In this section: Your area
Where your council tax goes in Croydon
Last updated . Figures refresh every night. How each figure is worked out.
A Band D council tax bill in Croydon is £2,599.91 for 2026-27, split between Croydon £2,049.60, Croydon: adult social care precept, this year's increase £39.80, Greater London Authority (Mayor, TfL, London Fire Brigade) £176.38, Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime £334.13. Shared out in proportion to what each body spends, the largest single line is adult social care at Croydon: £654.28 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
- £2,599.91Band D bill, 2026-27
- £2,049.60Goes to Croydon itself (79%)
- £654.28Largest line: adult social care
- 20.8%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: £2,599.91
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Croydon £2,049.60
Croydon
£2,049.60 of your bill goes to Croydon. It is shared out below in proportion to how Croydon spent its money in 2025-26, its latest published return.
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Adult social care £654.28
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Children's social care £507.45
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Education £299.45
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Housing (not council homes) £237.18
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Environment and regulation £145.33
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Running the council £55.38
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Roads and transport £54.78
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Planning and development £26.54
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Other services £18.61
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Public health £14.41
Before sharing out your bill, the part of education paid for by the Dedicated Schools Grant (£240.7m) and public health paid for by the public health grant (£26.2m) is taken off, because council tax does not pay for it.
Which councils count as similar
Medians are across the 10 London boroughs closest in population: Barnet, Ealing, Newham, Brent, Wandsworth, Bromley, Tower Hamlets, Enfield, Hillingdon, Redbridge. Per-resident figures use ONS mid-year population estimates.
Adult social care
£654.28 of your bill goes to adult social care at Croydon. Here is how its £195.1m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Physical support £271.27
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Learning disability support £204.62
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Care assessment and safeguarding £61.09
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Commissioning, strategy and administration £33.13
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Mental health support £22.45
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Social support (carers, substance misuse, isolation, asylum) £17.25
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Assistive equipment and technology £9.28
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Sensory support £4.24
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Information and early intervention £1.75
Named suppliers
In Croydon's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-09 to 2026-08, payments our keyword matching links to adult social care came to £181.1m across 63,537 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Names withheld by the council: £31.7m (15881 payments)
- Care Uk Community Partnerships Ltd.: £4.4m (16 payments)
- Immaculate Healthcare Services Limited Croydon - D: £2.8m (3584 payments)
- NORBURY HALL: £2.8m (793 payments)
- Eleanor Nursing and Social Care Ltd: £2.6m (5 payments)
Physical support
£271.27 of your bill goes to physical support at Croydon. Here is how its £80.9m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £192.71
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Aged 18 to 64 £78.56
Learning disability support
£204.62 of your bill goes to learning disability support at Croydon. Here is how its £61.0m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £185.54
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Aged 65 and over £19.09
Support with memory and cognition
£29.19 of your bill goes to support with memory and cognition at Croydon. Here is how its £8.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £21.93
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Aged 18 to 64 £7.26
Mental health support
£22.45 of your bill goes to mental health support at Croydon. Here is how its £6.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £15.15
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Aged 65 and over £7.30
Sensory support
£4.24 of your bill goes to sensory support at Croydon. Here is how its £1.3m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £2.97
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Aged 65 and over £1.26
Children's social care
£507.45 of your bill goes to children's social care at Croydon. Here is how its £151.3m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Children looked after £215.96
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Safeguarding and social work £152.51
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Asylum-seeking children £40.34
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Family support £39.39
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Other children's and families' services £17.10
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Children's centres and early years £16.02
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Services for young people £15.80
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Youth justice £10.34
Named suppliers
In Croydon'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 £46.7m across 7,728 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Teachers Pensions Agency_: £15.7m (24 payments)
- Croydon Health Services NHS Trust: £7.5m (12 payments)
- Names withheld by the council: £1.8m (2810 payments)
- Sunbeam Fostering Agency Ltd: £1.3m (331 payments)
- Faith Health Care: £818k (542 payments)
Education
