Local Government: Debts
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the level of debt is of each local authority in England (a) in absolute terms and (b) as a percentage of annual budget.
Answered by Jim McMahon
The Ministry of Housing of Communities and Local Government collects data returns from local authorities. These returns are collated and published by MHCLG on the .gov website.
Budget data is located in the Revenue Outturn reports which can be located here - Local authority revenue expenditure and financing - GOV.UK
There are various metrics by which debt can be measured. Links to relevant information along with a summary what is available in each are set out below:
Borrowing and investment live tables - Live tables on local government finance - GOV.UK
This dataset shows all UK local authorities’ borrowing and investment on a quarterly basis. The data is split by each authority dating back to 2014. There is also an annual summary table which shows the cumulative balances on an annual basis.
Capital expenditure, receipts and financing - Local authority capital expenditure, receipts and financing - GOV.UK This dataset is an annual return collected from English authorities only and dates back to 2000. These returns explain in more detail the expenditure of each authority and how these are financed, including each authority’s year end debt position, individually and in aggregate.
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