Department for Transport,
Local Government and the Regions

Modernising Local Government Finance:A Green Paper
Notes and Data Sources for Charts

 

Local authority income and expenditure definitions

1. The figure of £56 billion general fund revenue expenditure for 1998/99 is made up of

  • revenue expenditure to compare with Total Standard Spending (TSS)  £50bn

(This includes expenditure met by revenue support grant £19bn, police grant £3bn, specific grants within Aggregate External Finance (AEF) £2bn, non-domestic rates £13bn and council tax £12bn.)

  • plus expenditure met from sales, fees and charges &nbps; £6bn 

2. In addition, local authorities have responsibility for a further £9 billion of payments met by specific grants outside AEF; the main grants are for mandatory student awards, mandatory rent allowances and council tax benefit.

3. Outside the general fund, local authorities’ ring-fenced housing revenue accounts have income and expenditure of about £11 billion, and trading services accounts manage around £2 billion.

4. There is some overlap in the coverage of expenditure defined as revenue and capital expenditure. Capital expenditure is partially funded from contributions from the general fund and housing revenue accounts, and the financing costs of borrowing are met from the revenue accounts.  

Explanatory notes and data sources for charts in green paper

Part 1: Introduction

Chart A - Central government support for local authority revenue expenditure

Chart A includes:

  • revenue support grant
  • non-domestic rates
  • specific grants inside Aggregate External Finance (AEF)

The chart shows unadjusted year-on-year percentage changes in central government support for local authority revenue expenditure. No adjustments have been made to take account of changes in local authority responsibilities during the period.

Real terms figures have been derived from cash using GDP deflators as at 21.3.2000, consistent with Budget 2000.

Source: Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses, 2000-01, Table 6.1, HM Treasury April 2000

Chart B - Central government support for local authority capital expenditure

Chart B includes:

  • credit approvals
  • capital grants
  • Private Finance Initiative (PFI) credits

Real terms figures have been derived from cash using GDP deflators as at 21.3.2000,consistent with Budget 2000.

Sources:

Credit approvals and capital grants: Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2000-01, Table 6.10, (Cm4601) HM Treasury April 2000

PFI credits: Local Government and the Private Finance Initiative page 24, DTLR September 1998; and More PFI schemes endorsed for support, DTLR News Release 2 August 1999

Part 2: How local government finance works

Chart C - Local authority revenue expenditure by service: 1998/99

Revenue expenditure to compare with Total Standard Spending (TSS), plus expenditure financed by sales, fees and charges.

Source: Revenue Outturn forms, 1998/99, DTLR

Chart C - Local authority capital expenditure by service: 1998/99

Gross capital expenditure.

Source: Capital Outturn Returns, 1998/99, DTLR

Chart D - Local authority revenue income by source: 1998/99

As for Chart C.

Chart D - Financing of local authority capital expenditure: 1998/99

As for Chart C

Note: other includes grants and contributions from non-departmental public bodies, developers and the National Lottery, and use of provision for credit liabilities (PCL) monies by debt free authorities.

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Published on 19 September 2000
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