£299.45 of your bill goes to education at Croydon. Here is how its £330.0m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Early years and nursery £95.28
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Special schools and alternative provision £87.17
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Primary schools £50.76
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Other education £36.81
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Secondary schools £28.77
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Post-16 £0.65
Named suppliers
In Croydon's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-09 to 2026-08, payments our keyword matching links to education came to £332.6m across 19,709 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Names withheld by the council: £14.0m (2080 payments)
- St Nicholas EB00000106_: £7.8m (21 payments)
- Serenity School Old Palace Croydon Ltd: £7.6m (10 payments)
- Bensham Manor EB00000014_: £7.3m (18 payments)
- Archbishop Tenison High EB00000007_: £7.2m (31 payments)
Housing (not council homes)
£237.18 of your bill goes to housing (not council homes) at Croydon. Here is how its £70.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Homelessness and temporary accommodation £183.42
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Supporting People and welfare services £28.02
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Housing benefit administration and discretionary payments £15.18
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Housing strategy, advice and enabling £5.80
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Private sector housing renewal £4.73
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Other General Fund housing £0.04
Named suppliers
In Croydon'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 £54.7m across 4,448 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Caridon Property Services_: £4.0m (44 payments)
- Homes2Let UK Ltd: £3.2m (11 payments)
- Aura Assets Management Ltd: £2.8m (6 payments)
- Abel-living Ltd: £2.5m (31 payments)
- Names withheld by the council: £2.5m (2549 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. Croydon's Housing Revenue Account took in £104.6m and spent £114.0m in 2025-26. What council tax does and doesn't pay for.
Environment and regulation
£145.33 of your bill goes to environment and regulation at Croydon. Here is how its £43.3m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Waste disposal £52.51
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Waste collection £38.88
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Street cleaning £30.48
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Environmental health, food safety, pest control and licensing £11.77
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Community safety and CCTV £8.89
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Trading standards £2.49
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Other environmental services £0.24
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Public toilets £0.07
Named suppliers
In Croydon's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-09 to 2026-08, payments our keyword matching links to environment and regulation came to £73.8m across 552 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Veolia ES (UK) Limited: £37.4m (64 payments)
- Viridor Waste Management Limited t/a Viridor South London Ltd: £21.2m (11 payments)
- London Borough of Sutton_: £4.9m (3 payments)
- London Borough Merton_: £2.5m (4 payments)
- Royal Borough of Kingston_: £2.0m (45 payments)
Running the council
£55.38 of your bill goes to running the council at Croydon. Here is how its £16.5m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Corporate and democratic core £23.15
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Local welfare assistance £17.43
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Collecting council tax and business rates £4.57
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Elections and electoral registration £3.72
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Coroners' and other courts £2.48
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Non-distributed costs (past pensions, unused assets) £1.66
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Emergency planning £1.63
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Registering births, deaths and marriages £0.74
Named suppliers
In Croydon's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-09 to 2026-08, payments our keyword matching links to running the council came to £77.1m across 3,157 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Adecco UK Ltd: £43.6m (52 payments)
- OCS Group UK Limited: £3.3m (359 payments)
- Ashburton Services Ltd: £2.4m (23 payments)
- Minerva Corporation Ltd: £2.0m (4 payments)
- Chequers Contract Services Limited: £1.5m (41 payments)
Roads and transport
£54.78 of your bill goes to roads and transport at Croydon. Here is how its £16.3m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Concessionary bus fares £24.98
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Street lighting (including energy) £20.77
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Road and bridge maintenance £4.16
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Transport planning and policy £2.11
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Traffic management and road safety £1.89
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Winter service (gritting) £0.87
Named suppliers
In Croydon's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-09 to 2026-08, payments our keyword matching links to roads and transport came to £57.7m across 529 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- F M Conway Ltd_: £26.8m (27 payments)
- Croydon & Lewisham Lighting Services Ltd: £11.8m (11 payments)
- Transport Trading Ltd: £11.3m (4 payments)
- London Councils_: £2.7m (4 payments)
- AON UK LIMITED_: £1.2m (7 payments)
Parks, leisure, libraries and culture
£36.19 of your bill goes to parks, leisure, libraries and culture at Croydon. Here is how its £10.8m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Parks and open spaces (including play areas) £21.75
