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Where your council tax goes in Trafford
Last updated . Figures refresh every night. How each figure is worked out.
A Band D council tax bill in Trafford is £2,291.70 for 2026-27, split between Trafford £1,816.11, Trafford: adult social care precept, this year's increase £34.43, Greater Manchester Police £285.30, Greater Manchester Combined Authority £153.95, Parish and town councils (average for the area) £1.91. Shared out in proportion to what each body spends, the largest single line is adult social care at Trafford: £678.32 of the bill. Council tax pays for 20% 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
- £2,291.70Band D bill, 2026-27
- £1,816.11Goes to Trafford itself (79%)
- £678.32Largest line: adult social care
- 20.1%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: £2,291.70
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Trafford £1,816.11
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Greater Manchester Police £285.30
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Parish and town councils (average for the area) £1.91
Trafford
£1,816.11 of your bill goes to Trafford. It is shared out below in proportion to how Trafford spent its money in 2025-26, its latest published return.
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Adult social care £678.32
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Children's social care £382.34
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Education £313.03
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Running the council £138.63
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Public health £88.02
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Environment and regulation £69.16
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Planning and development £37.74
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Housing (not council homes) £29.35
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Roads and transport £20.83
Other services brought in £464k more than it cost in 2025-26, so it takes no share of your bill.
Before sharing out your bill, the part of education paid for by the Dedicated Schools Grant (£199.5m) is taken off, because council tax does not pay for it.
Which councils count as similar
Medians are across the 10 metropolitan borough councils closest in population: Tameside, Rochdale, Oldham, Barnsley, Barnsley, Solihull, North Tyneside, Calderdale, Rotherham, Wolverhampton. Per-resident figures use ONS mid-year population estimates.
Adult social care
£678.32 of your bill goes to adult social care at Trafford. Here is how its £107.3m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Learning disability support £248.14
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Physical support £202.32
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Care assessment and safeguarding £91.31
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Mental health support £88.95
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Commissioning, strategy and administration £10.33
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Information and early intervention £7.22
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Sensory support £3.57
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Assistive equipment and technology £2.27
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Social support (carers, substance misuse, isolation, asylum) £1.78
Learning disability support
£248.14 of your bill goes to learning disability support at Trafford. Here is how its £39.3m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £232.75
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Aged 65 and over £15.39
Physical support
£202.32 of your bill goes to physical support at Trafford. Here is how its £32.0m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £149.92
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Aged 18 to 64 £52.39
Mental health support
£88.95 of your bill goes to mental health support at Trafford. Here is how its £14.1m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £57.41
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Aged 65 and over £31.53
Support with memory and cognition
£22.45 of your bill goes to support with memory and cognition at Trafford. Here is how its £3.6m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £20.60
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Aged 18 to 64 £1.85
Sensory support
£3.57 of your bill goes to sensory support at Trafford. Here is how its £565k of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £2.24
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Aged 65 and over £1.33
Children's social care
£382.34 of your bill goes to children's social care at Trafford. Here is how its £60.5m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Children looked after £221.39
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Safeguarding and social work £85.41
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Family support £33.92
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Children's centres and early years £21.83
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Services for young people £7.74
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Other children's and families' services £6.70
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Youth justice £5.34
Education
£313.03 of your bill goes to education at Trafford. Here is how its £249.1m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Primary schools £141.34
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Secondary schools £53.97
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Early years and nursery £48.85
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Special schools and alternative provision £38.46
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Other education £18.27
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Post-16 £12.15
Running the council
£138.63 of your bill goes to running the council at Trafford. Here is how its £21.9m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Other central services £82.33
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Collecting council tax and business rates £22.08
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Local welfare assistance £14.41
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Non-distributed costs (past pensions, unused assets) £6.28
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Coroners' and other courts £5.15
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Corporate and democratic core £3.61
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Elections and electoral registration £3.17
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Emergency planning £1.49
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Registering births, deaths and marriages £0.12
Public health
£88.02 of your bill goes to public health at Trafford. Here is how its £13.9m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Health visiting and children's 0-5 services £29.03
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Drug and alcohol services £15.39
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Other public health £12.15
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Sexual health £11.25
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Children's 5-19 programmes £9.41
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NHS health checks and health protection £8.75
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Stop smoking and tobacco control £1.80
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Obesity and physical activity £0.15
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Public mental health £0.10
Environment and regulation
£69.16 of your bill goes to environment and regulation at Trafford. Here is how its £10.9m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Recycling and waste minimisation £27.10
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Street cleaning £19.57
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Community safety and CCTV £7.09
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Environmental health, food safety, pest control and licensing £5.69
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Flood defence, land drainage and coast protection £4.38
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Trading standards £2.80
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Waste collection £2.40
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Public toilets £0.14
Parks, leisure, libraries and culture
£58.69 of your bill goes to parks, leisure, libraries and culture at Trafford. Here is how its £9.3m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Parks and open spaces (including play areas) £20.23
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Libraries £15.06
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Sport and leisure £11.93
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Museums, arts, heritage and archives £10.18
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Tourism £0.75
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Community centres and public halls £0.54
Planning and development
£37.74 of your bill goes to planning and development at Trafford. Here is how its £6.0m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Economic development and business support £17.45
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Planning applications (development management) £9.42
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Planning policy £7.69
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Environmental initiatives £1.83
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Building control £1.34
Housing (not council homes)
£29.35 of your bill goes to housing (not council homes) at Trafford. Here is how its £4.6m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Homelessness and temporary accommodation £21.23
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Housing benefit administration and discretionary payments £6.31
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Housing strategy, advice and enabling £1.81
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. Trafford 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.
