The Kent Direct Services Model
Every Pound Classified • Band D Maidstone • 2026/27
Five Funding Buckets • Nothing Disappears • Sources Named
What this is
The Direct Services Charter argues that council tax should be abolished and replaced by an itemised bill showing what each service actually costs. This is the arithmetic behind that argument, worked through for one real household — a Band D property in Maidstone, Kent, for 2026/27 — using published council figures.
It is a prototype for one borough, not a national costing. The method would carry to any council; the numbers would not.
The central claim is not that the money disappears. A Band D household in Maidstone pays £2,454.24 a year. Under this model £561.93 of that stays on the household bill. The remaining £1,892.31 is not a saving — it is reassigned to four other funding streams, each named below, and the five buckets are made to sum back to the original bill.
Before reading the numbers
Ambulance is shown at £0, and that is a missing input, not a costing. The workbook computes the ambulance line from SECAmb’s annual operating cost and Kent’s share of demand. Neither figure has been entered yet, so the formula returns zero. The Method & Gaps register carries it as Open at High risk — the only row in the model at that level.
Two consequences, stated plainly: the direct bill of £561.93 excludes ambulance and is therefore understated, and the £1,892.31 reduction is overstated by the same amount. Everything else in the model is sourced or declared as an estimate.
Your Build direct services statement
| Line | Band D, 2026/27 |
|---|---|
| What you pay directly | |
| Police | £285.15 |
| Fire & Rescue | £99.81 |
| Ambulance (not yet derived) | £0.00 |
| Waste disposal (KCC) | £98.24 |
| Waste collection (Maidstone) | £37.61 |
| Local environment & health | £31.01 |
| Local parks (specialist facilities) | £17.92 |
| Community services & heritage | £4.84 |
| Democratic services | £5.13 |
| Parking revenue (reduces your bill) | -£17.78 |
| YOUR DIRECT BILL | £561.93 |
| What is funded nationally on your behalf | |
| Adult social care (professional) | £766.05 |
| Children’s social care | £286.76 |
| Children’s other services | £32.13 |
| NATIONAL SOCIAL PROTECTION | £1,084.94 |
| What your community provides | |
| Community care (meals, companionship, welfare) | £86.78 |
| Parks & green spaces (volunteer maintained) | £53.75 |
| Libraries (centrally funded) | £14.50 |
| COMMUNITY LAYER | £155.03 |
| National infrastructure settlement | |
| Transport (buses, school transport) | £127.71 |
| Borrowing & legacy obligations | £111.45 |
| Housing | £64.23 |
| Maidstone reserves (wind-down) | £45.39 |
| Statutory services & schools | £23.30 |
| NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE | £372.08 |
| Funded by users and sectors | |
| Roads (route-based commuter contribution) | £52.01 |
| Planning & development (applicant/developer fees) | £37.37 |
| Environment (licensing/sector levies) | £20.67 |
| Trading standards & enforcement | £10.63 |
| USER/SECTOR FUNDING | £120.68 |
| THE BOTTOM LINE | |
| Current council tax bill (Band D, excl parish) | £2,454.24 |
| Your direct services bill under BUILD | £561.93 |
| Reduction in direct household bill | £1,892.31 |
| But the rest hasn’t vanished: | |
| → Transferred to national social protection | £1,084.94 |
| → Delivered by community volunteers | £155.03 |
| → Funded through national infrastructure | £372.08 |
| → Paid by users and sectors who create the cost | £120.68 |
| → Restructure pool (efficiency target, not saving) | £159.60 |
| All buckets sum to | £2,454.26 |
| Rounding (penny — Maidstone allocation estimates) | -£0.02 |
| KEY PRINCIPLE | |
| BUILD does not pretend the £2,454 disappears. It shows where every pound goes, replaces the opaque council tax lump with visible funding streams, and only puts on your direct bill the services that genuinely make sense as a local household charge. The rest is funded — just funded honestly and visibly. |
The rounding line is the workbook’s own: the five buckets sum to £2,454.26 against a £2,454.24 bill, two pence adrift from the Maidstone allocation estimates. It is shown rather than smoothed away.
The five buckets
① Direct Services Bill
Principle: Only services that genuinely make sense as a visible local household charge.
Includes: Police, Fire, Ambulance, Waste collection, Waste disposal, Local environment/health, Small parks charge, Democratic services, Parking revenue (credit)
② National Social Protection Fund
Principle: Big statutory social costs that shouldn’t depend on local demographics. A council with more elderly or vulnerable residents shouldn’t hammer local taxpayers harder. These are national social-insurance problems.