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Libraries £12.95
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Museums, arts, heritage and archives £1.15
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Sport and leisure £0.28
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Community centres and public halls £0.06
Named suppliers
In Croydon'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 £2.9m across 668 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Glendale Countryside Limited: £860k (17 payments)
- I & J Bushell Ltd: £297k (36 payments)
- Names withheld by the council: £103k (34 payments)
- Greenwich Leisure Ltd: £96k (23 payments)
- Askews Library Services Ltd: £94k (43 payments)
Planning and development
£26.54 of your bill goes to planning and development at Croydon. Here is how its £7.9m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Economic development and business support £17.58
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Planning applications (development management) £6.05
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Building control £2.91
Named suppliers
In Croydon's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-09 to 2026-08, payments our keyword matching links to planning and development came to £1.9m across 186 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Inner Circle Consulting: £274k (18 payments)
- Wates Property Services Ltd: £227k (7 payments)
- The Planning Inspectorate: £189k (12 payments)
- Archbishop Tenison High EB00000007_: £121k (1 payment)
- Deloitte LLP: £108k (9 payments)
Public health
£14.41 of your bill goes to public health at Croydon. Here is how its £30.5m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Health visiting and children's 0-5 services £3.58
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Drug and alcohol services £3.31
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Sexual health £2.69
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Other public health £1.69
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Public mental health £0.96
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Children's 5-19 programmes £0.77
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NHS health checks and health protection £0.53
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Obesity and physical activity £0.52
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Stop smoking and tobacco control £0.35
Named suppliers
In Croydon's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-09 to 2026-08, payments our keyword matching links to public health came to £14.3m across 666 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Croydon Health Services NHS Trust: £6.9m (4 payments)
- Change Grow Live Services: £4.1m (28 payments)
- King's College Hospital N H S Foundation Trust: £437k (11 payments)
- Chelsea & Westminster Hospital Nhs Foundation Trust_: £353k (16 payments)
- Department of Health and Social Care: £301k (1 payment)
Croydon: adult social care precept, this year's increase
£39.80 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 Croydon's adult social care spending of £195.1m 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 £16.50
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Learning disability support £12.45
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Care assessment and safeguarding £3.72
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Commissioning, strategy and administration £2.02
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Mental health support £1.37
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Social support (carers, substance misuse, isolation, asylum) £1.05
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Assistive equipment and technology £0.56
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Sensory support £0.26
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Information and early intervention £0.11
Physical support
£16.50 of your bill goes to physical support at Croydon. Here is how its £80.9m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £11.72
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Aged 18 to 64 £4.78
Learning disability support
£12.45 of your bill goes to learning disability support at Croydon. Here is how its £61.0m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £11.29
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Aged 65 and over £1.16
Support with memory and cognition
£1.78 of your bill goes to support with memory and cognition at Croydon. Here is how its £8.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £1.33
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Aged 18 to 64 £0.44
Mental health support
£1.37 of your bill goes to mental health support at Croydon. Here is how its £6.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £0.92
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Aged 65 and over £0.44
Sensory support
£0.26 of your bill goes to sensory support at Croydon. Here is how its £1.3m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £0.18
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Aged 65 and over £0.08
Greater London Authority (Mayor, TfL, London Fire Brigade)
£176.38 of your bill goes to Greater London Authority (Mayor, TfL, London Fire Brigade). It is shared out below in proportion to how Greater London Authority spent its money in 2025-26, its latest published return.
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Roads and transport £94.33
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Education £29.29
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Fire and rescue £28.75
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Planning and development £7.54
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Running the council £3.73
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Children's social care £0.43
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Public health £0.25
No similar-council comparison: no comparison: no other body does the same mix of things.
