Local government
Local Government Financial Statistics England No.15 2004
CHAPTER 1
Local government 1.0.1
This chapter provides an overview of the functions, structure and financial context of local government in England. It is divided into the following sections:
•
What is local government?
section 1.1
•
What local government does
section 1.2
•
How local government is structured
section 1.3
•
How big is local government?
section 1.4
•
Local government in the national context
section 1.5
•
How local government works financially
section 1.6
1.1 What is local government?
16
1.1.1
Local government is one way in which the country’s governance and administration is carried out, and its public services delivered. Two features distinguish local government from other local service providers – most local authorities are elected and most have the ability to raise taxes locally.
1.1.2
Local councils, their members and the administrative units supporting them have a number of objectives, amongst which are:
•
Delivering national objectives locally;
•
Using national and local resources to meet the diverse requirements of different neighbourhoods and communities.
1.1.3
The style and constitutional arrangements under which local government operates has changed and is still changing. Traditionally local government was about the delivery of a range of services. Over time, more and more of these services have been delivered by outside agencies and the role of local government has changed as a result.
1.1.4
Increasingly, local government is about securing a strategy for the local community, delivering the right outcomes by managing and using its assets effectively, working with central government as well as with the local business and private community in its area.
Local government
1.2 What local government does 1.2.1
Local government delivers a wide range of services either directly through its employees, indirectly by employing others or by facilitating delivery by other bodies. Table 1.2a: Services delivered by local government Major service
Examples of what is delivered
Education
Schools – primary, secondary and special Special education needs; assuring access to schools Pre-school education Youth, adult, family and community education
Transport
Highways – construction and maintenance of non-trunk roads and bridges Street lighting Traffic management and road safety; parking services Public transport Airports, harbours and toll facilities
Social services
Children’s and families’ services – support; welfare; fostering; adoption Youth justice – secure accommodation; youth offender teams Services for older people – nursing, home, residential and day care; meals Services for people with a physical disability, sensory impairment, learning disabilities or mental health needs Asylum seekers Supported employment
Housing
Council housing (Housing Revenue Account) Housing strategy and advice; housing renewal Housing benefits; welfare services Homelessness
Cultural services
Culture and heritage – archives, museums and galleries; public entertainment Recreation and sport; tourism Open spaces – national and community parks; countryside; allotments Libraries and information services
Environmental services
Cemetery, cremation and mortuary services Community safety; consumer protection; coast protection Environmental health – food safety; pollution and pest control; housing standards; public conveniences; licensing Agricultural and fisheries services Waste collection and disposal; street cleansing
Planning and development
Building and development control Planning policy – including conservation and listed buildings Environmental initiatives Economic development
Protective services
Police services Fire services Court services – magistrates, coroners, etc
Central and other services
Local tax collection Registration of births, deaths and marriages Elections – including registration of electors Emergency planning Local land charges
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Local Government Financial Statistics England No.15 2004
1.3 How local government is structured
18
1.3.1
The structure of local government varies across the country. Map 1.3b shows the shire counties, metropolitan districts, unitary authorities and the Government Office regional boundaries. More detailed regional maps showing individual shire districts are provided in Annex A1 (Maps A1a to A1d).
1.3.2
In London (Map A1e), most functions are delivered by the London boroughs and the City of London. Since 3 July 2000, there has been an upper tier consisting of the Greater London Authority (GLA) and its four functional bodies. The GLA itself comprises a directly elected Mayor, a separately elected Assembly and about 400 support staff. The four functional bodies are:
•
Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA)
•
London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA)
•
Transport for London (TfL)
•
London Development Agency (LDA)
1.3.3
In 2001-02, magistrates courts became the responsibility of the new Greater London Magistrates Court Authority, which covers the whole London area shown in Map A1d.
1.3.4
In the six metropolitan areas (Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands and West Yorkshire), most services are run by metropolitan districts. However, fire, police, passenger transport and, in some cases waste disposal, are the responsibility of single purpose authorities as shown in Maps A1f to A1h.
1.3.5
In most of the rest of England, called the shire areas, there are two main tiers of local authorities: shire counties and shire districts. These have different responsibilities. However, in some parts of the country, shire county and shire district responsibilities are carried out by a single unitary authority. 46 of these were created between 1 April 1995 and 1 April 1998: in most of these instances a shire district became a unitary authority by taking over most of the county authority’s responsibilities. Most unitary authorities did not take over responsibility for the fire and rescue service, so shire counties that were affected by the creation of unitary authorities also have a combined fire authority to administer these services in the old county area – see Map A1f. In the shire areas, there is also a police authority for each constabulary; these cover counties or sometimes combinations of counties – see Map A1g.
1.3.6
Most information in this publication is supplied by the principal authorities mentioned above, plus the national parks authorities shown in Map A1h.
1.3.7
Information is not collected from the third tier of local government, the 8,700 parish councils (of which about 400 are town councils) or 1,500 parish meetings where there is no parish council. Further details on parish and town councils are given in Annex A2.
1.3.8
Table 1.3a shows the responsibilities for major services in the local authorities and Annex A3 gives details of the main changes to local authority structure in recent years.
Local government
Table 1.3a: Local authority responsibility for major services in England Metropolitan areas
Shire areas
Single purpose District County District authorities councils councils councils or unitaries
London area Single purpose City of London authorities London boroughs GLA
Education
✔
✔
✔
✔
Highways(a)
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
Transport planning
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
Passenger transport
✔
✔
Social services
✔
Housing
✔
Libraries
✔
Leisure and recreation
✔
Environmental health Waste collection Waste disposal(c)
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
Planning applications
✔
Strategic planning
✔
✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔
✔
Police
✔
✔
Fire(b) Magistrates’
✔
courts(d)
Local taxation
✔ ✔ ✔
✔
✔ ✔
✔
✔
✔ ✔
✔
✔
(a) Transport for London (TfL) is highways authority for about 5% of London roads. (b) Combined fire authorities are responsible for fire services in the shire areas affected by reorganisation from April 1996 onwards. (c) Waste disposal for some areas of London is carried out by separate waste disposal authorities. The GLA has strategic, but not operational, responsibility for municipal waste. (d) The Greater London Magistrates Court Authority is responsible for magistrates courts in the Greater London area.
19
Page 20 map 1.3b
Local government
1.4 How big is local government? 1.4.1
Local authorities in England spend around £100 billion a year and employ about 2.4 million staff.
