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Where your council tax goes in Westminster
Last updated . Figures refresh every night. How each figure is worked out.
A Band D council tax bill in Westminster is £1,049.55 for 2026-27, split between Westminster £527.20, Westminster: adult social care precept, this year's increase £10.54, Greater London Authority (Mayor, TfL, London Fire Brigade) £176.38, Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime £334.13, Parish and town councils (average for the area) £1.30. Shared out in proportion to what each body spends, the largest single line is policing at Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime: £334.13 of the bill. Council tax pays for 6% 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
- £1,049.55Band D bill, 2026-27
- £527.20Goes to Westminster itself (50%)
- £334.13Largest line: policing
- 6.1%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: £1,049.55
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Westminster £527.20
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Parish and town councils (average for the area) £1.30
Westminster
£527.20 of your bill goes to Westminster. It is shared out below in proportion to how Westminster spent its money in 2025-26, its latest published return.
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Housing (not council homes) £150.83
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Adult social care £120.25
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Environment and regulation £85.20
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Children's social care £70.05
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Education £34.72
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Planning and development £24.83
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Running the council £12.87
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Public health £5.84
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Other services £4.47
Roads and transport brought in £82.8m 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 (£111.7m) and public health paid for by the public health grant (£37.4m) 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: Sutton, Camden, Merton, Islington, Richmond upon Thames, Hammersmith and Fulham, Barking and Dagenham, Bexley, Kingston Upon Thames, Haringey. Per-resident figures use ONS mid-year population estimates.
Housing (not council homes)
£150.83 of your bill goes to housing (not council homes) at Westminster. Here is how its £141.9m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Homelessness and temporary accommodation £123.30
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Housing strategy, advice and enabling £11.11
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Housing benefit administration and discretionary payments £8.61
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Supporting People and welfare services £7.80
Named suppliers
In Westminster's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-07 to 2026-06, payments our keyword matching links to housing (not council homes) came to £352.2m across 5,479 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- GENERAL: £92.1m (931 payments)
- Connect Lettings & Management Ltd: £50.8m (30 payments)
- Willmott Dixon Construction Limited: £27.5m (22 payments)
- Stef & Philips Ltd: £20.0m (49 payments)
- Axis Europe Plc: £12.7m (362 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. Westminster's Housing Revenue Account took in £150.1m and spent £152.2m in 2025-26. What council tax does and doesn't pay for.
Adult social care
£120.25 of your bill goes to adult social care at Westminster. Here is how its £113.1m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Physical support £49.27
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Learning disability support £26.97
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Care assessment and safeguarding £22.99
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Commissioning, strategy and administration £10.14
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Mental health support £8.91
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Information and early intervention £0.23
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Sensory support £0.02
Named suppliers
In Westminster's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-07 to 2026-06, payments our keyword matching links to adult social care came to £42.0m across 11,189 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Barrie Bookkeeping & Payroll: £9.7m (4160 payments)
- Names withheld by the council: £9.2m (3136 payments)
- Care UK Community Partnerships Ltd: £4.0m (213 payments)
- Westminster Society: £2.3m (652 payments)
- Bondcare (London) Ltd Fern Gardens: £612k (125 payments)
Physical support
£49.27 of your bill goes to physical support at Westminster. Here is how its £47.3m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £43.79
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Aged 18 to 64 £5.47
Learning disability support
£26.97 of your bill goes to learning disability support at Westminster. Here is how its £25.9m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £20.25
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Aged 65 and over £6.71
Mental health support
£8.91 of your bill goes to mental health support at Westminster. Here is how its £8.6m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £6.50
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Aged 65 and over £2.41
Support with memory and cognition
£1.72 of your bill goes to support with memory and cognition at Westminster. Here is how its £1.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £1.26
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Aged 18 to 64 £0.46
Environment and regulation
£85.20 of your bill goes to environment and regulation at Westminster. Here is how its £80.1m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Street cleaning £34.43
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Recycling and waste minimisation £15.61
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Waste collection £8.50
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Community safety and CCTV £7.94
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Environmental health, food safety, pest control and licensing £6.12
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Waste disposal £5.45
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Other environmental services £3.13
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Public toilets £1.95
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Trading standards £1.14
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Cemeteries and crematoria £0.60
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Flood defence, land drainage and coast protection £0.33
Named suppliers
