Accessibility Tools

Skip to main content
How can we help you?
Benefits and Council Tax

Council Tax bill explained

In this section you will find the following information:
In this section
Council Tax bill explained

Use the links below to find the information you need:

Who you pay Council Tax to

You pay Council Tax to five different organisations. Each one charges a different amount for their services. These different amounts are added together to make your total Council Tax bill. Wychavon is responsible for collecting the money and passing it on to these other organisations.

In this area you pay Council Tax to these organisations.

Worcestershire County Council

For every pound you pay in Council Tax, 73p is given to Worcestershire County Council. This pays for services including, but not limited to, adult social care, looked after children, road and path maintenance, libraries and waste disposal.

West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner

In 2023/24 you will pay 13p in every pound to the West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner. This is to help fight crime and keep communities safe.

Wychavon District Council

We keep just 6p in every pound you give us in Council Tax. This funds services including waste and recycling collections, planning services, business support, housing, parks, public toilets, elections, community safety and much more.

Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service

The fire service gets 5p out of every pound of Council Tax. Your money helps to support the work of this service including tackling fires, dealing with road traffic collisions and responding to major emergencies like flooding.

Town/parish council

Every area in Wychavon has a town or parish council. 3p in every pound goes to them. The services they run vary but they can include parks/playgrounds, allotments, cemeteries, bus shelters, Christmas lights and they also comment on planning applications.

Additional charge for adult social care

The Secretary of State made an offer to adult social care authorities. (“Adult social care authorities” are local authorities which have functions under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, namely county councils in England, district councils for an area in England for which there is no county council, London borough councils, the Common Council of the City of London and the Council of the Isles of Scilly.)

The offer was the option of an adult social care authority being able to charge an additional “precept” on its council tax without holding a referendum, to assist the authority in meeting expenditure on adult social care from the financial year 2016-17.   It was originally made in respect of the financial years up to and including 2019-20.  If the Secretary of State chooses to renew this offer in respect of a particular financial year, this is subject to approval of the House of Commons.

The offer was renewed for the financial year 2022-23, allowing an additional 3% increase for adult social care, of which 2% was carried forward from 2021/22.

How your Council Tax is spent

We have frozen our share of the Council Tax bill for the sixth year in a row. It means by March 2024 you, our residents, will have benefitted by keeping £2.7milllion in your pockets.

The amount you pay may still rise though as other organisations may raise their part of the bill. You can get support to pay your Council Tax bill depending on your circumstances. 

Through good financial management and wise investment decisions, we can keep our Council Tax on hold while continuing to
deliver high quality services to you.

Our Corporate Strategy explains the things we will invest our resources in to make our district even better. Your Council Tax is an important part of that. Find out more by reading the Wychavon corporate strategy.

Our priority is to support the district's continuing recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic by continuing to invest in the things that matter to you – our economy, our environment, and our communities.

Our corporate strategy guides this work and includes a range of ambitious targets and actions, which we call promises. On top of this we have our Intelligently Green Plan which is leading our work on helping to tackle climate change.

Read the pdf Wychavon resident information leaflet (18.94 MB) to find out more about how we spend your money and what we do for you. You can also read a text only version of the Wychavon resident information leaflet.

How Worcestershire County Council spends your Council Tax

Below is a message from Cllr Simon Geraghty, Leader of Worcestershire County Council.

I recognise this year will be a tough one for many people across the county. Worcestershire County Council is facing similar challenges too from the impact of inflation on costs and increasing demand for services adding significantly to the pressure on our budget.

With more vulnerable people needing our support than ever before, and with the cost of this care increasing significantly, our budget reflects this added pressure. Government is providing much-needed additional funding, and we have a programme of further efficiencies and reform, however the rising costs and demand on our key services have meant we need a rise in council tax to be able to continue to fund essential services.

Our council tax is one of the lowest of any County Council in the country and, with most councils increasing their council tax due to similar pressures, we will remain one of the lowest.

The additional funding will mean we can continue to deliver vital children’s and adult social care to protect the most vulnerable in our communities. It will also enable us to maintain our capital commitments to invest in the priorities that are most important to our residents. These include better roads and pavements, tackling congestion and improving public transport alongside investments in the economy, environment and extra school places.

