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Where your council tax goes in Merton
Last updated . Figures refresh every night. How each figure is worked out.
A Band D council tax bill in Merton is £2,146.76 for 2026-27, split between Merton £1,604.29, Merton: adult social care precept, this year's increase £31.96, 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 Merton: £455.12 of the bill. Council tax pays for 18% 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
- £2,146.76Band D bill, 2026-27
- £1,604.29Goes to Merton itself (75%)
- £455.12Largest line: adult social care
- 17.9%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: £2,146.76
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Merton £1,604.29
Merton
£1,604.29 of your bill goes to Merton. It is shared out below in proportion to how Merton spent its money in 2025-26, its latest published return.
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Adult social care £455.12
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Education £405.99
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Children's social care £306.67
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Environment and regulation £169.44
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Housing (not council homes) £118.92
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Running the council £85.56
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Other services £14.68
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Public health £3.63
Roads and transport brought in £438k more than it cost; Planning and development brought in £1.3m more than it cost in 2025-26, so they take no share of your bill.
Before sharing out your bill, the part of education paid for by the Dedicated Schools Grant (£203.1m) and public health paid for by the public health grant (£12.6m) 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: Camden, Sutton, Islington, Westminster, Barking and Dagenham, Richmond upon Thames, Hammersmith and Fulham, Bexley, Haringey, Hackney. Per-resident figures use ONS mid-year population estimates.
Adult social care
£455.12 of your bill goes to adult social care at Merton. Here is how its £81.2m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Physical support £168.67
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Learning disability support £131.26
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Mental health support £48.48
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Care assessment and safeguarding £40.03
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Commissioning, strategy and administration £21.83
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Social support (carers, substance misuse, isolation, asylum) £12.66
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Assistive equipment and technology £6.22
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Sensory support £5.28
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Information and early intervention £1.21
Physical support
£168.67 of your bill goes to physical support at Merton. Here is how its £30.1m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £129.24
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Aged 18 to 64 £39.43
Learning disability support
£131.26 of your bill goes to learning disability support at Merton. Here is how its £23.4m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £114.75
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Aged 65 and over £16.51
Mental health support
£48.48 of your bill goes to mental health support at Merton. Here is how its £8.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £25.22
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Aged 65 and over £23.26
Support with memory and cognition
£19.47 of your bill goes to support with memory and cognition at Merton. Here is how its £3.5m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £18.51
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Aged 18 to 64 £0.96
Sensory support
£5.28 of your bill goes to sensory support at Merton. Here is how its £943k of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £2.88
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Aged 65 and over £2.40
Education
£405.99 of your bill goes to education at Merton. Here is how its £275.5m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Primary schools £137.98
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Special schools and alternative provision £81.46
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Secondary schools £67.33
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Other education £56.10
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Early years and nursery £47.67
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Post-16 £15.44
Children's social care
£306.67 of your bill goes to children's social care at Merton. Here is how its £54.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Children looked after £98.66
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Safeguarding and social work £59.83
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Family support £47.44
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Services for young people £34.50
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Children's centres and early years £33.91
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Other children's and families' services £23.29
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Youth justice £5.18
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Asylum-seeking children £3.87
Environment and regulation
£169.44 of your bill goes to environment and regulation at Merton. Here is how its £30.2m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Waste collection £47.70
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Street cleaning £40.05
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Waste disposal £37.46
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Environmental health, food safety, pest control and licensing £19.56
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Community safety and CCTV £17.05
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Trading standards £7.31
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Other environmental services £0.32
Housing (not council homes)
£118.92 of your bill goes to housing (not council homes) at Merton. Here is how its £21.2m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Homelessness and temporary accommodation £68.56
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Housing benefit administration and discretionary payments £27.42
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Housing strategy, advice and enabling £15.01
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Supporting People and welfare services £7.93
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. Merton 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
£85.56 of your bill goes to running the council at Merton. Here is how its £15.3m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Corporate and democratic core £54.23
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Non-distributed costs (past pensions, unused assets) £12.42