1.4.2
Around half of all local authority employees (1.3 million) work in education, with 0.3 million employed in social services and 0.2 million employed on law and order: police, traffic wardens, police civilians and in magistrates courts.
1.4.3
There are some 20,000 elected councillors serving on 389 local authorities. A further 89 single purpose authorities do not have directly elected councillors. Table 1.4a: Size of local government Land area (million hectares)
Population mid-2003 (million)
Number of elected authorities
Number of councillors
Number of single purpose authorities
12.2
31.5
319
15,185
64
Metropolitan areas
0.7
10.9
36
2,473
20
London
0.2
7.4
34
1,996
5
England
13.0
49.9
389
19,654
89
Shire areas
Source: ONS Regional Trends publication, ONS mid-year population estimates, Municipal Yearbook 2004
1.4.4
In addition there are over 10,000 parish councils, town councils or parish meetings in England, which are there to handle very local issues. This publication is not directly concerned with this tier of local government, but some further details are provided in Annex A2.
1.5 Local government in the national context 1.5.0
This section sets out local government’s expenditure and income in the context of the public sector as a whole, local government’s part in meeting HM Treasury’s fiscal policy rules, and the size of the local government sector in the UK economy as a whole. LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR
1.5.1
Local government is a part of the public sector, and local authorities’ expenditure is part of public expenditure that pays for the delivery of public services. The main services funded by central government are the National Health Service, social benefits and pensions, defence, and higher and further education. The main services delivered by local government are primary and secondary education and social services.
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Local Government Financial Statistics England No.15 2004
•
HM Treasury measures public expenditure using the aggregate Total Managed Expenditure. In the United Kingdom, local government expenditure is about a quarter of Total Managed Expenditure, and this proportion has changed little for many years.
Chart 1.5a: Local government expenditure in Total Managed Expenditure, UK 2003–04 Public corporations 0%
Local government 25%
Central government 74%
Source: Office for National Statistics
22
1.5.2
The data underlying Chart 1.5a can be found on the electronic version of this publication on the ODPM website.
1.5.3
Government needs to raise revenue to pay for its expenditure. Some of the main sources of UK government income in 2003-04, based on data from the UK National Accounts are:
•
Income taxes, including income tax, corporation tax and capital gains tax;
•
Value Added Tax (VAT);
•
social contributions (mainly National Insurance).
Local government
•
Council tax is about 5% of UK government revenue, though this figure excludes contributions paid by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) on behalf of Council tax benefit claimants.
•
National non-domestic rates are about 4% of UK government revenue. In consequence, local government also needs funds from taxes raised centrally, provided in the form of grants, to pay for all of its expenditure.
Chart 1.5b: Council tax and national non-domestic rates in government receipts, UK 2003–04 Council tax 5% National non-domestic rates 4%
Other 27%
Income taxes 28%
Social contributions 18%
VAT 18% Source: Office for National Statistics
1.5.4
The data underlying Chart 1.5b can be found on the electronic version of this publication on the ODPM website. LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN THE FISCAL POLICY FRAMEWORK
1.5.5
The objectives for fiscal policy, and how they are to be implemented, were introduced in 1997, and are set out by HM Treasury in Budget Reports.
1.5.6
The fiscal policy objectives are:
•
over the medium term, to ensure sound public finances and that spending and taxation impact fairly both within and between generations; and
•
over the short term, to support monetary policy and, in particular, to allow the automatic stabilisers to help smooth the path of the economy.
These objectives are implemented through the golden rule and the sustainable investment rule:
•
The golden rule states that, over the economic cycle, the Government will borrow only to invest and not to fund current spending.
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Local Government Financial Statistics England No.15 2004
•
1.5.7
The sustainable investment rule states that Public Sector Net Debt, as a proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), will be held over the economic cycle at a stable and prudent level.
Performance against the golden rule is measured by the Public Sector Current Budget, expressed as a percentage of GDP, averaged over the economic cycle.
•
The public sector had large deficits on current budget from 1991-92 to 199697, followed by large surpluses in 1998-99 to 2001-02 and a return to deficit in 2002-03 and 2003-04.
•
Throughout that period the Local Government Current Budget stayed close to balance. This is a consequence of the local government revenue finance system, which requires revenue expenditure and movements in reserves to be financed from council tax, redistributed national non-domestic rates, and government grants.
Chart 1.5c: Current budget 30 20
£ billion
10 0 -10 -20 -30 -40
–9 4 19 94 –9 5 19 95 –9 6 19 96 –9 7 19 97 –9 8 19 98 –9 9 19 99 –0 0 20 00 –0 1 20 01 –0 2 20 02 –0 3 20 03 –0 4
3
93
–9 92
19
–9 19
91 19
19
90
–9
2
1
-50
Public sector
Local government
Source: Office for National Statistics
1.5.8
24
The data underlying Chart 1.5c can be found on the electronic version of this publication on the ODPM website.
Local government
1.5.9
Public Sector Net Borrowing is also used to show the overall financial position of the Public Sector: this measure includes revenue expenditure and capital expenditure.
•
When the public sector had large deficits on current budget, it also had substantial net borrowing. Also, when the public sector had large surpluses on current budget, net borrowing was generally negative, and the public sector was able to repay debt.
•
As with Current Budget, Local Government Net Borrowing was close to balance in most years. This is a consequence of the local government capital finance system, which controls the sources of finance for capital expenditure.
•
In 2003-04 Local Government Net Borrowing was -£2.0 billion. This was partly due to high capital receipts and also due to transactions associated with the transfer of London Underground from the Department of Transport to Transport for London in July 2003.
•
In 2002-03 Local Government Net Borrowing was -£1.6 billion. This was mainly due to large payments made by ODPM and Scottish Executive to enable a small number of local authorities to complete Large Scale Voluntary Transfers of their housing stock and to repay overhanging debt. The largest such payment was of over £1 billion from the Scottish Executive to Glasgow City Council. Similar capital transfers were made to the New Towns in 1992-93.
Chart 1.5d: Net borrowing 60 50 40
£ billion
30 20 10 0 -10
–9 4 19 94 –9 5 19 95 –9 6 19 96 –9 7 19 97 –9 8 19 98 –9 9 19 99 –0 0 20 00 –0 1 20 01 –0 2 20 02 –0 3 20 03 –0 4
3
93 19
92
–9
–9 19
91 19
19
90
–9
1
2
-20
Public sector
Local government
Source: Office for National Statistics
1.5.10
The data underlying Chart 1.5d can be found on the electronic version of this publication on the ODPM website.