In Westminster's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-07 to 2026-06, payments our keyword matching links to environment and regulation came to £141.3m across 4,233 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Veolia Environmental Services: £78.0m (269 payments)
- F.M Conway Ltd: £38.3m (1972 payments)
- Continental Landscapes Ltd: £4.8m (203 payments)
- Carlisle Cleaning Services Ltd: £1.4m (28 payments)
- Ubitricity Distribured Energy Syste: £1.4m (4 payments)
Children's social care
£70.05 of your bill goes to children's social care at Westminster. Here is how its £65.9m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Children looked after £29.67
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Safeguarding and social work £19.54
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Family support £9.21
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Other children's and families' services £3.46
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Services for young people £3.34
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Asylum-seeking children £2.37
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Youth justice £1.60
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Children's centres and early years £0.87
Named suppliers
In Westminster's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-07 to 2026-06, payments our keyword matching links to children's social care came to £34.0m across 3,829 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- The London Early Years Foundation: £3.8m (297 payments)
- Names withheld by the council: £2.6m (763 payments)
- Imperial College Early Years: £1.4m (34 payments)
- Young Westminster Foundation: £1.1m (19 payments)
- Buffer Bear Ltd: £913k (34 payments)
Education
£34.72 of your bill goes to education at Westminster. Here is how its £144.3m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Primary schools £14.70
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Other education £7.24
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Secondary schools £4.36
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Early years and nursery £3.35
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Special schools and alternative provision £2.96
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Post-16 £2.10
Named suppliers
In Westminster's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-07 to 2026-06, payments our keyword matching links to education came to £133.8m across 6,100 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- St Augustines CE High School: £10.8m (46 payments)
- College Park School: £6.3m (72 payments)
- Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee School: £5.9m (40 payments)
- Barrow Hill Junior School: £5.4m (38 payments)
- Royal Borough of Kensington and Che: £5.0m (18 payments)
Planning and development
£24.83 of your bill goes to planning and development at Westminster. Here is how its £23.4m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Community development £12.42
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Planning applications (development management) £6.34
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Economic development and business support £4.40
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Building control £1.17
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Environmental initiatives £0.50
Named suppliers
In Westminster's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-07 to 2026-06, payments our keyword matching links to planning and development came to £2.3m across 287 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Paddington Arts: £1.2m (4 payments)
- F.M Conway Ltd: £161k (5 payments)
- Names withheld by the council: £104k (31 payments)
- #REF!: £78k (3 payments)
- One Westminster: £50k (2 payments)
Parks, leisure, libraries and culture
£18.16 of your bill goes to parks, leisure, libraries and culture at Westminster. Here is how its £17.1m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Libraries £10.03
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Parks and open spaces (including play areas) £4.64
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Sport and leisure £2.11
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Museums, arts, heritage and archives £1.37
Named suppliers
In Westminster's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-07 to 2026-06, payments our keyword matching links to parks, leisure, libraries and culture came to £2.6m across 340 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Continental Landscapes Ltd: £912k (65 payments)
- F.M Conway Ltd: £347k (12 payments)
- Wates Construction Ltd: £264k (4 payments)
- Royal Borough of Kensington and: £228k (15 payments)
- ALLWAG PROMOTIONS LIMITED: £57k (2 payments)
Running the council
£12.87 of your bill goes to running the council at Westminster. Here is how its £12.1m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Corporate and democratic core £5.12
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Coroners' and other courts £3.60
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Other central services £3.41
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Elections and electoral registration £0.60
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Emergency planning £0.13
Named suppliers
In Westminster's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-07 to 2026-06, payments our keyword matching links to running the council came to £138.6m across 5,110 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Matrix SCM Ltd: £17.9m (55 payments)
- Marsh Ltd: £11.2m (16 payments)
- New West End Company: £9.8m (17 payments)
- Capita Business Services Ltd: £7.9m (61 payments)
- CBRE Managed Services Ltd: £6.9m (79 payments)
Public health
£5.84 of your bill goes to public health at Westminster. Here is how its £42.9m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Drug and alcohol services £1.31
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Other public health £1.20
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Sexual health £0.77
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Health visiting and children's 0-5 services £0.72
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Obesity and physical activity £0.68
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Public mental health £0.46
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Children's 5-19 programmes £0.35
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NHS health checks and health protection £0.18
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Stop smoking and tobacco control £0.16
Named suppliers
In Westminster's own records of payments over £500 for 2025-07 to 2026-06, payments our keyword matching links to public health came to £28.3m across 767 payments. Those records leave out salaries, so they are not the whole cost.
