Council Tax is a locally set tax, payable on all homes in the borough, whether they are owned or rented.

Your council tax pays for:

• schools 
• roads 
• libraries 
• support for vulnerable children and adults 
• rubbish collections

Council Tax also pays for the police, the fire service and many other local services.

Budget for 2023/24

Councillors have agreed the 2023/24 budget at a full council meeting on Wednesday 1 March 2023 which protects services, provides extra support for people struggling with the cost of living crisis, more money to provide social care, and further spending on improving residents’ homes and keeping the streets clean.

Find out more: 'One of the most challenging budgets we’ve ever had to set’: council agrees finances for 2023-24

Council Tax increases

This year we’ve had to take the tough decision to increase Council Tax by 2.99%, with a further 2% increase to be ring-fenced to pay for adult social care. That’s an increase of around 69.33 for the year – around 19p a day – on a Band D property. This will help us to provide important and essential services for our community.

Council Tax information (PDF, 2.57 MB)

If you can't afford to pay

If you are on a low income, you can claim Council Tax Support, which may meet some or all of your Council Tax bill payments. If you claim Universal Credit or soon will, remember that this will not cover your Council Tax costs and needs to be claimed separately.

Apply for Housing Benefit/Council Tax Support

If you have been placed in the borough by another council that pays your Housing Benefit, you must still apply for Council Tax support in Barking and Dagenham via our website.

You may be eligible for a reduction in your bill if you satisfy certain criteria, for example if you are the only adult resident or if you are a full time student. There are a range of discounts and exemptions available which cover a variety of circumstances.

Check eligibility for a Council Tax discount or exemption

You can choose to spread your Council Tax instalments over 12 months rather than 10, making it easier to pay; you must inform us before your April instalment is due if you wish to do this (as your instalment plan must end in March 2024).

Financial information

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Where your money goes

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Cost of services

22/23	Service	23/24 Expenditure
116.235	People & Resilience	115.640
25.897	Community Solutions	22.346
6.688	Running the Council/Corporate Management	44.127
1.816	Inclusive Growth	1.525
-          2.811	Law Governance and HR	-                    2.093
18.318	My Place	14.089
2.071	Policy and Participation	-
13.687	SDI Commissioning	-
-	Strategy	3.368
181.985	Total Net Expenditure	199.002
632.383	Gross Expenditure	516.671
450.488	Gross Income	317.669
181.895	Total Funding Required	199.002
83.391	Business Rates	90.930
14.164	Government Grants (Inc. Housing Benefit)	19.926
13.990	Other Funding Sources	10.365
72.350	Council Tax	77.780
52,079.16	Number of Houses at Band D Equivalent	53,326.9
1,225.48	Band D Council Tax LBBD	1,267.09
163.76	Band D Adult Social Care Precept	191.48
395.59	Band D GLA Precept	434.14
1,784.83	Total Band D Council Tax Bill	1,892.71

Adult social care precept

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 its 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, however has since been extended. If the Secretary of State chooses to renew this offer in respect of a particular financial year, this is subject to the approval of the House of Commons.

This year 2023/24, the Secretary of State has allowed adult social care authorities to charge a precept of up to 2%.

The government states that the precept must be shown as a separate charge on all Council Tax bills. The income generated from this charge is ring-fenced, meaning it can only be used for adult social care services.

Adult social care services support some of the most vulnerable members of our community, those in old age and adults with disabilities. Whilst this precept has been helpful in meeting the increasing demands for these services, it is still not enough.  The pressures of meeting the needs of our most vulnerable residents – both children and adults – continue to grow.

This year, alongside the general increase in council tax of 2.99%, the Council will further raise Council Tax by 2%. This will be solely used to fund the increasing costs of adult social care services.

Changes in our expenditure

Budget before reserves usage	£187,190
Service pressures and improvements	£32,299
Savings	(£6,977)
Contributions from reserves and other	(£8,944)
Budget 2023/24	£203,568

Council Tax

Council Tax 2022/23	Band D Council Tax (£)
London Borough of Barking and Dagenham	£1,389.24
Greater London Authority	£395.59
Total	£1,784.83

Council Tax 2023/24	Band D Council Tax (£)
London Borough of Barking and Dagenham	£1,458.57
Greater London Authority	£434.14
Total	£1,892.71

Greater London Authority (GLA)

You can find information on the Greater London Authority (GLA) charge on Council Tax including how much it is and what it is used for in Your council tax and the GLA (PDF, 98KB). 

East London Waste Authority (ELWA)

ELWA has the statutory responsibility for the disposal of household and commercial waste collected by the London Boroughs of Barking & Dagenham, Havering, Newham and Redbridge, and for the provision of Reuse and Recycling Centres in its area.