Worcestershire County Council's Budget for 2023/24

In the 2023/24 financial year Worcestershire County Council's net budget will be £401 million broken down as follows:

  • £161 million on Adult Social Care, Public Health and Communities 
  • £111 million for Children’s Services (£111m)
  • £69 million for Economy, Infrastructure and Environment (£69m)
  • £60 million for Support Services including Finance and Legal

Worcestershire County Council will make investments in the following areas:

  • A further £19.4 million for highways in addition to the £36 million agreed last year to improve roads and £12 million to improve pavements.
  • £3 million to renew highways drainage and flood mitigation works and £500,000 for minor highways works.
  • 150,000 trees to be planted to develop sustainable woodlands.
  • Additional £3.5 million to maintain bus services.
  • £53 million on a new secondary school and new school places across the county.
  • £6 million to improve street lights.

With a Gross Budget from Council Tax and Government Grants, Worcestershire County Council will be spending a record amount to help protect the most vulnerable people in our communities:

  • £268 million for those who need Adult Social care in 23/24
  • £146 million to improve the lives of Children and Young People
  • £91 million to support people to live independently for longer through Public Health and Communities

Visit Worcestershire County Council's website for more information on how they spend your Council Tax.

How West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner spends your Council Tax

John Campion is the West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner. The amount you pay for the police service will increase by 5.94% in 2023/24.

Your money will be spent on increasing the number of police officers to the highest establishment figure on record, with crime fighting teams in the heart of communities.

Funding will be focused on tackling anti-social behaviour, road safety and drugs.

Specific pledges include:

  • 40 new officers at the frontline of local policing
  • More accessible and visible policing
  • Continued focus on preventing and tackling crime
  • Investment in preventing domestic abuse by challenging offender behaviour
  • £2 million investment in Safer Communities projects, addressing local issues
  • Continued investment in technology, which enables the police to provide you with a better service

Visit the West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner website to find out more about how the police will spend your Council Tax.

How Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority Spend your Council Tax

Visit the Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority website for more information on how they spend your Council Tax.

Council Tax charges

You can check your Council Tax band and the annual charge for your property using Wychavon's My Local Area search. This information will also be on your Council Tax bill.

If you are unsure which band a property is in you can find out by going to the Valuation Office Agency website and searching the Council Tax lists pages.

The charges shown assume that no discounts or exemptions apply. To see if you or the property would qualify for a discount or exemption, please go to our Council Tax discounts and exemptions page.

You may also be entitled to a reduction by qualifying for benefit.  Please go to our Council Tax Support or Housing Benefits pages for more information.

If you cannot find the information you require then please contact our Council Tax team.

Help to pay your Council Tax bill

Depending on your circumstances you may qualify for help with paying your Council Tax bill. Visit our Council Tax Support page for more information.

You may also qualify for certain discounts and exemptions on your Council Tax bill.

Get your Council Tax bill by email or pay online

You can now get your Council Tax bill straight to your inbox as well as make payments online. Sign up for a Council Tax self-service account.

Council Tax Valuation and Banding

Most residential properties are subject to Council Tax. There will be one bill per property, whether it is a house, bungalow, flat, maisonette, mobile home or houseboat, and whether it is owned or rented.

Each property has been placed in one of eight bands according to its open market capital value at 1 April 1991 and this is based on certain assumptions:

  • vacant possession
  • a freehold interest or;
  • if a flat, a 99 year leasehold at a nominal rental and
  • the property being in a reasonable state of repair.

The bands are as follows:

  • Band A up to £40,000
  • Band B between £40,001 and £52,000
  • Band C between £52,001 and £68,000
  • Band D between £68,001 and £88,000
  • Band E between £88,001 and £120,000
  • Band F between £120,001 and £160,000
  • Band G between £160,001 and £320,000
  • Band H more than £320,000

Your Council Tax bill will tell you which band applies to your property.

You can inspect the Valuation List on the Valuation Office Agency website or at a Wychavon Community Contact Centre in Droitwich Spa, Evesham and Pershore.

Find your Council Tax band

You can check your Council Tax band or rate using My Local Area by putting in your postcode into the database.

Appeal your Council Tax valuation

If you think you have been placed in the wrong Council Tax band then you can challenge it by contacting the Valuation Office Agency. Visit challenge your council tax band on the Government's website for more information on how to do this. 

You can also find more information on Wychavon's appeal your Council Tax page.