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Local Government Financial Statistics England No.15 2004
1.5.11
The sustainable investment rule is achieved if, other things being equal, Public Sector Net Debt is maintained below 40% of GDP over the economic cycle.
•
Public Sector Net Debt rose to nearly 44% of GDP at 31 March 1997, but it then fell to 30% of GDP at 31 March 2002, before rising slightly in 2002-03 and 2003-04.
•
In contrast Local Government Net Debt has fallen from 8% of GDP at 31 March 1991 to 3% of GDP at 31 March 2004. This partly reflects increased financial investments of capital receipts by local authorities, which reduce net debt.
Chart 1.5e: Net debt as percentage of GDP as at 31 March 50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Public sector
Local government
Sustainable investment rule
Source: Office for National Statistics
1.5.12
The data underlying Chart 1.5e can be found on the electronic version of this publication on the ODPM website. LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN THE UK ECONOMY
1.5.13
26
Local government expenditure can also be compared to total domestic expenditure in the UK economy, as defined in the National Accounts. This also includes central government expenditure, final expenditure by households, and capital expenditure by all sectors of the economy.
Local government
•
In calendar year 2003, local government’s share of all domestic expenditure was 8.8%, the highest since 1992.
•
This rose from about 8% in 1960 to a peak of over 12% in 1975, but has been back near to 8% again in recent years.
•
The increase in local government’s share of domestic expenditure up to 1975 was mainly due to growing current expenditure, whereas the subsequent fall was mainly due to reductions in capital expenditure.
Chart 1.5f: Local government expenditure as a percentage of domestic expenditure
14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2%
19
60 19 62 19 64 19 66 19 68 19 70 19 72 19 74 19 76 19 78 19 80 19 82 19 84 19 86 19 88 19 90 19 92 19 94 19 96 19 98 20 00 20 02
0%
Current
Capital
Source: Office for National Statistics
1.5.14
The data underlying Chart 1.5f can be found on the electronic version of this publication on the ODPM website.
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Local Government Financial Statistics England No.15 2004
1.6 How local government works financially 1.6.1
Local authority spending can be divided into revenue expenditure and capital expenditure, and broadly speaking, each is financed in a different way. On the whole, revenue expenditure is financed through a balance of central government grant including redistributed business rates and the locally raised council tax (see Chapter 2). Capital expenditure is principally financed through central government grant, borrowing and capital receipts (see Chapter 4).
1.6.2
Local authorities are required by law:
1.6.3
•
to secure the necessary funds to finance their operations
•
to provide an accurate account of where the money goes
•
to provide accounts which balance the books
Not all the local authorities counted in Table 1.4a are allowed to collect money directly through council tax. Those which can are called billing authorities. Others receive funds indirectly either by precepting on a billing authority or by other channels.
•
Of the 478 local authorities in England, 354 are billing authorities, which raise money via council tax, and 102 are major precepting authorities. Altogether these 456 authorities are known collectively as ‘receiving authorities’ because they receive revenue support grant.
Table 1.6a: Billing, major precepting and other authorities Billing authorities
Major precepting authorities(a)
Other authorities
All authorities
285
89
9
383
36
12
8
56
Shire areas Metropolitan areas London
33
1
5
39
England
354
102
22
478
(a)The count of precepting authorities excludes parish councils.
28
1.6.4
Tables 1.6b and 1.6c combine the revenue and capital accounts in order to calculate a figure for local government gross expenditure and gross income. Transfers between the accounts are eliminated to avoid any double counting of expenditure or income.
1.6.5
The revenue accounts included are:
•
General Fund Revenue Account (GFRA)
•
Housing Revenue Account (HRA)
•
External Trading Services Revenue Account (TSR)
Local government
1.6.6
Pension funds in the Local Government Pension Scheme are excluded: the actuarial reserves of the pension funds are owned by the fund members and these are part of the financial corporations sector in the National Accounts, not part of the local government sector. This information is given separately in Table 6.2b and Table 6.2e. Companies owned by local authorities are also excluded.
1.6.7
Where possible, the tables in this chapter eliminate double counting of flows of money. There are three types of such flows: (i) Between services within the same account. The most significant flow or recharge of this kind is from general administration to other services and also recharges within general administration. (ii) Between accounts of the same authority. For example, contributions by the General Fund Revenue Account to the Housing Revenue Account. (iii) Between authorities. This occurs when an authority pays another authority for goods and services it provides (for example, payments to other local education authorities in respect of pupils educated outside their area of residence – education recoupment). The most significant of these flows can be identified and eliminated but some cannot, such as recharges made by services other than general administration and some payments and receipts between authorities.
1.6.8
There are several different measures of gross expenditure. The measures used here exclude payments of rent rebates to tenants and payments of council tax benefit. These payments have been excluded because their purpose is to finance local authority expenditure rather than to increase it.
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Local Government Financial Statistics England No.15 2004
Table 1.6b: Summary of gross expenditure and income (excluding double counting of flows): 1999–00 to 2002–03 £ million GROSS EXPENDITURE
1999-00
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03
Table ref.
Employees
35,737
38,191
41,297
44,334
3.2a
Running expenses
35,172
36,379
39,635
44,283
3.2a
less expenditure at (1) below
-1,162
-877
-890
-949
4,273
4,558
4,088
4,053
3.10a
Employees
127
120
140
133
C1g
Running expenses
571
555
566
581
C1g
3,083
2,909
2,922
2,772
77,801
81,835
87,760
95,207
General Fund services
5,038
6,081
6,416
7,438
Housing Revenue Account
1,570
1,816
3,110
3,828
General fund revenue account:
Housing revenue account: Supervision, management, repairs and other expenditure External trading services revenue account:
External interest payments (all accounts) Total all revenue account expenditure(a)
1.6c
(b)
Capital account :
Trading services Total capital expenditure Capitalised current expenditure(c) Total gross expenditure
D1b
304
212
215
242
D1b
6,912
8,109
9,741
11,508
4.1c
111
235
293
221
4.1a & 1.6c
84,824
90,179
97,794
106,936
1999-00
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03
-69
-63
-32
-16
C2a
58
77
66
13
C2a
1,037
730
711
806
C1f
136
133
145
146
C1a
Double accounting adjustments (as numbered above)
EXPENDITURE (1) Net contribution to Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Net contribution to Trading Services Revenue (TSR) accounts Recharges to other accounts (d)
Payments to other local authorities
(a) Excluding double counting of flows between revenue accounts and capital financing except external interest payments. (b) Payments of fixed assets, payments on grants and advances, acquisition of share or loan capital, credit cover required for leases and credit cover required for other credit arrangements. (c) Comprises expenditure under section 40(6) and LSVT levy. (d) Comprises payments/receipts in respect of students educated by another local education authority only (inter-authority education recoupment).
