Accredited official statistics

Local authority capital expenditure and receipts in England: 2023 to 2024 provisional outturn and 2024 to 2025 forecast

Published 13 June 2024

Applies to England

In this release:

• Capital expenditure by local authorities in England in 2023-24 totalled £29.6 billion, £266 million (1%) higher than in 2022-23.

• Housing and highways & transport are the service areas with the greatest expenditure at £17.6 billion in 2023-24 accounting for 59% of all services.

• Capital expenditure is forecast to total £30.9 billion (2023-24 prices) in 2024-25. This is £1.3 billion (5%) higher compared to the 2023-24 provisional outturn.

• Expenditure on housing is forecast to remain the largest service area in 2024-25, at £9.9 billion (32% of total).

• Capital receipts received by local authorities in England in 2023-24 totalled £3.3 billion, £1.5 billion (31%) lower compared to 2022-23. Capital receipts are forecast to increase to £3.5 billion in 2024-25.

• Capital grants were the largest source of financing in 2023-24 at £12.5 billion (43% of total), followed by prudential borrowing at £10 billion (34% of total).

• Capital grants are forecast to remain the largest source of financing during 2024-25 at £13.4 billion (43% of total and prudential borrowing the second largest at £10.1 billion (32% of total).

Release date: 13 June 2024
Date of next release: June 2025
Responsible Statistician: Imogen Johnson-Ormston
Contact: [email protected]
Media enquiries: [email protected]

1. Introduction

This statistical release presents Accredited Official Statistics on provisional capital expenditure and receipts and capital financing for local authorities in England for April 2023 to March 2024 and forecast capital expenditure and receipts and capital financing for April 2024 to March 2025.

Capital expenditure comprises the buying, constructing or improving of physical assets, such as buildings, land, vehicles and other miscellaneous property, including streetlights and road signs. It also includes grants and advances that authorities make to other bodies for capital purposes. Because of the project-based nature of capital expenditure, there can be relatively larger variance in expenditure over time compared with revenue expenditure.

The 2023-24 provisional outturn data in this release are derived from Capital payments & receipts 4 (CPR4) returns, while the 2024-25 forecast data are derived from Capital estimates returns (CER). Both sets of returns are collated by the Data, Analysis and Statistics (DAS) Division of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities & Local Government (DLUHC). Note that all comparisons to previous years are in real terms unless otherwise stated.

CPR4 and CER forms capture local authority capital expenditure and receipts by economic category and service area, as well as a breakdown of how expenditure is financed, and prudential system information. The service areas are based on the Service Reporting Code of Practice for local authorities 2022-23 (SeRCOP) produced by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA).

The England totals in this release have been adjusted to remove double counting that would otherwise occur from transfers between local authorities and between functional bodies of the Greater London Authority (GLA). In addition, England totals of forecasted capital expenditure include adjustments to remedy perennial over-forecasting. Unadjusted totals are also included in the local authority level data tables that supplement this release. Please see the accompanying technical notes document for further details on the adjustments.

The 2023-24 provisional outturn data in this publication is based on returns from 397 (97%) local authorities in England and imputed records for 13 authorities who did not submit data in time for this release. These local authorities are Castle Point, Colchester, Crawley, Cumberland, Derbyshire, Guildford, Harborough, Lancaster, Lincolnshire, North West Leicestershire, North Yorkshire, Redbridge and South Cambridgeshire. These 13 authorities can be identified where the data source column states “no data” in the local authority data worksheets of capital payments and receipts. The data for these imputed records were estimated using forecast data from each of these local authorities. Please see the accompanying technical notes document for further details on grossing and imputation.

The 2024-25 forecast data is based on valid capital estimates returns from 411 out of 411 (100%) local authorities. The number of authorities is higher than that for the 2023-24 provisional data due to local authority changes which took place 2024. These are outlined below:

• North East Mayoral Combined Authority was formed in May, replacing North East Combined Authority and North of Tyne Combined Authority.

