In this section: Your area
Where your council tax goes in Cornwall
Last updated . Figures refresh every night. How each figure is worked out.
A Band D council tax bill in Cornwall is £2,590.93 for 2026-27, split between Cornwall £2,046.62, Cornwall: adult social care precept, this year's increase £39.74, Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable £303.20, Parish and town councils (average for the area) £201.37. Shared out in proportion to what each body spends, the largest single line is adult social care at Cornwall: £819.68 of the bill. Council tax pays for 27% 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
- £2,590.93Band D bill, 2026-27
- £2,046.62Goes to Cornwall itself (79%)
- £819.68Largest line: adult social care
- 27.5%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.
Parish precepts differ from parish to parish; this is the average across the area, and a home outside any parish pays none.
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: £2,590.93
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Cornwall £2,046.62
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Parish and town councils (average for the area) £201.37
Cornwall
£2,046.62 of your bill goes to Cornwall. It is shared out below in proportion to how Cornwall spent its money in 2025-26, its latest published return.
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Adult social care £819.68
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Children's social care £355.09
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Education £238.40
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Environment and regulation £222.86
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Roads and transport £98.02
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Housing (not council homes) £86.42
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Fire and rescue £80.09
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Running the council £43.30
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Public health £34.34
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Planning and development £20.44
Before sharing out your bill, the part of education paid for by the Dedicated Schools Grant (£225.7m) and public health paid for by the public health grant (£29.9m) 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: Buckinghamshire, Somerset, Durham, North Yorkshire, Wiltshire, Bristol, West Northamptonshire, Cheshire East, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Dorset. Per-resident figures use ONS mid-year population estimates.
Adult social care
£819.68 of your bill goes to adult social care at Cornwall. Here is how its £353.1m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Physical support £295.63
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Learning disability support £258.96
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Care assessment and safeguarding £76.95
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Mental health support £67.68
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Commissioning, strategy and administration £33.03
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Assistive equipment and technology £23.52
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Information and early intervention £9.23
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Social support (carers, substance misuse, isolation, asylum) £9.10
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Sensory support £7.59
Named suppliers
In Cornwall's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-03 to 2026-02, payments our keyword matching links to adult social care came to £329.0m across 66,760 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Names withheld by the council: £68.5m (19873 payments)
- The Brandon Trust: £18.4m (1969 payments)
- Corserv Solutions Ltd t/a Corserv Care: £12.1m (460 payments)
- Corserv Solutions Ltd t/a Cormac Solutions: £10.8m (147 payments)
- NHS Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly ICB: £7.5m (675 payments)
Physical support
£295.63 of your bill goes to physical support at Cornwall. Here is how its £127.3m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £218.55
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Aged 18 to 64 £77.08
Learning disability support
£258.96 of your bill goes to learning disability support at Cornwall. Here is how its £111.6m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £229.87
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Aged 65 and over £29.09
Mental health support
£67.68 of your bill goes to mental health support at Cornwall. Here is how its £29.2m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £49.46
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Aged 65 and over £18.22
Support with memory and cognition
£37.99 of your bill goes to support with memory and cognition at Cornwall. Here is how its £16.4m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £35.44
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Aged 18 to 64 £2.54
Sensory support
£7.59 of your bill goes to sensory support at Cornwall. Here is how its £3.3m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £4.29
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Aged 18 to 64 £3.31
Children's social care
£355.09 of your bill goes to children's social care at Cornwall. Here is how its £153.0m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Children looked after £171.62
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Safeguarding and social work £71.77
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Family support £65.99
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Children's centres and early years £18.34
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Asylum-seeking children £10.88
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Services for young people £10.50
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Other children's and families' services £3.04
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Youth justice £2.94
Named suppliers
In Cornwall's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-03 to 2026-02, payments our keyword matching links to children's social care came to £61.1m across 5,863 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Corserv Solutions Ltd t/a Cormac Solutions: £24.3m (427 payments)