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Collecting council tax and business rates £8.03
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Coroners' and other courts £4.17
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Elections and electoral registration £3.50
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Other central services £2.77
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Local welfare assistance £0.45
Parks, leisure, libraries and culture
£44.26 of your bill goes to parks, leisure, libraries and culture at Merton. Here is how its £7.9m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Parks and open spaces (including play areas) £24.65
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Libraries £17.14
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Sport and leisure £2.14
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Museums, arts, heritage and archives £0.34
Public health
£3.63 of your bill goes to public health at Merton. Here is how its £13.2m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Health visiting and children's 0-5 services £0.91
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Sexual health £0.69
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Drug and alcohol services £0.61
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Other public health £0.48
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Children's 5-19 programmes £0.34
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NHS health checks and health protection £0.26
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Obesity and physical activity £0.14
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Stop smoking and tobacco control £0.12
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Public mental health £0.09
Merton: adult social care precept, this year's increase
£31.96 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 Merton's adult social care spending of £81.2m 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 £11.84
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Mental health support £3.40
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Care assessment and safeguarding £2.81
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Commissioning, strategy and administration £1.53
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Social support (carers, substance misuse, isolation, asylum) £0.89
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Assistive equipment and technology £0.44
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Sensory support £0.37
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Information and early intervention £0.09
Physical support
£11.84 of your bill goes to physical support at Merton. Here is how its £30.1m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £9.08
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Aged 18 to 64 £2.77
Learning disability support
£9.22 of your bill goes to learning disability support at Merton. Here is how its £23.4m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £8.06
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Aged 65 and over £1.16
Mental health support
£3.40 of your bill goes to mental health support at Merton. Here is how its £8.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £1.77
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Aged 65 and over £1.63
Support with memory and cognition
£1.37 of your bill goes to support with memory and cognition at Merton. Here is how its £3.5m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £1.30
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Aged 18 to 64 £0.07
Sensory support
£0.37 of your bill goes to sensory support at Merton. Here is how its £943k of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £0.20
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Aged 65 and over £0.17
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 Merton 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) | £4.4m | £20 | £20 | — | up 16.7% on 2024-25 |
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Street cleaningDetails for Street cleaning | £7.4m | £34 | £45 | £31,961 (similar: £65,252) | up 87.7% on 2024-25 |
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Road and bridge maintenanceDetails for Road and bridge maintenance | £4.2m | £19 | £12 | £18,167 (similar: £12,659) | up 6.0% on 2024-25 |
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Environmental, safety and routine maintenanceDetails for Environmental, safety and routine maintenance | £3.5m | £16 | £11 | £15,116 (similar: £13,707) | up 30.9% on 2024-25 |
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Structural maintenance (resurfacing, bridges)Details for Structural maintenance (resurfacing, bridges) | £711k | £3.25 | £4.00 | £3,052 (similar: £4,507) | down 45.4% on 2024-25 |
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Winter service (gritting)Details for Winter service (gritting) | £296k | £1.35 | £0.77 | £1,270 (similar: £1,069) | up 348.5% on 2024-25 |
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Street lighting (including energy)Details for Street lighting (including energy) | £758k | £3.46 | £4.93 | £3,253 (similar: £5,814) | down 11.6% 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 | £1,259 | £952 |
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Adult social careDetails for Adult social care | £371 | £443 |
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Children's social careDetails for Children's social care | £250 | £306 |
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Environment and regulationDetails for Environment and regulation | £138 | £104 |
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Housing (not council homes)Details for Housing (not council homes) | £97 | £149 |
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Running the councilDetails for Running the council | £70 | £67 |
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Public healthDetails for Public health | £60 | £89 |
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Parks, leisure, libraries and cultureDetails for Parks, leisure, libraries and culture | £36 | £40 |
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Other servicesDetails for Other services | £12 | £17 |
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Roads and transportDetails for Roads and transport | £-2.00 | £1.42 |
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Planning and developmentDetails for Planning and development | £-5.86 | £24 |
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- Merton spent 41.9% of its gross service spending on its own staff in 2025-26 (median for London boroughs: 33.2%); the rest went on suppliers, contractors, grants, benefits and other running costs.
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 Merton and everything else about Merton.
Common questions
- What does council tax pay for in Merton?
- A Band D bill of £2,146.76 is split between Merton, Merton: 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, £455.12.
- 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.