- Turning Point Services Ltd: £5.8m (27 payments)
- Central London Community: £3.5m (24 payments)
- Chelsea & Westminster Hospital: £3.4m (18 payments)
- REED IN PARTNERSHIP LIMITED: £2.3m (22 payments)
- Cnwl Nhs Foundation Trust (Use: £2.3m (23 payments)
Westminster: adult social care precept, this year's increase
£10.54 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 Westminster's adult social care spending of £113.1m 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 £4.32
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Care assessment and safeguarding £2.02
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Commissioning, strategy and administration £0.89
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Mental health support £0.78
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Information and early intervention £0.02
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Sensory support £0.00
Physical support
£4.32 of your bill goes to physical support at Westminster. Here is how its £47.3m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £3.84
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Aged 18 to 64 £0.48
Learning disability support
£2.36 of your bill goes to learning disability support at Westminster. Here is how its £25.9m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £1.78
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Aged 65 and over £0.59
Mental health support
£0.78 of your bill goes to mental health support at Westminster. Here is how its £8.6m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £0.57
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Aged 65 and over £0.21
Support with memory and cognition
£0.15 of your bill goes to support with memory and cognition at Westminster. Here is how its £1.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £0.11
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Aged 18 to 64 £0.04
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 Westminster 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 | £21 | £19 | — | up 8.8% on 2024-25 |
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Street cleaningDetails for Street cleaning | £33.9m | £160 | £30 | £161,519 (similar: £25,393) | up 7.1% on 2024-25 |
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Road and bridge maintenanceDetails for Road and bridge maintenance | £7.6m | £36 | £15 | £35,971 (similar: £12,951) | up 13.6% on 2024-25 |
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Environmental, safety and routine maintenanceDetails for Environmental, safety and routine maintenance | £4.1m | £19 | £11 | £19,310 (similar: £13,707) | up 7.7% on 2024-25 |
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Structural maintenance (resurfacing, bridges)Details for Structural maintenance (resurfacing, bridges) | £3.5m | £16 | £4.00 | £16,662 (similar: £4,507) | up 21.2% on 2024-25 |
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Winter service (gritting)Details for Winter service (gritting) | £412k | £1.94 | £0.77 | £1,962 (similar: £1,069) | up 16.4% on 2024-25 |
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Street lighting (including energy)Details for Street lighting (including energy) | £2.4m | £11 | £4.60 | £11,548 (similar: £4,214) | down 8.4% on 2024-25 |
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Miles of road: Department for Transport road lengths, 2025; locally managed major roads and all minor roads. More on what council tax does and doesn't pay for.
What it adds up to
| Service | Per resident | Median |
|---|---|---|
EducationDetails for Education | £680 | £990 |
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Housing (not council homes)Details for Housing (not council homes) | £668 | £146 |
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Adult social careDetails for Adult social care | £533 | £438 |
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Environment and regulationDetails for Environment and regulation | £377 | £104 |
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Children's social careDetails for Children's social care | £310 | £291 |
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Public healthDetails for Public health | £202 | £82 |
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Planning and developmentDetails for Planning and development | £110 | £23 |
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Parks, leisure, libraries and cultureDetails for Parks, leisure, libraries and culture | £80 | £39 |
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Running the councilDetails for Running the council | £57 | £69 |
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Other servicesDetails for Other services | £20 | £15 |
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Roads and transportDetails for Roads and transport | £-389.96 | £1.75 |
| ||
- Westminster spent 24.3% 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 £1.31bn between 2025-07 and 2026-06. 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 29.1% 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 Westminster and everything else about Westminster.
Common questions
- What does council tax pay for in Westminster?
- A Band D bill of £1,049.55 is split between Westminster, Westminster: adult social care precept, this year's increase, Greater London Authority (Mayor, TfL, London Fire Brigade), Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime, Parish and town councils (average for the area). In proportion to spending, the largest line is policing, £334.13.
- 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.