- 24x7 Ltd: £3.4m (36 payments)
- Five Rivers Child Care Litd: £2.3m (503 payments)
- Parnells Taxis: £2.0m (16 payments)
- Names withheld by the council: £1.6m (1579 payments)
Education
£238.40 of your bill goes to education at Cornwall. Here is how its £328.4m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Early years and nursery £55.40
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Primary schools £46.52
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Special schools and alternative provision £42.94
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Secondary schools £41.18
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Other education £35.89
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Post-16 £16.48
Named suppliers
In Cornwall's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-03 to 2026-02, payments our keyword matching links to education came to £191.2m across 14,144 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Corserv Solutions Ltd t/a Cormac Solutions: £7.2m (164 payments)
- Names withheld by the council: £7.1m (2243 payments)
- Wave Multi Academy Trust: £6.9m (49 payments)
- Special Partnership Trust: £6.8m (57 payments)
- Transforming Futures MAT Ltd: £4.1m (6 payments)
Environment and regulation
£222.86 of your bill goes to environment and regulation at Cornwall. Here is how its £96.0m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Waste disposal £103.33
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Waste collection £40.44
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Recycling and waste minimisation £26.75
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Street cleaning £20.60
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Environmental health, food safety, pest control and licensing £14.83
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Community safety and CCTV £10.16
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Trading standards £3.30
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Flood defence, land drainage and coast protection £2.27
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Cemeteries and crematoria £0.89
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Public toilets £0.29
Named suppliers
In Cornwall's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-03 to 2026-02, payments our keyword matching links to environment and regulation came to £401.9m across 5,855 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Plymouth Citybus Ltd: £155.4m (461 payments)
- Cornwall Energy Recovery Ltd: £51.8m (79 payments)
- Biffa Environmental Municipal Services Ltd (Cory): £45.9m (22 payments)
- 24x7 Ltd: £33.3m (191 payments)
- Corserv Solutions Ltd t/a Cormac Solutions: £27.2m (2487 payments)
Roads and transport
£98.02 of your bill goes to roads and transport at Cornwall. Here is how its £42.2m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Support for bus, rail and other public transport £35.18
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Road and bridge maintenance £32.84
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Concessionary bus fares £12.10
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Street lighting (including energy) £4.91
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Other transport (airports, harbours, tolls) £4.40
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Winter service (gritting) £3.95
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Traffic management and road safety £3.42
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Transport planning and policy £1.23
Named suppliers
In Cornwall's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-03 to 2026-02, payments our keyword matching links to roads and transport came to £135.4m across 5,358 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Corserv Solutions Ltd t/a Cormac Solutions: £105.5m (4308 payments)
- Enerveo Ltd: £14.6m (396 payments)
- Cornwall Energy Recovery Ltd: £3.0m (2 payments)
- Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd: £3.0m (5 payments)
- Cornwall Airport Ltd: £2.4m (17 payments)
Road and bridge maintenance
£32.84 of your bill goes to road and bridge maintenance at Cornwall. Here is how its £17.9m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Environmental, safety and routine maintenance £27.98
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Structural maintenance (resurfacing, bridges) £4.86
Named suppliers
In Cornwall's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-03 to 2026-02, payments our keyword matching links to road and bridge maintenance came to £8.6m across 1,033 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Corserv Solutions Ltd t/a Cormac Solutions: £8.4m (1031 payments)
- Enerveo Ltd: £264k (1 payment)
- Stephens & Scown: £7k (1 payment)
Housing (not council homes)
£86.42 of your bill goes to housing (not council homes) at Cornwall. Here is how its £37.2m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Homelessness and temporary accommodation £47.87
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Housing benefit administration and discretionary payments £13.98
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Supporting People and welfare services £9.47
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Housing strategy, advice and enabling £8.57
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Private sector housing renewal £5.95
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Other General Fund housing £0.59
Named suppliers
In Cornwall's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-03 to 2026-02, payments our keyword matching links to housing (not council homes) came to £19.7m across 1,724 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Greenway Property Ltd: £2.4m (64 payments)
- Dolphin Property Ltd: £2.3m (45 payments)
- Names withheld by the council: £1.4m (390 payments)
- Cosgarne Hall Ltd: £1.1m (17 payments)
- Dace Property Limited: £1.0m (17 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. Cornwall's Housing Revenue Account took in £53.5m and spent £52.2m in 2025-26. What council tax does and doesn't pay for.
