Local Authority Finance: Net Current Expenditure – Total Services (FIN_07_02)

Summary

This indicator describes the annual net service expenditure for all services provided by every Lower Tier Local Authority in England since 2002. The Total Net Service expenditure is defined as the total (gross) service expenditure minus any income that may be related to delivering services, such as sales, fees and charges.

Technical description

The indicator was compiled from annual revenue outturn estimates of Local Authority (LA) revenue expenditure and financing. The Total Net Service expenditure is defined as the gross service expenditure minus any income that is related to delivering services, in particular a) Sales, fees and charges and b) Other types of income. Expenditure values are given on the basis of financial years, i.e. from April 1st to March 31st. Values are expressed in thousands (£). Since some services are provided in Upper Tier and others in Lower Tier LAs, individual spending figures from Upper Tier LAs were distributed to Lower Tier LAs based on annual population ratios. Expenditure values from historic LA geography have been referenced to the 2020 LA geography. This includes changes in name/codes, merges, or splits of old LAs to new LAs based on population ratios for that year. The service expenditure is expressed as the total amount as well as per capita, for direct comparisons. However, expenditure figures were not adjusted for inflation.