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Where your council tax goes in Milton Keynes
Last updated . Figures refresh every night. How each figure is worked out.
A Band D council tax bill in Milton Keynes is £2,372.21 for 2026-27, split between Milton Keynes £1,812.34, Milton Keynes: adult social care precept, this year's increase £35.19, Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable £298.28, Buckinghamshire Combined Fire and Rescue Authority £89.46, Parish and town councils (average for the area) £136.94. Shared out in proportion to what each body spends, the largest single line is adult social care at Milton Keynes: £647.91 of the bill. Council tax pays for 23% 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
- £2,372.21Band D bill, 2026-27
- £1,812.34Goes to Milton Keynes itself (76%)
- £647.91Largest line: adult social care
- 23.4%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: £2,372.21
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Milton Keynes £1,812.34
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Parish and town councils (average for the area) £136.94
Milton Keynes
£1,812.34 of your bill goes to Milton Keynes. It is shared out below in proportion to how Milton Keynes spent its money in 2025-26, its latest published return.
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Adult social care £647.91
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Children's social care £487.23
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Education £221.61
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Environment and regulation £193.99
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Housing (not council homes) £101.36
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Running the council £59.78
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Planning and development £27.51
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Roads and transport £17.56
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Public health £1.50
Before sharing out your bill, the part of education paid for by the Dedicated Schools Grant (£199.7m) and public health paid for by the public health grant (£14.1m) 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: South Gloucestershire, Central Bedfordshire, Nottingham City, Medway Towns, Shropshire, Northumberland, Brighton and Hove, Cumberland, Derby City, Kingston-upon-Hull. Per-resident figures use ONS mid-year population estimates.
Adult social care
£647.91 of your bill goes to adult social care at Milton Keynes. Here is how its £119.4m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Physical support £228.05
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Learning disability support £202.56
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Care assessment and safeguarding £109.76
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Mental health support £47.91
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Social support (carers, substance misuse, isolation, asylum) £14.81
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Sensory support £4.53
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Assistive equipment and technology £3.25
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Information and early intervention £1.21
Physical support
£228.05 of your bill goes to physical support at Milton Keynes. Here is how its £42.4m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £166.13
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Aged 18 to 64 £61.92
Learning disability support
£202.56 of your bill goes to learning disability support at Milton Keynes. Here is how its £37.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £184.61
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Aged 65 and over £17.94
Mental health support
£47.91 of your bill goes to mental health support at Milton Keynes. Here is how its £8.9m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £38.79
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Aged 65 and over £9.12
Support with memory and cognition
£35.83 of your bill goes to support with memory and cognition at Milton Keynes. Here is how its £6.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £33.68
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Aged 18 to 64 £2.16
Sensory support
£4.53 of your bill goes to sensory support at Milton Keynes. Here is how its £842k of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £2.66
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Aged 18 to 64 £1.87
Children's social care
£487.23 of your bill goes to children's social care at Milton Keynes. Here is how its £89.8m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Children looked after £313.53
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Safeguarding and social work £89.38
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Family support £62.58
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Services for young people £8.82
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Other children's and families' services £5.70
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Youth justice £5.61
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Children's centres and early years £1.60
Education
£221.61 of your bill goes to education at Milton Keynes. Here is how its £240.5m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Primary schools £84.65
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Early years and nursery £47.33
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Special schools and alternative provision £38.41
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Secondary schools £28.18
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Other education £20.82
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Post-16 £2.22
Environment and regulation
£193.99 of your bill goes to environment and regulation at Milton Keynes. Here is how its £35.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Waste disposal £58.18
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Waste collection £48.33
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Recycling and waste minimisation £32.06
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Street cleaning £29.89
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Trading standards £12.20
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Environmental health, food safety, pest control and licensing £7.74
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Community safety and CCTV £2.94
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Flood defence, land drainage and coast protection £2.64
Housing (not council homes)
£101.36 of your bill goes to housing (not council homes) at Milton Keynes. Here is how its £18.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Homelessness and temporary accommodation £87.25
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Housing benefit administration and discretionary payments £8.90
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Supporting People and welfare services £3.67
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Private sector housing renewal £1.20
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Housing strategy, advice and enabling £0.34
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. Milton Keynes's Housing Revenue Account took in £71.3m and spent £68.0m in 2025-26. What council tax does and doesn't pay for.
