Find out how your council tax money is allocated and spent on local services.
We have set a net revenue budget of £205.3m for 2026/27. This budget will be spent in line with the council’s priorities in the Torbay Corporate Plan.
The tables below provide:
The increase in the net budget from 2025/26 reflects increasing cost pressures. This is mainly because councils’ funding arrangements have changed for 2026/27, as most grants move into sources of funding.
| Directorate/service | Net budget 2025/26 | Initial (consultation) proposed net budget 2026/27 | Final settlement proposed net budget 2026/27 | Revised variance over 2025/26 budget | Final settlement proposed net budget re-represented 2026/27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adults and Community | 49.3 | 51.3 | 51.3 | 2.0 | 79.7 |
| Childrens | 46.0 | 49.3 | 49.3 | 3.2 | 62.9 |
| Corporate services | 15.4 | 16.6 | 16.6 | 1.2 | 16.6 |
| Public Health | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Finance | 12.4 | 13.1 | 15.9 | 3.6 | 20.3 |
| Investment properties | -4.1 | -4.1 | -4.1 | 0 | -4.1 |
| Place | 28.6 | 30.0 | 30.0 | 1.4 | 30.0 |
| Total | 147.5 | 156.1 | 158.9 | 1.4 | 205.3 |
| Sources of funding | Net budget 2025/26 | Initial (consultation) proposed net budget 2026/27 | Final settlement proposed net budget 2026/27 | Revised variance over 2025/26 budget | Final settlement proposed net budget re-represented 2026/27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Council tax | 96.2 | 101.2 | 101.5 | 5.3 | 101.5 |
| Fair Funding Allocation | 51.3 | 54.2 | 57.5 | 6.2 | 90.6 |
| Recovery Grants | not applicable | not applicable | 0 | 0 | 9.4 |
| Consolidated grants | not applicable | not applicable | 0 | 0 | 3.8 |
| Total | 147.5 | 155.4 | 158.9 | 11.4 | 205.3 |
Key financial documents for 2026/27 revenue and capital budgets are available on our finance pages. A more detailed Budget Digest document will follow.
Budget for the year 2026/2027.
We have set a basic amount of Council Tax for 2026/27 based on its gross expenditure and income. This results in a Council tax increase of 4.99%, which is in line with Government expectations.
The Government’s Referendum Principles allows local authorities with adult social care responsibilities to include a council tax precept at 2% to be spent on Adult Social Care. We have included this 2% amount in the 4.99% Council Tax increase for 2026/27.
The amounts to be raised by:
are applicable to all Torbay residents.
The Parish Precept is only applicable to residents in the Brixham.
| Details | Excluding parish precept (£000) | Parish precept (£000) | Including parish precept (£000) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Torbay Council | 101,160 | 0 | 101,160 |
| Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall | 15,152 | 0 | 15,152 |
| Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority | 5,481 | 0 | 5,481 |
| Brixham Town Council | 0 | 657 | 657 |
| Total amount to be raised | 121,793 | 657 | 122,450 |
| Organisation/details | 2024/25 | 2025/26 | Change in % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Torbay Council | £1,946.96 | £2044.11 | 4.99% |
| Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall | £288.20 | £303.20 | 5.20% |
| Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority | £104.68 | £109.68 | 4.78% |
| Sub-total | £2,339.84 | £2,456.99 | 5.00% |
| Brixham Town Council (only payable by Brixham residents) | £79.75 | £99.07 | 24.23% |
| Total | £2,419.59 | £2,556.06 | 5.64% |
The amount per Band D property is used to calculate the Council Tax requirements for all the Valuation Bands are below:
| Details | Band A | Band B | Band C | Band D | Band E | Band F | Band G | Band H |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ratio of each band to Band D | 6/9 | 7/9 | 8/9 | 9/9 | 11/9 | 13/9 | 15/9 | 18/9 |
| Torbay Council | £1,362.74 | £1,589.87 | £1,816.99 | £2,044.11 | £2,498.35 | £2,952.60 | £3,406.85 | £4,088.22 |
| Police and Crime Commissioner | £202.13 | £235.82 | £269.51 | £303.20 | £370.58 | £437.96 | £505.33 | £606.40 |
| Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority | £73.12 | £85.31 | £97.49 | £109.68 | £134.05 | £158.43 | £182.80 | £219.36 |
| Aggregate of Council Tax requirements excluding Brixham Town Council | £1,637.99 | £1,911.00 | £2,183.99 | £2,456.99 | £3,002.98 | £3,548.99 | £4,094.98 | £4,913.98 |
| Brixham Town Council | £66.05 | £77.05 | £88.06 | £99.07 | £121.09 | £143.10 | £165.12 | £198.14 |
| Aggregate of Council Tax requirements including Brixham Town Council | £1,704.04 | £1,988.04 | £2,272.05 | £2,556.05 | £3,124.08 | £3,692.09 | £4,260.10 | £5,112.12 |
Our latest Capital investment plan highlights planned spend on capital projects of £126.865 million for the period up to 2028. This is to maintain and improve our service delivery. The capital programme will be funded mainly from a combination of:
More details on the capital investment plan are on our budget web page for 2026/27.