Local authorities in England received £70m in grants from central government in 2023/2024, new local authority revenue data reveals.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has published new data on local authority revenue expenditure and financing in England. The dataset includes more than 2000 different data categories, providing a detailed insight into local government spending and revenue for 2022/2023 and 2023/2024.
In 2023/2024, local authorities received £55m in total grants inside Aggregate External Finance (AEF), which refers to the sum of all government grants included in the overall funding package provided to authorities by the government. This is £3m more than their AEF from 2022/2023, which amounted to £52m.
Last year, an additional £15m was provided in grants outside the AEF, £70m in specific and special revenue grants, and £482k in specific public services grants.
According to the results from the available data, the local authority district which received the highest amount in Aggregate External Finance was Leeds, at £867k. Liverpool placed 2nd, receiving £678k from central government. Hackney and Enfield received the highest amounts in grants outside the AEF, £232k and £223k, respectively.
Regarding specific and special revenue grants, individual grants given to local authorities for specific purposes, Leeds was in receipt of over £1m in 2023/2024.
Geodata context
The new release by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government comes amidst news of council tax raises across the UK. Last month, reports revealed that a number of councils are increasing council tax by at least four percent from April. In London, in particular, 29 councils are raising the tax by 4.99%, with Newham raising this by 8.99%.
“Years of public spending cuts and unprecedented inflation have left several boroughs in a very sticky financial situation, struggling to house residents, and, for some, sitting on the verge of bankruptcy.” the TimeOut reports.
Pete Marland, chair of the Local Government Association’s Economy and Resources Board: “Councils recognise that having to increase council tax, to bring in desperately needed funding, places yet more financial burden on households. We remain clear to government that it is not the answer to meeting the long-term pressures facing high demand national services and needs to be urgently addressed in the upcoming Spending Review.
“Local council-run welfare schemes, including council tax relief and the Household Support Fund, are also available alongside targeted government help. Rising demand means this may only offer short-term relief to struggling households.”
About the map
The map below shows local authority revenue in grants per grant type for 2023/2024. To explore detailed figures for your area, double-click on the map or click here to view the full-page version.