Fire and rescue
£80.09 of your bill goes to fire and rescue at Cornwall. Here is how its £34.5m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Firefighting and rescue £71.26
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Community fire safety £7.64
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Fire emergency planning £1.19
Parks, leisure, libraries and culture
£47.99 of your bill goes to parks, leisure, libraries and culture at Cornwall. Here is how its £20.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Parks and open spaces (including play areas) £26.24
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Sport and leisure £8.50
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Museums, arts, heritage and archives £7.05
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Libraries £6.20
Named suppliers
In Cornwall's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-03 to 2026-02, payments our keyword matching links to parks, leisure, libraries and culture came to £15.7m across 2,664 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Corserv Solutions Ltd t/a Cormac Solutions: £8.1m (1277 payments)
- Penzance Leisure Ltd: £2.1m (15 payments)
- First Devon & Cornwall Ltd: £1.4m (12 payments)
- Greenwich Leisure Ltd (GLL): £725k (6 payments)
- Enerveo Ltd: £708k (12 payments)
Running the council
£43.30 of your bill goes to running the council at Cornwall. Here is how its £18.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Non-distributed costs (past pensions, unused assets) £20.27
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Local welfare assistance £12.11
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Elections and electoral registration £4.43
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Coroners' and other courts £3.54
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Registering births, deaths and marriages £1.94
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Emergency planning £1.00
Named suppliers
In Cornwall's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-03 to 2026-02, payments our keyword matching links to running the council came to £61.1m across 3,779 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Clarke Willmott: £5.9m (86 payments)
- Morgan Sindall Construction & Infrastructure Ltd: £5.0m (7 payments)
- Post Office Ltd: £4.3m (3 payments)
- Comensura Ltd: £4.3m (38 payments)
- Corserv Solutions Ltd t/a Cormac Solutions: £4.0m (177 payments)
Public health
£34.34 of your bill goes to public health at Cornwall. Here is how its £44.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Drug and alcohol services £10.31
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Health visiting and children's 0-5 services £8.85
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Children's 5-19 programmes £3.86
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Sexual health £3.57
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Other public health £2.92
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Public mental health £1.58
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Stop smoking and tobacco control £1.40
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Obesity and physical activity £1.05
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NHS health checks and health protection £0.80
Named suppliers
In Cornwall's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-03 to 2026-02, payments our keyword matching links to public health came to £3.4m across 330 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Corserv Solutions Ltd t/a Cormac Solutions: £1.6m (28 payments)
- We Are With You: £300k (7 payments)
- Bosence Farm Community Ltd: £202k (9 payments)
- Broadway Lodge Ltd: £114k (22 payments)
- Essity UK Ltd: £110k (12 payments)
Planning and development
£20.44 of your bill goes to planning and development at Cornwall. Here is how its £8.8m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Planning policy £8.63
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Community development £5.02
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Economic development and business support £3.19
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Planning applications (development management) £1.86
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Building control £1.73
Named suppliers
In Cornwall's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-03 to 2026-02, payments our keyword matching links to planning and development came to £1.32bn across 29,108 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Plymouth Citybus Ltd: £408.1m (1030 payments)
- Corserv Solutions Ltd t/a Cormac Solutions: £360.2m (17668 payments)
- 24x7 Ltd: £109.9m (456 payments)
- First Devon & Cornwall Ltd: £56.8m (520 payments)
- A2b Taxis (Truro) Ltd: £49.7m (296 payments)
Cornwall: adult social care precept, this year's increase
£39.74 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 Cornwall's adult social care spending of £353.1m 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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Physical support £14.33
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Learning disability support £12.55
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Care assessment and safeguarding £3.73
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Mental health support £3.28
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Commissioning, strategy and administration £1.60
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Assistive equipment and technology £1.14