Includes: Adult social care (professional/regulated), Children’s social care, Children’s other services (youth, early help, family support)
③ Community Care Layer
Principle: Services the charter explicitly moves to community delivery. Trained volunteers (DBS-checked, supervised) provide non-clinical care that currently consumes expensive professional time. Also includes volunteer park/green space maintenance (Charter Pillar 3) and centrally-funded libraries (Charter Pillar 5).
Includes: Meals (cooked in the person’s kitchen, not delivered frozen), Companionship, Shopping, Basic household help, Welfare checks, Parks/greens volunteer maintenance, Libraries (centrally ring-fenced)
④ National Infrastructure Settlement
Principle: Costs that exist because of statutory obligations, legacy debt, or national policy — not because a Kent household decided to use a service. Transferred to national government settlement.
Includes: Transport (bus subsidies, school transport), Borrowing/reserves/corporate (legacy obligations), Housing (homelessness, temporary accommodation), Maidstone reserve wind-down, Statutory services, Schools’ services
⑤ User/Sector-Specific Funding
Principle: Costs created by specific activities or sectors. Funded by the people/businesses creating the cost, not by every household regardless.
Includes: Roads (route-based commuter contribution — Charter Pillar 4), Planning (applicant fees + developer contributions), Licensing & pollution control (operator fees), Trading standards (sector levies)
Restructure Pool
Principle: Management overhead and premises that shrink as the council intermediary role reduces under direct-service billing. Explicitly NOT counted as a saving — requires costed restructure plan.
Includes: KCC management/support/overheads, KCC operational premises, Maidstone corporate services
Every band, A to H
The same classification applied across all eight council tax bands. Band D is the reference; every other band is the statutory multiple of it.
| Line | Band A | Band B | Band C | Band D | Band E | Band F | Band G | Band H |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current bill (excl parish) | £1,636.17 | £1,908.86 | £2,181.56 | £2,454.25 | £2,999.64 | £3,545.03 | £4,090.42 | £4,908.50 |
| Police | £190.10 | £221.78 | £253.47 | £285.15 | £348.52 | £411.88 | £475.25 | £570.30 |
| Fire & Rescue | £66.54 | £77.63 | £88.72 | £99.81 | £121.99 | £144.17 | £166.35 | £199.62 |
| Ambulance (not yet derived) | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 |
| Waste disposal (KCC) | £65.49 | £76.41 | £87.32 | £98.24 | £120.07 | £141.90 | £163.73 | £196.48 |
| Waste collection (Maidstone) | £25.07 | £29.25 | £33.43 | £37.61 | £45.97 | £54.33 | £62.68 | £75.22 |
| Local environment & health | £20.67 | £24.12 | £27.56 | £31.01 | £37.90 | £44.79 | £51.68 | £62.02 |
| Parks (specialist facilities) | £11.95 | £13.94 | £15.93 | £17.92 | £21.90 | £25.88 | £29.87 | £35.84 |
| Community services & heritage | £3.23 | £3.76 | £4.30 | £4.84 | £5.92 | £6.99 | £8.07 | £9.68 |
| Democratic services | £3.42 | £3.99 | £4.56 | £5.13 | £6.27 | £7.41 | £8.55 | £10.26 |
| Parking revenue (credit) | -£11.85 | -£13.83 | -£15.80 | -£17.78 | -£21.73 | -£25.68 | -£29.63 | -£35.56 |
| DIRECT BILL TOTAL | £374.62 | £437.06 | £499.49 | £561.93 | £686.80 | £811.68 | £936.55 | £1,123.86 |
| Adult social care (professional) | £510.70 | £595.82 | £680.93 | £766.05 | £936.28 | £1,106.52 | £1,276.75 | £1,532.10 |
| Children’s social care | £191.17 | £223.04 | £254.90 | £286.76 | £350.48 | £414.21 | £477.93 | £573.52 |
| Children’s other services | £21.42 | £24.99 | £28.56 | £32.13 | £39.27 | £46.41 | £53.55 | £64.26 |
| NATIONAL SOCIAL PROTECTION TOTAL | £723.29 | £843.84 | £964.39 | £1,084.94 | £1,326.04 | £1,567.14 | £1,808.23 | £2,169.88 |
| Community care (meals, companionship) | £57.85 | £67.50 | £77.14 | £86.78 | £106.06 | £125.35 | £144.63 | £173.56 |
| Parks & greens (volunteer maintained) | £35.83 | £41.81 | £47.78 | £53.75 | £65.69 | £77.64 | £89.58 | £107.50 |
| Libraries (centrally funded) | £9.67 | £11.28 | £12.89 | £14.50 | £17.72 | £20.94 | £24.17 | £29.00 |
| COMMUNITY LAYER TOTAL | £103.35 | £120.58 | £137.80 | £155.03 | £189.48 | £223.93 | £258.38 | £310.06 |