30
Local government
Table 1.6b: Summary of gross expenditure and income (excluding double counting of flows): 1999–00 to 2002–03 £ million GROSS INCOME General fund revenue account Non-domestic rates City offset Council tax(e) Council tax benefit grant Revenue Support Grant to local authorities SSA Reduction Grant Specific government grants(f) Central Support Protection Grant Police Grant General GLA grant Sales, fees and charges Other income less income at (2) below Housing revenue account: Rents (net of rebates) Government subsidies and grants Other income less income at (3) below External trading service revenue accounts: Sales, fees and charges Other income External interest receipts (all accounts) Total revenue income Capital account: Government grants Grants used for debt redemption(g) Other grants and contributions Capital receipts(h) Total capital income Notional borrowing i.r.o. credit cover for credit arrangements Overhanging debt on housing sold, repaid by ODPM Increase in borrowing less increase in investments(i) net change in capital creditors Balancing item and accruals adjustment(j) Total gross income
1999-00
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03
Table ref.
13,612 7 11,493 1,875 19,875 68 9,169 51 3,505
15,400 7 12,410 1,882 19,437 18 10,709 34 3,627
15,137 7 13,359 1,937 21,093 2 13,057 1 3,798
16,632 7 14,553 2,094 19,889
3.5a
6,457 6,234 -1,152
7,335 5,312 -849
8,165 5,934 -835
3,808 28 8,863 6,733 -929
2,886 3,041 337 -10
2,958 2,769 475 -119
2,925 4,053 531 -119
2,765 3,860 569 -139
3.10a 3.10a 3.10a
846 132
808 155
858 140
822 222
C1g C1g C2a
C2a C2b 3.5a 3.5a
17,840
791
895
917
851
79,216
83,263
90,960
98,470
1,161 415 571 3,651
1,298 391 762 3,512
2,027 405 757 3,579
2,474 493 716 5,040
5,798
5,963
6,767
8,723
26 20 307 347 24 -221
15 256 453 -1,240 55 1,414
17 0 -197 -797 6 1,037
9 547 -113 -823 57 66
84,824
90,179
97,794
106,936
1999-00
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03
1,037 115
730 119
711 124
806 123
10
119
119
139
3.5a 3.5a 3.2a 3.2a
4.3c 4.3c 4.4b
4.1a 5.3a 5.3a 4.1a
Double accounting adjustments (as numbered above) INCOME (2) Recharges to other accounts Receipts from other local authorities(d) (3) Housing Benefit Transfers from other revenue accounts
C1f C1a
(e) Council tax due to be paid into the collection fund net of council tax benefit and transitional reduction scheme grant but gross of income support (f)
Excludes council tax benefit grant.
(g) Comprising local authority social housing grant and European grants. (h) Capital receipts comprises disposal of fixed assets, leasing disposals, repayments of grants and advances, disposal of share or loan capital and disposal of other investments. (i)
Increase in local authority investments excluding inter-authority investments.
(j)
An accruals adjustment allows for the fact that some figures (such as borrowing) are on a cash basis (ie. in respect of payments made or income received during the year) and some figures (eg. revenue expenditure) are on an accruals basis (ie. in respect of the period for which the transactions took place).
31
Local Government Financial Statistics England No.15 2004
•
In 2002-03, 62% of local authority gross spending (revenue and capital combined) was accounted for by just three services – education, social services and transport.
Table 1.6c: Local authority gross expenditure by service 2002–03 £ million General fund Double Housing External Total Capitalised revenue accounting revenue trading revenue Capital current account adjustment account services accounts expenditure expenditure Table reference
Total gross expenditure %
3.2a
1.6b
3.10a
C1g
31,748
-146(a)
–
–
31,601
2,287
6
33,894
31.7
5,105
–
–
–
5,105
2,461
2
7,568
7.1
2,402 2,703
– –
– –
– –
2,402 2,703
2,050 411
– –
4,452 3,114
4.2 2.9
Social Services
16,630
–
–
–
16,630
199
4
16,833
15.7
Housing (excluding HRA)
8,098(b)
16(c)
4,053
–
12,167
3,828
49
16,044
15.0
9,902
–
–
–
9,902
1,569
–
11,471
10.7
Education Transport of which: Highways Public transport
4.1c
Cultural, environmental and planning of which: Cultural Environmental Planning and development
2,794 5,105
– –
– –
– –
2,794 5,105
515 596
– –
3,309 5,701
3.1 5.3
2,003
–
–
–
2,003
458
–
2,461
2.3
Police
8,787
–
–
–
8,787
408
–
9,196
8.6
Fire
1,853
–
–
–
1,853
72
–
1,925
1.8
460
–
–
–
460
41
–
501
0.5
5,084
–
–
–
5,084
569
–
5,653
5.3
816
-818(d)
–
715
713
73
160
946
0.9
2,908
–
–
–
2,908
–
–
2,908
2.7
91,390
-949
4,053
715
95,209
11,508
221
Courts Central services Other Non-apportionable(e) Total
106,936 100.0
(a) Payments in respect of students educated by another local education authority (education recoupment) (b) Non-HRA housing and housing benefit. (c) Net contribution to HRA from the general fund (d) Net contribution to external trading services and recharges to other accounts (e) Comprises of interest payments, discretionary non-domestic rate relief, bad debt provision, leasing payments (see Table 1.6b)
32
Local government
Chart 1.6d: Local authority gross expenditure by service 2002–03 Other(a) 4% Central services 5% Fire 2% Police 9%
Education 31%
Cultural, environmental and planning 11%
Transport 7% Housing (excluding HRA) 15% Social services 16% (a) Other includes expenditure on courts and expenditure which is non-apportionable
33
CHAPTER 1
Local government 1.0.1
This chapter provides an overview of the functions, structure and financial context of local government in England. It is divided into the following sections:
•
What is local government?
section 1.1
•
What local government does
section 1.2
•
How local government is structured
section 1.3
•
How big is local government?
section 1.4
•
Local government in the national context
section 1.5
•
How local government works financially
section 1.6
1.1 What is local government?
16
1.1.1
Local government is one way in which the country’s governance and administration is carried out, and its public services delivered. Two features distinguish local government from other local service providers – most local authorities are elected and most have the ability to raise taxes locally.
