Our budget
A message from David Stanley, Chief Finance Officer at Cotswold
District Council
Our net budget for 2026/27 is £17.2 million, funded through council tax, business rates and government funding allocation. National funding for councils is lower than it was a decade ago, so we must use your contributions carefully. Only around 7% of your council tax goes to Cotswold District Council. Most is allocated to Gloucestershire County Council and Gloucestershire Police, with some also going to your town or parish council.
Our share of council tax funds essential local services, including:
- Waste and recycling
- Leisure and cultural facilities
- Street cleaning
- Environmental health
- Planning
Other services, including roads, libraries, adult social care and public health, are provided by Gloucestershire County Council.
To maintain core services despite reduced national funding, our portion of council tax will rise by less than 10p a week - £5 a year for a Band D home. This small increase helps ensure services remain sustainable. These decisions on council tax are not taken lightly. But work has already started to prepare for local government reorganisation, which will replace the current twotier system of county and district/borough councils in Gloucestershire with one or two unitary councils. This means our decisions are guided by a clear aim: to ensure the district council hands over strong and high-performing local services, and
communities that are resilient and well-positioned for the years ahead.