Waste disposal is carried out under a 25-year Integrated Waste Management Services Contract by Renewi plc. ELWA receives funding support via the government’s Private Finance Initiative.

Budget 2023/24

ELWA’s total levy requirement is £72,846,000 (2022/23: £72,350,000). The 2023/24 budget includes a significant inflationary increase in contract costs. This is offset by a decrease in the total waste tonnage and a reduction in capital financing costs (both relative to the 2022/23 budget) and the forecast 2022/23 budget surplus. Further information can be found on the ELWA website. The decrease for the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham is 0.76%.

The major part of the ELWA Levy is apportioned on the basis of relative amounts of household waste delivered to ELWA by each of the four constituent London Boroughs, with the remainder apportioned according to their Council Tax Bases.

The Levy on the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham for 2023/24 is £13,557,000 (2022/23: £13,661,000).

Lee Valley Regional Park Authority

Lee Valley Regional Park is a unique leisure, sports and environmental destination for all residents of London, Essex and Hertfordshire. The 26 mile long, 10,000 acre Park, much of it formerly derelict land, is partly funded by a levy on the council tax.  This year there has been a 9% increase in this levy.

Find out more about hundreds of great days out, world class sports venues and award winning parklands on the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority website.

Budget/Levy 2023/24 (£'million)

	2022/23	2023/24
	£m	£m
Authority Operating Expenditure	15.1	15.5
Authority Operating Income	(7.0)	(7.3)
Net Service Operating Costs	8.1	8.2
Financing Costs - Debt servicing/repayments	0.5	2.0
Financing Costs - Capital investment	1.3	0.9
Total Net Expenditure	9.9	11.1
Net use of Reserves	(0.1)	(0.5)
Total Levy	(9.8)	(10.6)

Further details on how this budget is spent and the amount each council contributes can be found on the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority website.

London Pension Fund Authority (LPFA)

The London Pensions Fund Authority (LPFA) raises a levy each year to meet expenditure on premature retirement compensation and outstanding personnel matters for which LPFA is responsible and cannot charge to the pension fund. These payments relate to former employees of the Greater London Council (GLC), the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) and the London Residuary Body (LRB).

For 2023/24, the income to be raised by levies is set out below. The Greater London levy is payable in all boroughs, the Inner London levy only in Inner London Boroughs (including the City of London). The figures show the total to be raised and, in brackets, the percentage change on the previous year.

Inner London	£7,000,000 (-46%)
Greater London	£1,000,000 (-90%)
Total	£8,000,000 (-66%)

From 2023/24 onwards, a portion of the amount previously raised as levies is being paid directly into the LPFA Pension Fund to address a funding deficit in respect of former GLC, ILEA, and LRB employees. This means that although the levy amount has reduced this year, most boroughs continue to pay the same total amount to LPFA as was paid during 2022/23.

Environment Agency - south east region

The Council Tax (Demand Notices) (England) Regulations 2011.

The Environment Agency is a levying body for its Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Functions under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 and the Environment Agency (Levies) (England and Wales) Regulations 2011.

The Environment Agency has powers in respect of flood and coastal erosion risk management for 5200 kilometres of main river and along tidal and sea defences in the area of the Thames Regional Flood and Coastal Committee. Money is spent on the construction of new flood defence schemes, the maintenance of the river system and existing flood defences together with the operation of a flood warning system and management of the risk of coastal erosion. The financial details are:

Thames Regional Flood and Coastal Committee

	2022/23 '000s	2023/24 '000s
Gross Expenditure	£109,376	£139,806
Levies Raised	£12,282	£12,526
Total Council Tax Base	£5,214	£5,297

The majority of funding for flood defence comes directly from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). However, under the new Partnership Funding rule not all schemes will attract full central funding.To provide local funding for local priorities and contributions for partnership funding the Regional Flood and Coastal Committees recommend through the Environment Agency a local levy.

A change in the gross budgeted expenditure between years reflects the programme of works for both capital and revenue needed by the Regional Flood and Coastal Committee to which you contribute. The total Local Levy raised by this committee has increased by 1.99%.

The total Local Levy raised has increased from £12,281,930 in 2022/2023 to £12,526,341 for 2023/2024.

Council Tax general enquiry

We want to help you understand Council Tax and how to pay it. The best way to contact us for help or information is to use our Council Tax general enquiry form.

To use the form, you need to be signed in to your Barking and Dagenham Council My Account. If you don't have a My Account, you can register for a My B&D Account.

Council Tax general enquiry form