1.1.2
Local councils, their members and the administrative units supporting them have a number of objectives, amongst which are:
•
Delivering national objectives locally;
•
Using national and local resources to meet the diverse requirements of different neighbourhoods and communities.
1.1.3
The style and constitutional arrangements under which local government operates has changed and is still changing. Traditionally local government was about the delivery of a range of services. Over time, more and more of these services have been delivered by outside agencies and the role of local government has changed as a result.
1.1.4
Increasingly, local government is about securing a strategy for the local community, delivering the right outcomes by managing and using its assets effectively, working with central government as well as with the local business and private community in its area.
Local government
1.2 What local government does 1.2.1
Local government delivers a wide range of services either directly through its employees, indirectly by employing others or by facilitating delivery by other bodies. Table 1.2a: Services delivered by local government Major service
Examples of what is delivered
Education
Schools – primary, secondary and special Special education needs; assuring access to schools Pre-school education Youth, adult, family and community education
Transport
Highways – construction and maintenance of non-trunk roads and bridges Street lighting Traffic management and road safety; parking services Public transport Airports, harbours and toll facilities
Social services
Children’s and families’ services – support; welfare; fostering; adoption Youth justice – secure accommodation; youth offender teams Services for older people – nursing, home, residential and day care; meals Services for people with a physical disability, sensory impairment, learning disabilities or mental health needs Asylum seekers Supported employment
Housing
Council housing (Housing Revenue Account) Housing strategy and advice; housing renewal Housing benefits; welfare services Homelessness
Cultural services
Culture and heritage – archives, museums and galleries; public entertainment Recreation and sport; tourism Open spaces – national and community parks; countryside; allotments Libraries and information services
Environmental services
Cemetery, cremation and mortuary services Community safety; consumer protection; coast protection Environmental health – food safety; pollution and pest control; housing standards; public conveniences; licensing Agricultural and fisheries services Waste collection and disposal; street cleansing
Planning and development
Building and development control Planning policy – including conservation and listed buildings Environmental initiatives Economic development
Protective services
Police services Fire services Court services – magistrates, coroners, etc
Central and other services
Local tax collection Registration of births, deaths and marriages Elections – including registration of electors Emergency planning Local land charges
17
Local Government Financial Statistics England No.15 2004
1.3 How local government is structured
18
1.3.1
The structure of local government varies across the country. Map 1.3b shows the shire counties, metropolitan districts, unitary authorities and the Government Office regional boundaries. More detailed regional maps showing individual shire districts are provided in Annex A1 (Maps A1a to A1d).
1.3.2
In London (Map A1e), most functions are delivered by the London boroughs and the City of London. Since 3 July 2000, there has been an upper tier consisting of the Greater London Authority (GLA) and its four functional bodies. The GLA itself comprises a directly elected Mayor, a separately elected Assembly and about 400 support staff. The four functional bodies are:
•
Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA)
•
London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA)
•
Transport for London (TfL)
•
London Development Agency (LDA)
1.3.3
In 2001-02, magistrates courts became the responsibility of the new Greater London Magistrates Court Authority, which covers the whole London area shown in Map A1d.
1.3.4
In the six metropolitan areas (Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands and West Yorkshire), most services are run by metropolitan districts. However, fire, police, passenger transport and, in some cases waste disposal, are the responsibility of single purpose authorities as shown in Maps A1f to A1h.
1.3.5
In most of the rest of England, called the shire areas, there are two main tiers of local authorities: shire counties and shire districts. These have different responsibilities. However, in some parts of the country, shire county and shire district responsibilities are carried out by a single unitary authority. 46 of these were created between 1 April 1995 and 1 April 1998: in most of these instances a shire district became a unitary authority by taking over most of the county authority’s responsibilities. Most unitary authorities did not take over responsibility for the fire and rescue service, so shire counties that were affected by the creation of unitary authorities also have a combined fire authority to administer these services in the old county area – see Map A1f. In the shire areas, there is also a police authority for each constabulary; these cover counties or sometimes combinations of counties – see Map A1g.
1.3.6
Most information in this publication is supplied by the principal authorities mentioned above, plus the national parks authorities shown in Map A1h.
1.3.7
Information is not collected from the third tier of local government, the 8,700 parish councils (of which about 400 are town councils) or 1,500 parish meetings where there is no parish council. Further details on parish and town councils are given in Annex A2.
1.3.8
Table 1.3a shows the responsibilities for major services in the local authorities and Annex A3 gives details of the main changes to local authority structure in recent years.
Local government
Table 1.3a: Local authority responsibility for major services in England Metropolitan areas
Shire areas
Single purpose District County District authorities councils councils councils or unitaries
London area Single purpose City of London authorities London boroughs GLA
Education
✔
✔
✔
✔
Highways(a)
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
Transport planning
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
Passenger transport
✔
✔
Social services
✔
Housing
✔
Libraries
✔
Leisure and recreation
✔
Environmental health Waste collection Waste disposal(c)
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
Planning applications
✔
Strategic planning
✔
✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔
✔
Police
✔
✔
Fire(b) Magistrates’
✔
courts(d)
Local taxation
✔ ✔ ✔
✔
✔ ✔
✔
✔
✔ ✔
✔
✔
(a) Transport for London (TfL) is highways authority for about 5% of London roads. (b) Combined fire authorities are responsible for fire services in the shire areas affected by reorganisation from April 1996 onwards. (c) Waste disposal for some areas of London is carried out by separate waste disposal authorities. The GLA has strategic, but not operational, responsibility for municipal waste. (d) The Greater London Magistrates Court Authority is responsible for magistrates courts in the Greater London area.
19
Page 20 map 1.3b
Local government
1.4 How big is local government? 1.4.1
Local authorities in England spend around £100 billion a year and employ about 2.4 million staff.