Running the council
£59.78 of your bill goes to running the council at Milton Keynes. Here is how its £11.0m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Collecting council tax and business rates £24.01
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Corporate and democratic core £23.62
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Coroners' and other courts £5.00
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Non-distributed costs (past pensions, unused assets) £4.02
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Elections and electoral registration £2.12
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Emergency planning £1.01
Parks, leisure, libraries and culture
£53.90 of your bill goes to parks, leisure, libraries and culture at Milton Keynes. Here is how its £9.9m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Parks and open spaces (including play areas) £34.84
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Libraries £9.63
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Museums, arts, heritage and archives £7.26
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Sport and leisure £2.17
Planning and development
£27.51 of your bill goes to planning and development at Milton Keynes. Here is how its £5.1m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Economic development and business support £10.82
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Planning policy £8.82
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Environmental initiatives £2.42
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Building control £2.18
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Planning applications (development management) £1.86
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Community development £1.40
Roads and transport
£17.56 of your bill goes to roads and transport at Milton Keynes. Here is how its £3.2m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Support for bus, rail and other public transport £4.33
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Concessionary bus fares £4.09
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Street lighting (including energy) £3.66
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Traffic management and road safety £2.44
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Road and bridge maintenance £1.88
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Winter service (gritting) £0.84
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Transport planning and policy £0.32
Public health
£1.50 of your bill goes to public health at Milton Keynes. Here is how its £14.4m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Health visiting and children's 0-5 services £0.51
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Drug and alcohol services £0.33
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Sexual health £0.30
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Stop smoking and tobacco control £0.10
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Children's 5-19 programmes £0.09
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Other public health £0.09
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Obesity and physical activity £0.05
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NHS health checks and health protection £0.04
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Public mental health £0.01
Milton Keynes: adult social care precept, this year's increase
£35.19 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 Milton Keynes's adult social care spending of £119.4m 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 £12.39
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Learning disability support £11.00
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Care assessment and safeguarding £5.96
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Mental health support £2.60
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Social support (carers, substance misuse, isolation, asylum) £0.80
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Sensory support £0.25
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Assistive equipment and technology £0.18
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Information and early intervention £0.07
Physical support
£12.39 of your bill goes to physical support at Milton Keynes. Here is how its £42.4m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £9.02
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Aged 18 to 64 £3.36
Learning disability support
£11.00 of your bill goes to learning disability support at Milton Keynes. Here is how its £37.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £10.03
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Aged 65 and over £0.97
Mental health support
£2.60 of your bill goes to mental health support at Milton Keynes. Here is how its £8.9m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £2.11
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Aged 65 and over £0.50
Support with memory and cognition
£1.95 of your bill goes to support with memory and cognition at Milton Keynes. Here is how its £6.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £1.83
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Aged 18 to 64 £0.12
Sensory support
£0.25 of your bill goes to sensory support at Milton Keynes. Here is how its £842k of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £0.14
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Aged 18 to 64 £0.10
Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable
£298.28 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 Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable's adult social care spending of £715.9m 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.
Buckinghamshire Combined Fire and Rescue Authority
£89.46 of your bill goes to Buckinghamshire Combined Fire and Rescue Authority. It is shared out below in proportion to how Buckinghamshire Combined Fire and Rescue Authority spent its money in 2025-26, its latest published return.
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Fire and rescue £84.02
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Running the council £5.44
Which councils count as similar
Medians are across the 10 fire and rescue authorities closest in population: Mid and West Wales Fire Authority, North Yorkshire Combined Fire and Rescue Authority, Cambridgeshire Combined Fire and Rescue Authority, East Sussex Combined Fire and Rescue Authority, Humberside Combined Fire and Rescue Authority, Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Fire and Rescue Authority, Hereford and Worcester Combined Fire and Rescue Authority, Berkshire Combined Fire and Rescue Authority, Bedfordshire Combined Fire and Rescue Authority, Derbyshire Combined Fire and Rescue Authority. Per-resident figures use ONS mid-year population estimates.
Fire and rescue
£84.02 of your bill goes to fire and rescue at Buckinghamshire Combined Fire and Rescue Authority. Here is how its £37.8m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Firefighting and rescue £78.53
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Community fire safety £5.49
Running the council
£5.44 of your bill goes to running the council at Buckinghamshire Combined Fire and Rescue Authority. Here is how its £2.4m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Corporate and democratic core £4.86
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Non-distributed costs (past pensions, unused assets) £0.58
Parks, street cleaning and roads here
What Milton Keynes 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) | £6.7m | £22 | £18 | — | up 13.7% on 2024-25 |
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Street cleaningDetails for Street cleaning | £5.6m | £18 | £12 | £6,784 (similar: £3,189) | up 8.5% on 2024-25 |
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Road and bridge maintenanceDetails for Road and bridge maintenance | £1.7m | £5.47 | £16 | £2,035 (similar: £4,951) | down 5.4% on 2024-25 |
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Environmental, safety and routine maintenanceDetails for Environmental, safety and routine maintenance | −£201k | £-0.65 | £9.88 | £-242.00 (similar: £4,493) | — |
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Structural maintenance (resurfacing, bridges)Details for Structural maintenance (resurfacing, bridges) | £1.9m | £6.12 | £3.70 | £2,277 (similar: £1,896) | up 60.7% on 2024-25 |
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Winter service (gritting)Details for Winter service (gritting) | £755k | £2.44 | £2.22 | £910 (similar: £859) | down 14.4% on 2024-25 |
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Street lighting (including energy)Details for Street lighting (including energy) | £3.3m | £11 | £9.17 | £3,958 (similar: £1,802) | down 25.0% 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 | £779 | £712 |
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Adult social careDetails for Adult social care | £386 | £483 |
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Children's social careDetails for Children's social care | £291 | £309 |
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Environment and regulationDetails for Environment and regulation | £116 | £110 |
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Housing (not council homes)Details for Housing (not council homes) | £60 | £33 |
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Public healthDetails for Public health | £46 | £65 |
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Running the councilDetails for Running the council | £36 | £52 |
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Parks, leisure, libraries and cultureDetails for Parks, leisure, libraries and culture | £32 | £38 |
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Planning and developmentDetails for Planning and development | £16 | £22 |
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Roads and transportDetails for Roads and transport | £10 | £49 |
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- Milton Keynes spent 35.4% 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.
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 Milton Keynes and everything else about Milton Keynes.
Common questions
- What does council tax pay for in Milton Keynes?
- A Band D bill of £2,372.21 is split between Milton Keynes, Milton Keynes: adult social care precept, this year's increase, Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable, Buckinghamshire Combined Fire and Rescue Authority, Parish and town councils (average for the area). In proportion to spending, the largest line is adult social care, £647.91.
- 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.