Roads and transport
£94.33 of your bill goes to roads and transport at Greater London Authority. Here is how its £1.89bn of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Support for bus, rail and other public transport £86.70
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Transport planning and policy £0.99
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Street lighting (including energy) £0.55
Road and bridge maintenance
£6.08 of your bill goes to road and bridge maintenance at Greater London Authority. Here is how its £148.9m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Structural maintenance (resurfacing, bridges) £4.34
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Environmental, safety and routine maintenance £1.74
Planning and development
£7.54 of your bill goes to planning and development at Greater London Authority. Here is how its £151.0m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Economic development and business support £4.27
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Environmental initiatives £1.21
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Community development £0.88
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Planning policy £0.66
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Planning applications (development management) £0.51
Environment and regulation
£5.88 of your bill goes to environment and regulation at Greater London Authority. Here is how its £117.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Community safety and CCTV £5.22
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Environmental health, food safety, pest control and licensing £0.65
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Flood defence, land drainage and coast protection £0.01
Housing (not council homes)
£4.67 of your bill goes to housing (not council homes) at Greater London Authority. Here is how its £93.5m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Housing strategy, advice and enabling £2.26
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Homelessness and temporary accommodation £1.21
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Supporting People and welfare services £1.20
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. Greater London Authority reported no Housing Revenue Account for 2025-26: it has no council homes of its own, or they were transferred to a housing association. What council tax does and doesn't pay for.
Running the council
£3.73 of your bill goes to running the council at Greater London Authority. Here is how its £74.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Corporate and democratic core £3.09
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Collecting council tax and business rates £0.64
Parks, leisure, libraries and culture
£1.52 of your bill goes to parks, leisure, libraries and culture at Greater London Authority. Here is how its £30.5m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Museums, arts, heritage and archives £1.03
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Sport and leisure £0.49
Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime
£334.13 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 Greater London Authority's adult social care spending of £4.53bn 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 Croydon 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) | £6.5m | £16 | £13 | — | up 7.1% on 2024-25 |
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Street cleaningDetails for Street cleaning | £9.3m | £23 | £24 | £19,330 (similar: £23,020) | up 49.6% on 2024-25 |
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Road and bridge maintenanceDetails for Road and bridge maintenance | £2.4m | £5.79 | £11 | £4,927 (similar: £11,464) | down 29.0% on 2024-25 |
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Environmental, safety and routine maintenanceDetails for Environmental, safety and routine maintenance | £2.4m | £5.79 | £6.76 | £4,927 (similar: £7,966) | down 26.3% on 2024-25 |
| |||||
Winter service (gritting)Details for Winter service (gritting) | £496k | £1.21 | £0.77 | £1,029 (similar: £784) | up 86.5% on 2024-25 |
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Street lighting (including energy)Details for Street lighting (including energy) | £11.9m | £29 | £6.86 | £24,612 (similar: £7,486) | up 71.9% 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 | £805 | £990 |
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Adult social careDetails for Adult social care | £476 | £438 |
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Children's social careDetails for Children's social care | £369 | £291 |
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Housing (not council homes)Details for Housing (not council homes) | £172 | £146 |
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Environment and regulationDetails for Environment and regulation | £106 | £104 |
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Public healthDetails for Public health | £74 | £89 |
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Running the councilDetails for Running the council | £40 | £69 |
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Roads and transportDetails for Roads and transport | £40 | £-2.33 |
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Parks, leisure, libraries and cultureDetails for Parks, leisure, libraries and culture | £26 | £40 |
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Planning and developmentDetails for Planning and development | £19 | £24 |
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Other servicesDetails for Other services | £14 | £17 |
| ||
- Croydon spent 16.3% of its gross service spending on its own staff in 2025-26 (median for London boroughs: 33.7%); the rest went on suppliers, contractors, grants, benefits and other running costs.
- Its published payments of £500 or more came to £1.02bn 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 28.8% of its staff costs (median among the 5 other London boroughs whose £500 data is read: 12.4%). 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 Croydon and everything else about Croydon.
Common questions
- What does council tax pay for in Croydon?
- A Band D bill of £2,599.91 is split between Croydon, Croydon: adult social care precept, this year's increase, Greater London Authority (Mayor, TfL, London Fire Brigade), Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime. In proportion to spending, the largest line is adult social care, £654.28.
- 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.