Council Tax
Each year your council tax bill tells you what you pay for your local council’s services, as well as what you contribute to other important Greater Manchester-wide public services, such as the Police and Fire and Rescue Service.
These Greater Manchester contributions are called “precepts” and always appear on your bill. The Mayor of Greater Manchester is responsible for setting these precepts.
On the bill there will be two sections which refer to Mayoral precepts. One is for the policing precept, which used to be the responsibility of the Police and Crime Commissioner, in whose name this used to appear on your bill. On your bill, this will be called the "Mayoral Police and Crime Commissioner Precept".
For 2023/24 the Mayoral Police and Crime Commissioner precept is £243.30 per year (for a Band D property) an increase of £15 (6.6%) per year.
The increase in precept funding is critical to sustain the significant improvements made in GMP to continue to strengthen public safety and together with the central Government grant will deliver:
- The establishment of dedicated Neighbourhood Crime Teams in each district to more effectively and proactively tackle the issues that the public told us are important to them in a GMP consultation last year, including burglary, robbery, and vehicle crime.
- The workforce level required to ensure that the significant improvements in 999 and 101 waiting times are maintained and further improved, particularly in respect of 101.
- Increased capacity and capability of crime scene investigators and digital investigators strengthening opportunities to detect neighbourhood crime and sex offending, including such offences against children in particular.
- Increased numbers of investigators who conduct initial investigations when a crime is first reported, to ensure more timely and effective investigations into offences that have a big impact on our communities like criminal damage and hate crime.
The other is called the "Mayoral General Precept". The vast majority of this comprises the costs of the Fire Service, with a small amount going to pay for other Mayoral functions.
For 2023/24 the Mayoral General precept (including Fire Services) is £107.95 per year (for a Band D property) an increase of £5 (4.9%) per year, or £71.96 (for a Band A property) an increase of £3.33Of the £107.95 for a Band D property £76.20 relates to Fire and Rescue Services and £31.75 relates to Mayoral General functions.
The precept increase of £5 is for the GM Fire and Rescue Service and is required to ensure frontline fire cover is maintained. The Mayor has committed to continuing with at least 50 fire engines throughout 2023/24 with crewing at the current level of five firefighters at one pump stations and four firefighters on each engine at two pump stations.
The Mayoral General precept has been frozen for 2023/24 and the existing precept will continue to support:
- The continuation of the flagship A Bed Every Night scheme into the next financial year. This scheme is core to the reduction in rough sleeping in Greater Manchester over the last 5 years and it will continue to support local schemes and homelessness partnerships to end rough sleeping across the region.
- Continuation of the Our Pass pilot scheme for 2023/24, providing free bus travel within Greater Manchester for 16-18 year olds.
- Bus Reform implementation as a key step toward development of The Bee Network, an integrated ‘London-style’ transport system which will join together buses, trams, cycling and walking and other shared mobility services.
GMCA 2022/23 budget information papers and livestream (external website)
Mayoral Police and Crime Commissioner Precept
Mayoral General Precept (including Fire Services)
Transport
We’ve also given details of the costs of transport in Greater Manchester. This doesn’t appear on your bill as it is mostly funded through a levy contribution from the local districts, with a smaller proportion coming from the Mayoral precept.
Waste Levy
Municipal waste disposal is funded through a levy on nine of the Greater Manchester district councils, while Wigan operates as a unitary authority and administers its own disposal arrangements. The levy funds the operation of a network of waste management facilities. This doesn’t appear on your council tax bill.
All of these issues have been considered by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, and a number of reports have been published:
Reports
The report links all take you to our external website meetings, agenda and minutes.