1.4.2
Around half of all local authority employees (1.3 million) work in education, with 0.3 million employed in social services and 0.2 million employed on law and order: police, traffic wardens, police civilians and in magistrates courts.
1.4.3
There are some 20,000 elected councillors serving on 389 local authorities. A further 89 single purpose authorities do not have directly elected councillors. Table 1.4a: Size of local government Land area (million hectares)
Population mid-2003 (million)
Number of elected authorities
Number of councillors
Number of single purpose authorities
12.2
31.5
319
15,185
64
Metropolitan areas
0.7
10.9
36
2,473
20
London
0.2
7.4
34
1,996
5
England
13.0
49.9
389
19,654
89
Shire areas
Source: ONS Regional Trends publication, ONS mid-year population estimates, Municipal Yearbook 2004
1.4.4
In addition there are over 10,000 parish councils, town councils or parish meetings in England, which are there to handle very local issues. This publication is not directly concerned with this tier of local government, but some further details are provided in Annex A2.
1.5 Local government in the national context 1.5.0
This section sets out local government’s expenditure and income in the context of the public sector as a whole, local government’s part in meeting HM Treasury’s fiscal policy rules, and the size of the local government sector in the UK economy as a whole. LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR
1.5.1
Local government is a part of the public sector, and local authorities’ expenditure is part of public expenditure that pays for the delivery of public services. The main services funded by central government are the National Health Service, social benefits and pensions, defence, and higher and further education. The main services delivered by local government are primary and secondary education and social services.
21
Local Government Financial Statistics England No.15 2004
•
HM Treasury measures public expenditure using the aggregate Total Managed Expenditure. In the United Kingdom, local government expenditure is about a quarter of Total Managed Expenditure, and this proportion has changed little for many years.
Chart 1.5a: Local government expenditure in Total Managed Expenditure, UK 2003–04 Public corporations 0%
Local government 25%
Central government 74%
Source: Office for National Statistics
22
1.5.2
The data underlying Chart 1.5a can be found on the electronic version of this publication on the ODPM website.
1.5.3
Government needs to raise revenue to pay for its expenditure. Some of the main sources of UK government income in 2003-04, based on data from the UK National Accounts are:
•
Income taxes, including income tax, corporation tax and capital gains tax;
•
Value Added Tax (VAT);
•
social contributions (mainly National Insurance).
Local government
•
Council tax is about 5% of UK government revenue, though this figure excludes contributions paid by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) on behalf of Council tax benefit claimants.
•
National non-domestic rates are about 4% of UK government revenue. In consequence, local government also needs funds from taxes raised centrally, provided in the form of grants, to pay for all of its expenditure.
Chart 1.5b: Council tax and national non-domestic rates in government receipts, UK 2003–04 Council tax 5% National non-domestic rates 4%
Other 27%
Income taxes 28%
Social contributions 18%
VAT 18% Source: Office for National Statistics
1.5.4
The data underlying Chart 1.5b can be found on the electronic version of this publication on the ODPM website. LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN THE FISCAL POLICY FRAMEWORK
1.5.5
The objectives for fiscal policy, and how they are to be implemented, were introduced in 1997, and are set out by HM Treasury in Budget Reports.
1.5.6
The fiscal policy objectives are:
•
over the medium term, to ensure sound public finances and that spending and taxation impact fairly both within and between generations; and
•
over the short term, to support monetary policy and, in particular, to allow the automatic stabilisers to help smooth the path of the economy.
These objectives are implemented through the golden rule and the sustainable investment rule:
•
The golden rule states that, over the economic cycle, the Government will borrow only to invest and not to fund current spending.
23
Local Government Financial Statistics England No.15 2004
•
1.5.7
The sustainable investment rule states that Public Sector Net Debt, as a proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), will be held over the economic cycle at a stable and prudent level.
Performance against the golden rule is measured by the Public Sector Current Budget, expressed as a percentage of GDP, averaged over the economic cycle.
•
The public sector had large deficits on current budget from 1991-92 to 199697, followed by large surpluses in 1998-99 to 2001-02 and a return to deficit in 2002-03 and 2003-04.
•
Throughout that period the Local Government Current Budget stayed close to balance. This is a consequence of the local government revenue finance system, which requires revenue expenditure and movements in reserves to be financed from council tax, redistributed national non-domestic rates, and government grants.
Chart 1.5c: Current budget 30 20
£ billion
10 0 -10 -20 -30 -40
–9 4 19 94 –9 5 19 95 –9 6 19 96 –9 7 19 97 –9 8 19 98 –9 9 19 99 –0 0 20 00 –0 1 20 01 –0 2 20 02 –0 3 20 03 –0 4
3
93
–9 92
19
–9 19
91 19
19
90
–9
2
1
-50
Public sector
Local government
Source: Office for National Statistics
1.5.8
24
The data underlying Chart 1.5c can be found on the electronic version of this publication on the ODPM website.
Local government
1.5.9
Public Sector Net Borrowing is also used to show the overall financial position of the Public Sector: this measure includes revenue expenditure and capital expenditure.
•
When the public sector had large deficits on current budget, it also had substantial net borrowing. Also, when the public sector had large surpluses on current budget, net borrowing was generally negative, and the public sector was able to repay debt.
•
As with Current Budget, Local Government Net Borrowing was close to balance in most years. This is a consequence of the local government capital finance system, which controls the sources of finance for capital expenditure.
•
In 2003-04 Local Government Net Borrowing was -£2.0 billion. This was partly due to high capital receipts and also due to transactions associated with the transfer of London Underground from the Department of Transport to Transport for London in July 2003.
•
In 2002-03 Local Government Net Borrowing was -£1.6 billion. This was mainly due to large payments made by ODPM and Scottish Executive to enable a small number of local authorities to complete Large Scale Voluntary Transfers of their housing stock and to repay overhanging debt. The largest such payment was of over £1 billion from the Scottish Executive to Glasgow City Council. Similar capital transfers were made to the New Towns in 1992-93.
Chart 1.5d: Net borrowing 60 50 40
£ billion
30 20 10 0 -10
–9 4 19 94 –9 5 19 95 –9 6 19 96 –9 7 19 97 –9 8 19 98 –9 9 19 99 –0 0 20 00 –0 1 20 01 –0 2 20 02 –0 3 20 03 –0 4
3
93 19
92
–9
–9 19
91 19
19
90
–9
1
2
-20
Public sector
Local government
Source: Office for National Statistics
1.5.10
The data underlying Chart 1.5d can be found on the electronic version of this publication on the ODPM website.
