Local Authority Finance: Council Tax Requirement (FIN_07_58)

Summary

This dataset describes the Council Tax Requirement calculated for every Lower Tier Local Authority in England for each financial year since 2002/2003. The council tax requirement is the amount of revenue a local authority needs to raise through council tax and calculated by deducting from its planned spending any funding from reserves, income it expects to raise, and funding it will receive from the Government.

Technical description

The Council Tax Requirement indicator was compiled from annual revenue outturn estimates of Local Authority (LA) revenue expenditure and financing. Council Tax requirement is used to balance the net service expenditure, and many types of authorities receive income as council tax. Figures for Council Tax thus include values for both Upper Tier (UTLA) and Lower Tier (LTLA) Local Authorities. Other types of LAs that receive council tax include special/other authorities, such as Police and Fire and Rescue authorities. More recently, some Combined Authorities have also received income as Council Tax Requirement, e.g. the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. Note that from April 2013 onwards, council tax benefit, which provided help for low-income households with their council tax, was abolished and replaced with localised council tax support schemes. Until 2013, Council Tax Requirement was reported inclusive of any amount of council tax foregone due to benefits, and as such figures until 2012/13 are not comparable to those after 2013/14.

Figures have been calculated for Lower Tier LAs (FIN_07_58L) and Upper Tier LAs (FIN_07_58U). Values are expressed in thousands (£) and presented on the basis of financial years, i.e. from April 1^st to March 31^st. Figures from historic LA geography have been referenced to the 2018 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 Council Tax Requirement is expressed as the total amount as well as per capita, for direct comparisons. However, annual figures were not adjusted for inflation.