Paying for local services (Theme A)

Question 1

How do local councils and county councils obtain funds to pay for the services they provide?

Answer 1

Council tax, business tax, government grants and income from charges.

Question 2

What factors affect decision-making when managing the budget to meet needs?

Answer 2

• priority spending on key areas such as education and social care.
• trading off other areas of spending (e.g. leisure) to create funds for priority spending.
• targeting spending for needs specific to local areas (e.g. inner city, suburb, small town, rural).

Question 3

Who is council tax collected by?

Answer 3

District, borough and unitary authorities.

Question 4

Who sets the amount a council can collect as council tax?

Answer 4

Central government - it can be capped.

Question 5

What is a proportion of this money collected for (in terms of services)?

Answer 5

County council services, such as the police and fire service

Town or parish council services, such as maintenance of parks

Question 6

Who must pay council tax and what are the costs based off?

Answer 6

Every household

Based off home value

Question 7

Why can the revenue collected by councils vary?

Answer 7

More affluent areas pay more than deprived areas

Question 8

What is the amount of business rates payed determined by?

Answer 8

The open market rental value of the buildings they operate from

Question 9

Who sets business rates?

Answer 9

Central government

Question 10

What did the Local Government Finance Act 2012 do?

Answer 10

Local councils were given the power to keep half go the business rates collected in order to encourage new businesses, perhaps by regenerating a shopping area to attract new retailers.

Question 11

What happened to the other half of the money not spent by the Local Government Finance Act 2012?

Answer 11

Given to central government and distributed nationally as grants to councils depending on need.

Question 12

What happens to the amount of business rates when a business closes down and no longer pays rent?

Answer 12

The amount reduces.

Question 13

Who do central governments provide grants to?

Answer 13

Local government (local councils and county councils) each financial year.

Question 14

Give examples of central government grants that must be provided

Answer 14

Education and social care

Question 15

What is the money given to each local authority calculated by?

Answer 15

Area needs

Question 16

What did austerity plans see between 2010 and 2015 and what does this mean for local councils?

Answer 16

They saw a 37% reduction of local government grants

Local councils therefore have to plan carefully where their funding will be spent

Question 17

What can councils do to some council services?

Give examples

Answer 17

Make chargers and fees for them

e.g. parking fees on council land and bulky refuse collection

Question 18

Give an example of council charges

Answer 18

Admission to local leisure centres

Question 19

What do some councils do (and what are they responsible for)?

Answer 19

Charge rent for a stock of council or social housing, though they also have responsibility to maintain them to have a ‘decent home’ standard

Question 20

Give examples of services that councils are not allowed to charge for

Answer 20

Education, elections, standard refuse collection, and libraries