What does Council Tax pay for?

The Council Tax you pay helps support a wide range of services provided by:

• Norfolk Constabulary (opens new window) - '"our priority is you".
• Norfolk Fire Service (opens new window) - "making Norfolk a safer place".
• Norfolk County Council (opens new window) - Children's Services, Community Services (including libraries), Environment, Transport and Development (including street lighting), Social Services and Public Health are a few of the services covered. Whilst Norfolk County Council continues to be responsible for Social Services, the cost of these services is listed separately on your bill.
• Town and parish councils - each town or parish council has different responsibilities.
• Breckland Council - a few of the services covered include Environmental Health, Housing, Planning, Licensing, support for local businesses, wheelie bin collection, new food waste collection from 2026 and street cleaning. 

We all live in the district and benefit from many of these services, so every household gets a bill.

Spending Plan

Breckland's Spending Plan (PDF, 487 KB)(opens new window) focuses on our four priorities:

1. Inspiring Communities
2. Thriving Places
3. Working Smarter 2035

TheAnglia Revenue Partnership (opens new window) provides Council Tax, Business Rates, Counter Fraud and Housing Benefit services for Breckland and their website provides a wealth of detailed information on how the bill is calculated, including; what is Council Tax and how is it calculated, discounts, property bandings and appeals.

Town and parish precepts

The portion of your bill that goes to your town or parish council (known as the town or parish precept) varies from place to place. Larger Councils such as Attleborough, Dereham, Swaffham, Thetford and Watton are required topublish budget details.

Dereham, Thetford and Watton Town Councils have special arrangements for the payment of street lighting under the heading ofSpecial Expenses.

A list of all Town and Parish Precepts (PDF, 523 KB)(opens new window) including a comparison to the last financial year is also available.