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gov.uk precept tables · OGL v3.0

The council tax precept lottery

Part of your council tax goes to the police, the fire service and — in some areas — a metro mayor or the Greater London Authority. These are set separately from your council, and the same service costs far more in some places than others. Policing alone ranges from £214 (Northumbria) to £353 (Surrey) at Band D — a 64% gap for, broadly, the same thing. See where your own bill goes →.

01 by police & crime commissioner area

Police precept

Band D 2026-27, highest first

  1. Surrey £353
  2. Norfolk £345
  3. Gloucestershire £341
  4. Cumbria £339
  5. York and North Yorkshire CA - Police Functions £336
  6. Northamptonshire £335
  7. Lincolnshire £333
  8. Cleveland £333
  9. Dorset £323
  10. Warwickshire £319
  11. Leicestershire £315
  12. Cambridgeshire £314
  13. Humberside £314
  14. Nottinghamshire £311
  15. Derbyshire £309
  16. Avon and Somerset £308
  17. West Mercia £307
  18. Suffolk £304
  19. Devon and Cornwall £303
  20. Staffordshire £303
  21. Durham £301
  22. Thames Valley £298
  23. Wiltshire £298
  24. Bedfordshire £298
  25. Cheshire £295
  26. Merseyside £294
  27. Lancashire £292
  28. Hampshire £290
  29. Greater Manchester CA - Police Functions £285
  30. Kent £285
  31. Sussex £282
  32. South Yorkshire Mayoral CA - Police Functions £280
  33. Hertfordshire £280
  34. West Yorkshire CA - Police Functions £278
  35. Essex £275
  36. West Midlands £245
  37. Northumbria £214
02 by fire & rescue authority

Fire precept

Band D 2026-27, highest first

  1. Durham and Darlington £128
  2. Shropshire and Wrekin £124
  3. Bedfordshire £123
  4. East Sussex £117
  5. Devon and Somerset £110
  6. Humberside £108
  7. Hereford and Worcester £107
  8. Tyne and Wear £105
  9. Cumbria Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner - Fire £103
  10. Nottinghamshire and City of Nottingham £102
  11. Merseyside £101
  12. Cheshire £100
  13. Kent and Medway £100
  14. Cleveland £99
  15. Derbyshire £98
  16. Dorset and Wiltshire £97
  17. Staffordshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner - Fire £97
  18. Avon £95
  19. South Yorkshire £95
  20. Lancashire £95
  21. Hampshire and Isle of Wight £93
  22. Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner - Fire £93
  23. Cambridgeshire and Peterborough £92
  24. Leicestershire £92
  25. Berkshire £91
  26. Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner - Fire £90
  27. West Yorkshire £89
  28. Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes £89
  29. West Midlands £85
03 where a metro mayor levies one

Mayoral / combined-authority precept

Band D 2026-27, highest first

  1. York and North Yorkshire £452
  2. Greater Manchester £439
  3. South Yorkshire Mayoral £280
  4. West Yorkshire £278
  5. Cambridgeshire and Peterborough £36
  6. Liverpool City Region £24

Source: gov.uk "Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026-27", Tables 8d (police), 8e (fire), 8f (combined authorities), under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Machine-readable: the data feed. England only (Welsh police precepts sit inside the area breakdown).

The data behind this tool

Band-D police precepts range from £214 (Northumbria Police) to £353 (Surrey Police) across 37 forces in 2026-27 — a precept postcode lottery.

Highest Band-D police precepts, 2026-27
Police force areaBand-D precept
Surrey Police£353
Norfolk Police£345
Gloucestershire Police£341
Cumbria Police£339
York and North Yorkshire CA - Police Functions£336

Source: gov.uk Council Tax levels in England 2026-27 (Open Government Licence v3.0).