About this data
- Figures are net service expenditure on day-to-day (revenue) spending: what authorities spend on services after income from sales, fees and charges, and grants paid directly for particular services outside the main funding system, are taken off. Capital spending, housing benefit payments and council housing (the Housing Revenue Account) are not included. Spending funded by the NHS, such as through the Better Care Fund, is also excluded.
- Education spending falls as schools become academies, which are funded directly by central government, not through councils. So differences between areas, and changes over time, partly reflect how many schools are academies.
- Adjusted for inflation with HM Treasury's GDP deflator (October 2026), in 2025-26 prices. 2026-27 uses OBR's forecast of the deflator.
- England totals include MHCLG's estimates for authorities that didn't send returns in time. Police, fire, central services, housing and planning aren't shown.
This chart appears in Public spending.