2024-25 |
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Street lighting (including energy)Details for Street lighting (including energy) | £1.9m | £3.84 | £7.31 | £2,690 (similar: £1,371) | down 47.4% on 2024-25 |
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Miles of road: Department for Transport road lengths, 2025; locally managed major roads and all minor roads. More on what council tax does and doesn't pay for.
What it adds up to
| Service | Per resident | Median |
|---|---|---|
EducationDetails for Education | £711 | £718 |
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Adult social careDetails for Adult social care | £496 | £478 |
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Children's social careDetails for Children's social care | £331 | £300 |
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Environment and regulationDetails for Environment and regulation | £112 | £110 |
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Public healthDetails for Public health | £90 | £64 |
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Housing (not council homes)Details for Housing (not council homes) | £68 | £33 |
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Running the councilDetails for Running the council | £45 | £52 |
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Parks, leisure, libraries and cultureDetails for Parks, leisure, libraries and culture | £36 | £38 |
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Planning and developmentDetails for Planning and development | £24 | £21 |
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Roads and transportDetails for Roads and transport | £-24.63 | £49 |
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- Bristol spent 32.6% of its gross service spending on its own staff in 2025-26 (median for unitary councils in England: 31.1%); the rest went on suppliers, contractors, grants, benefits and other running costs.
- Its published payments of £500 or more came to £771.3m between 2025-09 and 2026-08. These include capital and council housing spending, so they are not a share of the figures above.
- Payments we classify as consultancy and agency staff came to 19.5% of its staff costs (median among the 6 other unitary councils in England whose £500 data is read: 5.2%). The two come from different sources and periods, so this is a guide to scale, not an exact share.
What this data does and doesn't show
- These are each body's own figures, as reported to government in its revenue outturn return. Net spending is after the fees, charges and grants a service brings in.
- Your bill is for 2026-27; it is shared out using the latest published return, which covers an earlier year. The mix of spending changes little from one year to the next, but it does change.
- Council tax is not ring-fenced: this shows your bill in proportion to spending, not what your money bought. Where a precept is set aside for adult social care, it is shown against adult social care.
- No council publishes spending at street or property level, so nothing here says what was spent near you.
- Sub-service lines are the ones the national returns itemise. Councils describe their own budgets differently; their budget books and statements of accounts have more detail.
Sources
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England: Table 10, local authority level data, published 25 March 2026. Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Local authority revenue expenditure and financing: Revenue Outturn multi-year data set, published 28 September 2026. Open Government Licence v3.0.
How the split is worked out, and how the three nations' returns are matched to one list of services, is on the methodology page. The dataset is on the data page. See also council tax in Bristol and everything else about Bristol.
Common questions
- What does council tax pay for in Bristol?
- A Band D bill of £2,713.68 is split between Bristol, Bristol: adult social care precept, this year's increase, Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable, Avon Combined Fire and Rescue Authority. In proportion to spending, the largest line is adult social care, £834.56.
- Is council tax ring-fenced for particular services?
- No. Council tax is pooled with grants, business rates and fees. The adult social care precept is the exception: councils raise it for adult social care.
Sources for this page
| Source | Publisher | Figures as of | Updated | Licence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England | Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government | the 2026–27 financial year | annual | Open Government Licence v3.0 |
| Local authority revenue expenditure and financing: Revenue Outturn multi-year data set | Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government | 28 September 2026 | annual | Open Government Licence v3.0 |
Each source's figures are used under the licence shown. Our own words, analysis, charts and derived calculations are ours, under CC BY 4.0.