Local government expenditure and income in 2023-24

4th February 2025

The Chief Statistician has released figures on local government finance in 2023-24. These figures provide a comprehensive overview of the financial activity of local government, including revenue expenditure and income; capital expenditure and financing; reserves; debt; and pensions.

Revenue expenditure is the cost of delivering services each year. Local authorities' net revenue expenditure in 2023-24 was £14,296 million. Education and Social Work were the services with highest net revenue expenditure, accounting for £6,960 million and £4,604 million respectively.

Net revenue expenditure on Central Services increased by 103.2 per cent, or £352 million, between 2022-23 and 2023-24. Of this increase, £260 million was due to Equal Pay payments that were made by Glasgow City Council during 2023-24.

Capital expenditure is expenditure that creates the buildings and infrastructure necessary to provide services, such as schools and roads. Local authorities incurred £3,689 million of capital expenditure in 2023-24. This was predominantly financed by grants and contributions of £1,704 million and borrowing of £1,640 million.

Usable reserves are local authorities’ surplus income from previous years which can be used to finance future revenue or capital expenditure. At 31 March 2024, local authorities held £4,258 million of usable reserves.

When local authorities borrow money or use credit arrangements to finance capital expenditure, a debt is created which has to be repaid from future revenues. In 2023-24, as a result of the statutory flexibility granted by Ministers, local authorities made debt repayments of minus £67 million. That is, rather than repay debt, they received a windfall of £67 million as a result of the service concession flexibilities.