25
Local Government Financial Statistics England No.15 2004
1.5.11
The sustainable investment rule is achieved if, other things being equal, Public Sector Net Debt is maintained below 40% of GDP over the economic cycle.
•
Public Sector Net Debt rose to nearly 44% of GDP at 31 March 1997, but it then fell to 30% of GDP at 31 March 2002, before rising slightly in 2002-03 and 2003-04.
•
In contrast Local Government Net Debt has fallen from 8% of GDP at 31 March 1991 to 3% of GDP at 31 March 2004. This partly reflects increased financial investments of capital receipts by local authorities, which reduce net debt.
Chart 1.5e: Net debt as percentage of GDP as at 31 March 50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Public sector
Local government
Sustainable investment rule
Source: Office for National Statistics
1.5.12
The data underlying Chart 1.5e can be found on the electronic version of this publication on the ODPM website. LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN THE UK ECONOMY
1.5.13
26
Local government expenditure can also be compared to total domestic expenditure in the UK economy, as defined in the National Accounts. This also includes central government expenditure, final expenditure by households, and capital expenditure by all sectors of the economy.
Local government
•
In calendar year 2003, local government’s share of all domestic expenditure was 8.8%, the highest since 1992.
•
This rose from about 8% in 1960 to a peak of over 12% in 1975, but has been back near to 8% again in recent years.
•
The increase in local government’s share of domestic expenditure up to 1975 was mainly due to growing current expenditure, whereas the subsequent fall was mainly due to reductions in capital expenditure.
Chart 1.5f: Local government expenditure as a percentage of domestic expenditure
14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2%
19
60 19 62 19 64 19 66 19 68 19 70 19 72 19 74 19 76 19 78 19 80 19 82 19 84 19 86 19 88 19 90 19 92 19 94 19 96 19 98 20 00 20 02
0%
Current
Capital
Source: Office for National Statistics
1.5.14
The data underlying Chart 1.5f can be found on the electronic version of this publication on the ODPM website.
27
Local Government Financial Statistics England No.15 2004
1.6 How local government works financially 1.6.1
Local authority spending can be divided into revenue expenditure and capital expenditure, and broadly speaking, each is financed in a different way. On the whole, revenue expenditure is financed through a balance of central government grant including redistributed business rates and the locally raised council tax (see Chapter 2). Capital expenditure is principally financed through central government grant, borrowing and capital receipts (see Chapter 4).
1.6.2
Local authorities are required by law:
1.6.3
•
to secure the necessary funds to finance their operations
•
to provide an accurate account of where the money goes
•
to provide accounts which balance the books
Not all the local authorities counted in Table 1.4a are allowed to collect money directly through council tax. Those which can are called billing authorities. Others receive funds indirectly either by precepting on a billing authority or by other channels.
•
Of the 478 local authorities in England, 354 are billing authorities, which raise money via council tax, and 102 are major precepting authorities. Altogether these 456 authorities are known collectively as ‘receiving authorities’ because they receive revenue support grant.
Table 1.6a: Billing, major precepting and other authorities Billing authorities
Major precepting authorities(a)
Other authorities
All authorities
285
89
9
383
36
12
8
56
Shire areas Metropolitan areas London
33
1
5
39
England
354
102
22
478
(a)The count of precepting authorities excludes parish councils.
28
1.6.4
Tables 1.6b and 1.6c combine the revenue and capital accounts in order to calculate a figure for local government gross expenditure and gross income. Transfers between the accounts are eliminated to avoid any double counting of expenditure or income.
1.6.5
The revenue accounts included are:
•
General Fund Revenue Account (GFRA)
•
Housing Revenue Account (HRA)
•
External Trading Services Revenue Account (TSR)
Local government
1.6.6
Pension funds in the Local Government Pension Scheme are excluded: the actuarial reserves of the pension funds are owned by the fund members and these are part of the financial corporations sector in the National Accounts, not part of the local government sector. This information is given separately in Table 6.2b and Table 6.2e. Companies owned by local authorities are also excluded.
1.6.7
Where possible, the tables in this chapter eliminate double counting of flows of money. There are three types of such flows: (i) Between services within the same account. The most significant flow or recharge of this kind is from general administration to other services and also recharges within general administration. (ii) Between accounts of the same authority. For example, contributions by the General Fund Revenue Account to the Housing Revenue Account. (iii) Between authorities. This occurs when an authority pays another authority for goods and services it provides (for example, payments to other local education authorities in respect of pupils educated outside their area of residence – education recoupment). The most significant of these flows can be identified and eliminated but some cannot, such as recharges made by services other than general administration and some payments and receipts between authorities.
1.6.8
There are several different measures of gross expenditure. The measures used here exclude payments of rent rebates to tenants and payments of council tax benefit. These payments have been excluded because their purpose is to finance local authority expenditure rather than to increase it.
29
Local Government Financial Statistics England No.15 2004
Table 1.6b: Summary of gross expenditure and income (excluding double counting of flows): 1999–00 to 2002–03 £ million GROSS EXPENDITURE
1999-00
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03
Table ref.
Employees
35,737
38,191
41,297
44,334
3.2a
Running expenses
35,172
36,379
39,635
44,283
3.2a
less expenditure at (1) below
-1,162
-877
-890
-949
4,273
4,558
4,088
4,053
3.10a
Employees
127
120
140
133
C1g
Running expenses
571
555
566
581
C1g
3,083
2,909
2,922
2,772
77,801
81,835
87,760
95,207
General Fund services
5,038
6,081
6,416
7,438
Housing Revenue Account
1,570
1,816
3,110
3,828
General fund revenue account:
Housing revenue account: Supervision, management, repairs and other expenditure External trading services revenue account:
External interest payments (all accounts) Total all revenue account expenditure(a)
1.6c
(b)
Capital account :
Trading services Total capital expenditure Capitalised current expenditure(c) Total gross expenditure
D1b
304
212
215
242
D1b
6,912
8,109
9,741
11,508
4.1c
111
235
293
221
4.1a & 1.6c
84,824
90,179
97,794
106,936
1999-00
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03
-69
-63
-32
-16
C2a
58
77
66
13
C2a
1,037
730
711
806
C1f
136
133
145
146
C1a
Double accounting adjustments (as numbered above)
EXPENDITURE (1) Net contribution to Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Net contribution to Trading Services Revenue (TSR) accounts Recharges to other accounts (d)
Payments to other local authorities
(a) Excluding double counting of flows between revenue accounts and capital financing except external interest payments. (b) Payments of fixed assets, payments on grants and advances, acquisition of share or loan capital, credit cover required for leases and credit cover required for other credit arrangements. (c) Comprises expenditure under section 40(6) and LSVT levy. (d) Comprises payments/receipts in respect of students educated by another local education authority only (inter-authority education recoupment).