| Transport (buses, school transport) | £97.14 | £102.88 | £108.62 | £114.37 | £125.85 | £137.34 | £148.82 | £166.05 |
| Borrowing & legacy obligations | £74.30 | £86.68 | £99.07 | £111.45 | £136.22 | £160.98 | £185.75 | £222.90 |
| Housing | £42.82 | £49.96 | £57.09 | £64.23 | £78.50 | £92.78 | £107.05 | £128.46 |
| Maidstone reserves (wind-down) | £30.26 | £35.30 | £40.35 | £45.39 | £55.48 | £65.56 | £75.65 | £90.78 |
| Statutory services & schools | £318.62 | £371.73 | £424.83 | £477.93 | £584.14 | £690.35 | £796.56 | £955.87 |
| NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE TOTAL | £248.05 | £289.40 | £330.74 | £372.08 | £454.76 | £537.45 | £620.13 | £744.16 |
| Roads (route-based contribution) | £34.67 | £40.45 | £46.23 | £52.01 | £63.57 | £75.13 | £86.68 | £104.02 |
| Planning & development fees | £24.91 | £29.07 | £33.22 | £37.37 | £45.67 | £53.98 | £62.28 | £74.74 |
| Environment (licensing/sector levies) | £13.78 | £16.08 | £18.37 | £20.67 | £25.26 | £29.86 | £34.45 | £41.34 |
| Trading standards & enforcement | £7.09 | £8.27 | £9.45 | £10.63 | £12.99 | £15.35 | £17.72 | £21.26 |
| USER/SECTOR TOTAL | £80.45 | £93.86 | £107.27 | £120.68 | £147.50 | £174.32 | £201.13 | £241.36 |
| Restructure pool (not a saving) | £106.40 | £124.13 | £141.87 | £159.60 | £195.07 | £230.53 | £266.00 | £319.20 |
| Current council tax bill | £1,636.17 | £1,908.86 | £2,181.56 | £2,454.25 | £2,999.64 | £3,545.03 | £4,090.42 | £4,908.50 |
| Your direct bill under BUILD | £374.62 | £437.06 | £499.49 | £561.93 | £686.80 | £811.68 | £936.55 | £1,123.86 |
| Reduction in direct household bill | £1,261.55 | £1,471.80 | £1,682.06 | £1,892.32 | £2,312.84 | £2,733.35 | £3,153.87 | £3,784.64 |
| Percentage reduction | £0.77 | £0.77 | £0.77 | £0.77 | £0.77 | £0.77 | £0.77 | £0.77 |
Method, assumptions and remaining gaps
The workbook’s own register, reproduced in full. Nothing here is hidden in a tab nobody opens: if a figure is an estimate, this is where it says so.
| Topic | Treatment | Status | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult social care split | Split 89.8% professional / 10.2% community-replaceable | Estimated | Medium |
| Children’s other services | Placed in National Social Protection alongside children’s social care | Assumed | Low |
| Transport split | Split 75% supported bus/community, 25% school/specialist | Estimated | Medium |
| KCC other public services | Split 60% national statutory / 40% user-sector | Estimated | Low |
| KCC community services | Split: £14.50 libraries (centrally funded) + £4.84 community/heritage direct | Estimated | Medium |
| Maidstone recreation & tourism | Split 25% specialist direct / 75% community volunteer | Estimated | Medium |
| Maidstone environment & health | Split 60% direct local services / 40% user-sector fees | Estimated | Low |
| Maidstone other services | Split 25% democratic (direct) / 75% corporate (restructure) | Estimated | Low |
| Ambulance | Awaiting SECAmb data entry in Inputs sheet | Open | High |
| Maidstone service allocation | Net-budget share × Band D borough charge | Estimated | Medium |
Action needed and the full assumption text for each row are in the spreadsheet.
Sources
Every figure traces to a published 2026/27 document.
| Source | What it supports | Document |
|---|---|---|
| Kent County Council | Band D charge, tax base, service allocation | www.kent.gov.uk |
| Maidstone Borough Council | Band D charge, total bill, net budget by service | maidstone.gov.uk |
| Kent PCC | Police budget/funding and £285.15 precept | www.kent-pcc.gov.uk |
| Kent & Medway Fire | £99.81 precept and funding | www.kent.fire-uk.org |
| SECAmb | 2026/27 planning/board papers | www.secamb.nhs.uk |
| BUILD UK Direct Services Charter | Policy treatment rules | builduk.club |
The spreadsheet
Download the full workbook (.xlsx) — seven sheets including the Service Model and Inputs layers that drive every figure above. The yellow input cells are the ones to change if you want to run it for a different band, borough or year.
BUILD UK
builduk.club
August 2026
Download the workbook (.xlsx) — seven sheets, every figure and formula. The page above is generated from it.