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Information and early intervention £0.45
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Social support (carers, substance misuse, isolation, asylum) £0.44
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Sensory support £0.37
Physical support
£14.33 of your bill goes to physical support at Cornwall. Here is how its £127.3m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £10.60
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Aged 18 to 64 £3.74
Learning disability support
£12.55 of your bill goes to learning disability support at Cornwall. Here is how its £111.6m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £11.14
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Aged 65 and over £1.41
Mental health support
£3.28 of your bill goes to mental health support at Cornwall. Here is how its £29.2m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £2.40
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Aged 65 and over £0.88
Support with memory and cognition
£1.84 of your bill goes to support with memory and cognition at Cornwall. Here is how its £16.4m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £1.72
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Aged 18 to 64 £0.12
Sensory support
£0.37 of your bill goes to sensory support at Cornwall. Here is how its £3.3m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £0.21
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Aged 18 to 64 £0.16
Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable
£303.20 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 Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable's adult social care spending of £474.7m 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.
Parks, street cleaning and roads here
What Cornwall 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) | £11.3m | £19 | £15 | — | up 30.0% on 2024-25 |
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Street cleaningDetails for Street cleaning | £9.0m | £15 | £7.99 | £1,978 (similar: £1,738) | down 1.6% on 2024-25 |
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Road and bridge maintenanceDetails for Road and bridge maintenance | £17.9m | £31 | £20 | £3,924 (similar: £5,287) | down 6.7% on 2024-25 |
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Environmental, safety and routine maintenanceDetails for Environmental, safety and routine maintenance | £15.2m | £26 | £18 | £3,343 (similar: £3,255) | up 2.9% on 2024-25 |
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Structural maintenance (resurfacing, bridges)Details for Structural maintenance (resurfacing, bridges) | £2.6m | £4.53 | £7.61 | £581 (similar: £2,209) | down 39.4% on 2024-25 |
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Winter service (gritting)Details for Winter service (gritting) | £2.1m | £3.68 | £4.11 | £471 (similar: £904) | down 5.5% on 2024-25 |
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Street lighting (including energy)Details for Street lighting (including energy) | £2.7m | £4.57 | £7.31 | £586 (similar: £1,427) | down 26.4% 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 |
|---|---|---|
Adult social careDetails for Adult social care | £604 | £478 |
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EducationDetails for Education | £562 | £718 |
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Children's social careDetails for Children's social care | £262 | £309 |
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Environment and regulationDetails for Environment and regulation | £164 | £110 |
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Public healthDetails for Public health | £76 | £64 |
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Roads and transportDetails for Roads and transport | £72 | £49 |
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Housing (not council homes)Details for Housing (not council homes) | £64 | £33 |
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Fire and rescueDetails for Fire and rescue | £59 | £235 |
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Parks, leisure, libraries and cultureDetails for Parks, leisure, libraries and culture | £35 | £38 |
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Running the councilDetails for Running the council | £32 | £52 |
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Planning and developmentDetails for Planning and development | £15 | £22 |
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- Cornwall spent 27.6% of its gross service spending on its own staff in 2025-26 (median for unitary councils in England: 31.4%); the rest went on suppliers, contractors, grants, benefits and other running costs.
- Its published payments of £500 or more came to £3.04bn between 2025-03 and 2026-02. 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 3.6% of its staff costs (median among the 6 other unitary councils in England whose £500 data is read: 7.4%). 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 Cornwall and everything else about Cornwall.
Common questions
- What does council tax pay for in Cornwall?
- A Band D bill of £2,590.93 is split between Cornwall, Cornwall: adult social care precept, this year's increase, Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable, Parish and town councils (average for the area). In proportion to spending, the largest line is adult social care, £819.68.
- 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.