Penrith Households Are Paying Some of the Highest Council Tax — So What has the Council been Spending Your Money On?

Council Tax bills have been landing through the letterbox of Penrith households over the last two weeks with households in Penrith once again set to pay some of the highest council tax bills in the Westmorland and Furness district from April, with residents paying more than those in the same council tax band in both Kendal and Barrow.

The difference driven by local precepts set by town councils, with Penrith Town Council agreeing a precept of £526,749.50 for the coming year — significantly higher than Barrow’s £306,350.00.

Westmorland and Furness Council also added a 4.9% rise in its share of council tax. The authority says it is facing significant financial pressure, with reduced government funding and rising demand for services pushing its net budget to £301.124 million.

Alongside this, households also contribute towards the Cumbria Police and Crime Commissioner and towards the Cumbria Fire and Rescue Authority, adding further precepts to the overall council tax bill.

But as bills continue to rise, what is the money actually spent on by the council?

Penrith Town News has examined the latest available trade payment data of Westmorland and Furness Council, offering a detailed look at where some of the millions of pounds of public money has gone over the past year.

The figures reveal a wide range of spending, reflecting the scale and complexity of running local services. While large portions of the budget are tied up in essential areas such as adult social care, children’s services, housing support and waste collection, the data also highlights significant payments to external suppliers.

From thousands of pounds spent on newspaper advertising, hundreds of thousands paid to contractors for refuse collection and thousands on consultant, the figures show how council funds are spent across core services and day-to-day costs. Regular payments for taxi services — often used for school transport or to support vulnerable residents — also feature heavily, alongside consultancy fees and specialist contracted work.

Although this data is published as part of transparency requirements, it is often difficult for residents to navigate in its raw form.

To make this information more accessible, Penrith Town News has created an interactive table allowing readers to explore the council’s spending in detail. The tool enables users to search for individual suppliers and see exactly how much they have been paid, as well as track payments made to those suppliers month-by-month over the past year.

 Select any month from the last year to see all the trade supplier payments made by Westmorland and Furness Council.