30
Local government
Table 1.6b: Summary of gross expenditure and income (excluding double counting of flows): 1999–00 to 2002–03 £ million GROSS INCOME General fund revenue account Non-domestic rates City offset Council tax(e) Council tax benefit grant Revenue Support Grant to local authorities SSA Reduction Grant Specific government grants(f) Central Support Protection Grant Police Grant General GLA grant Sales, fees and charges Other income less income at (2) below Housing revenue account: Rents (net of rebates) Government subsidies and grants Other income less income at (3) below External trading service revenue accounts: Sales, fees and charges Other income External interest receipts (all accounts) Total revenue income Capital account: Government grants Grants used for debt redemption(g) Other grants and contributions Capital receipts(h) Total capital income Notional borrowing i.r.o. credit cover for credit arrangements Overhanging debt on housing sold, repaid by ODPM Increase in borrowing less increase in investments(i) net change in capital creditors Balancing item and accruals adjustment(j) Total gross income
1999-00
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03
Table ref.
13,612 7 11,493 1,875 19,875 68 9,169 51 3,505
15,400 7 12,410 1,882 19,437 18 10,709 34 3,627
15,137 7 13,359 1,937 21,093 2 13,057 1 3,798
16,632 7 14,553 2,094 19,889
3.5a
6,457 6,234 -1,152
7,335 5,312 -849
8,165 5,934 -835
3,808 28 8,863 6,733 -929
2,886 3,041 337 -10
2,958 2,769 475 -119
2,925 4,053 531 -119
2,765 3,860 569 -139
3.10a 3.10a 3.10a
846 132
808 155
858 140
822 222
C1g C1g C2a
C2a C2b 3.5a 3.5a
17,840
791
895
917
851
79,216
83,263
90,960
98,470
1,161 415 571 3,651
1,298 391 762 3,512
2,027 405 757 3,579
2,474 493 716 5,040
5,798
5,963
6,767
8,723
26 20 307 347 24 -221
15 256 453 -1,240 55 1,414
17 0 -197 -797 6 1,037
9 547 -113 -823 57 66
84,824
90,179
97,794
106,936
1999-00
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03
1,037 115
730 119
711 124
806 123
10
119
119
139
3.5a 3.5a 3.2a 3.2a
4.3c 4.3c 4.4b
4.1a 5.3a 5.3a 4.1a
Double accounting adjustments (as numbered above) INCOME (2) Recharges to other accounts Receipts from other local authorities(d) (3) Housing Benefit Transfers from other revenue accounts
C1f C1a
(e) Council tax due to be paid into the collection fund net of council tax benefit and transitional reduction scheme grant but gross of income support (f)
Excludes council tax benefit grant.
(g) Comprising local authority social housing grant and European grants. (h) Capital receipts comprises disposal of fixed assets, leasing disposals, repayments of grants and advances, disposal of share or loan capital and disposal of other investments. (i)
Increase in local authority investments excluding inter-authority investments.
(j)
An accruals adjustment allows for the fact that some figures (such as borrowing) are on a cash basis (ie. in respect of payments made or income received during the year) and some figures (eg. revenue expenditure) are on an accruals basis (ie. in respect of the period for which the transactions took place).
31
Local Government Financial Statistics England No.15 2004
•
In 2002-03, 62% of local authority gross spending (revenue and capital combined) was accounted for by just three services – education, social services and transport.
Table 1.6c: Local authority gross expenditure by service 2002–03 £ million General fund Double Housing External Total Capitalised revenue accounting revenue trading revenue Capital current account adjustment account services accounts expenditure expenditure Table reference
Total gross expenditure %
3.2a
1.6b
3.10a
C1g
31,748
-146(a)
–
–
31,601
2,287
6
33,894
31.7
5,105
–
–
–
5,105
2,461
2
7,568
7.1
2,402 2,703
– –
– –
– –
2,402 2,703
2,050 411
– –
4,452 3,114
4.2 2.9
Social Services
16,630
–
–
–
16,630
199
4
16,833
15.7
Housing (excluding HRA)
8,098(b)
16(c)
4,053
–
12,167
3,828
49
16,044
15.0
9,902
–
–
–
9,902
1,569
–
11,471
10.7
Education Transport of which: Highways Public transport
4.1c
Cultural, environmental and planning of which: Cultural Environmental Planning and development
2,794 5,105
– –
– –
– –
2,794 5,105
515 596
– –
3,309 5,701
3.1 5.3
2,003
–
–
–
2,003
458
–
2,461
2.3
Police
8,787
–
–
–
8,787
408
–
9,196
8.6
Fire
1,853
–
–
–
1,853
72
–
1,925
1.8
460
–
–
–
460
41
–
501
0.5
5,084
–
–
–
5,084
569
–
5,653
5.3
816
-818(d)
–
715
713
73
160
946
0.9
2,908
–
–
–
2,908
–
–
2,908
2.7
91,390
-949
4,053
715
95,209
11,508
221
Courts Central services Other Non-apportionable(e) Total
106,936 100.0
(a) Payments in respect of students educated by another local education authority (education recoupment) (b) Non-HRA housing and housing benefit. (c) Net contribution to HRA from the general fund (d) Net contribution to external trading services and recharges to other accounts (e) Comprises of interest payments, discretionary non-domestic rate relief, bad debt provision, leasing payments (see Table 1.6b)
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Local government
Chart 1.6d: Local authority gross expenditure by service 2002–03 Other(a) 4% Central services 5% Fire 2% Police 9%
Education 31%
Cultural, environmental and planning 11%
Transport 7% Housing (excluding HRA) 15% Social services 16% (a) Other includes expenditure on courts and expenditure which is non-apportionable
33