Roads and transport
£20.83 of your bill goes to roads and transport at Trafford. Here is how its £3.3m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Street lighting (including energy) £6.54
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Traffic management and road safety £3.12
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Winter service (gritting) £1.76
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Transport planning and policy £0.70
Road and bridge maintenance
£8.72 of your bill goes to road and bridge maintenance at Trafford. Here is how its £2.2m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Environmental, safety and routine maintenance £7.18
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Structural maintenance (resurfacing, bridges) £1.54
Trafford: adult social care precept, this year's increase
£34.43 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 Trafford's adult social care spending of £107.3m divided in 2025-26. MHCLG publishes only this year's increase; the running total since 2016-17 printed on your bill is in the council part above.
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Learning disability support £12.59
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Physical support £10.27
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Care assessment and safeguarding £4.63
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Mental health support £4.51
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Commissioning, strategy and administration £0.52
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Information and early intervention £0.37
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Sensory support £0.18
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Assistive equipment and technology £0.12
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Social support (carers, substance misuse, isolation, asylum) £0.09
Learning disability support
£12.59 of your bill goes to learning disability support at Trafford. Here is how its £39.3m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £11.81
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Aged 65 and over £0.78
Physical support
£10.27 of your bill goes to physical support at Trafford. Here is how its £32.0m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £7.61
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Aged 18 to 64 £2.66
Mental health support
£4.51 of your bill goes to mental health support at Trafford. Here is how its £14.1m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £2.91
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Aged 65 and over £1.60
Support with memory and cognition
£1.14 of your bill goes to support with memory and cognition at Trafford. Here is how its £3.6m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £1.05
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Aged 18 to 64 £0.09
Sensory support
£0.18 of your bill goes to sensory support at Trafford. Here is how its £565k of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £0.11
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Aged 65 and over £0.07
Greater Manchester Police
£285.30 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 Manchester Police's adult social care spending of £974.0m 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.
Greater Manchester Combined Authority
£153.95 of your bill goes to Greater Manchester Combined Authority. It is shared out below in proportion to how Greater Manchester Combined Authority spent its money in 2025-26, its latest published return.
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Roads and transport £64.37
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Planning and development £38.36
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Fire and rescue £25.78
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Environment and regulation £19.68
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Running the council £2.74
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Housing (not council homes) £2.17
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Parks, leisure, libraries and culture £0.85
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 Manchester Combined 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.
No similar-council comparison: no comparison: no other body does the same mix of things.
Planning and development
£38.36 of your bill goes to planning and development at Greater Manchester Combined Authority. Here is how its £224.8m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Economic development and business support £37.64
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Environmental initiatives £0.72
Parks, street cleaning and roads here
What Trafford 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) | £3.2m | £13 | £21 | — | up 7.5% on 2024-25 |
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Street cleaningDetails for Street cleaning | £3.4m | £14 | £14 | £6,677 (similar: £6,517) | up 3.0% on 2024-25 |
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Road and bridge maintenanceDetails for Road and bridge maintenance | £2.2m | £9.25 | £11 | £4,394 (similar: £6,791) | up 28.6% on 2024-25 |
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Environmental, safety and routine maintenanceDetails for Environmental, safety and routine maintenance | £1.8m | £7.61 | £3.41 | £3,617 (similar: £1,613) | up 34.3% on 2024-25 |
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Structural maintenance (resurfacing, bridges)Details for Structural maintenance (resurfacing, bridges) | £394k | £1.63 | £1.84 | £777 (similar: £881) | up 7.4% on 2024-25 |
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Winter service (gritting)Details for Winter service (gritting) | £450k | £1.87 | £3.02 | £888 (similar: £1,312) | up 3.0% on 2024-25 |
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Street lighting (including energy)Details for Street lighting (including energy) | £1.7m | £6.93 | £8.65 | £3,296 (similar: £4,938) | down 15.3% 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 | £1,034 | £869 |
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Adult social careDetails for Adult social care | £445 | £482 |
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Children's social careDetails for Children's social care | £251 | £340 |
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Running the councilDetails for Running the council | £91 | £59 |
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Public healthDetails for Public health | £58 | £93 |
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Environment and regulationDetails for Environment and regulation | £45 | £93 |
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Parks, leisure, libraries and cultureDetails for Parks, leisure, libraries and culture | £39 | £50 |
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Planning and developmentDetails for Planning and development | £25 | £29 |
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Housing (not council homes)Details for Housing (not council homes) | £19 | £39 |
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Roads and transportDetails for Roads and transport | £14 | £29 |
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Other servicesDetails for Other services | £-1.93 | £0.52 |
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- Trafford spent 35.4% of its gross service spending on its own staff in 2025-26 (median for metropolitan borough councils: 33.6%); 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 Trafford and everything else about Trafford.
Common questions
- What does council tax pay for in Trafford?
- A Band D bill of £2,291.70 is split between Trafford, Trafford: adult social care precept, this year's increase, Greater Manchester Police, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Parish and town councils (average for the area). In proportion to spending, the largest line is adult social care, £678.32.
- 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.