• East Midlands Combined Authority was created as a new authority.

• York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority was created. This will take on the functions of North Yorkshire PFCC, however in this return separate accounts for the police and fire functions continue to be submitted.

Notes on forecast data

Each year, the upcoming year’s forecast is adjusted to factor in consistent over-forecasting by local authorities based on trends in recent years. In 2020-21 and 2021-22 the level of over-forecasting increased and this has been factored into subsequent forecasts. Consequently, users should be cautious when comparing forecasts over time, and particularly between 2021-22 and 2022-23 as these will reflect changes in the adjustments used as well as changes in local authority forecasts.

Local government finance data review

In 2022, DLUHC carried out a comprehensive review of local government finance statistics. The review considered the following groups of statistical collections:

• local authority borrowing and investments

• local authority capital expenditure, receipts and financing

• local authority revenue expenditure and financing (Revenue account budget, Revenue outturn and Quarterly revenue outturn)

Details of the outcome of the review were published on 11 April 2022 and can be found here: Review of local government finance statistics.

An update to the review was published on 15 May 2023 and details the progress made against the recommendations. It can be found here: Local government finance statistics: update on review recommendations.

2. Capital expenditure and receipts by economic category

Local authorities report capital expenditure incurred in buying, building or improving capital assets, and capital receipts, received from the sale of a capital asset.

Capital expenditure is divided into expenditure on fixed assets, which includes spending on tangible and intangible fixed assets, and financial expenditure, which includes the following payments funding capital expenditure: grants, loans, and the acquisitions of share or loan capital.

Table 1 illustrates the change in the pattern of expenditure by economic category of expenditure from 2019-20 to 2024-25, based on actual outturn, provisional outturn and forecast outturn data.

Table 1: Local authority capital expenditure & other transactions and capital receipts by category: forecast, provisional and final outturn, England 2019-20 to 2024-25 (real terms in 2023-24 prices, £ millions)

Category	Type	2019-20[r]	2020-21[r]	2021-22[r]	2022-23	2023-24[r]	2024-25
Acquisition of land & existing buildings	Forecast (adjusted)	6,348	5,683	4,545	3,126	1,695	2,896
	Outturn	5,039	3,189	2,330	2,036	2,698	[z]
New construction, conversion & renovation	Forecast (adjusted)	16,927	18,616	20,447	18,112	18,085	19,709
	Outturn	16,368	16,517	18,551	18,296	19,327	[z]
Vehicles, plant, furniture & equipment	Forecast (adjusted)	1,523	1,799	1,870	1,948	1,849	1,973
	Outturn	1,964	1,739	1,739	1,701	1,798	[z]
Intangible fixed assets	Forecast (adjusted)	475	345	406	411	269	324
	Outturn	325	324	307	315	359	[z]
Total expenditure on fixed assets	Forecast (adjusted)	25,273	26,443	27,268	23,597	21,898	24,902
	Outturn	23,696	21,770	22,926	22,350	24,180	[z]

Category	Type	2019-20[r]	2020-21[r]	2021-22[r]	2022-23	2023-24[r]	2024-25
Grants, loans or other financial assistance	Forecast (adjusted)	7,345	7,225	7,386	6,123	5,869	5,857
	Outturn	5,532	5,727	5,886	6,460	5,315	[z]
Acquisition of share or loan capital	Forecast (adjusted)	639	490	286	272	191	173
	Outturn	2,031	1,180	903	519	101	[z]
Total financial expenditure	Forecast (adjusted)	7,984	7,715	7,672	6,395	6,060	6,030
	Outturn	7,563	6,906	6,789	6,980	5,416	[z]

Category	Type	2019-20[r]	2020-21[r]	2021-22[r]	2022-23	2023-24[r]	2024-25
Total capital expenditure	Forecast (adjusted)	33,257	34,158	34,940	29,992	27,958	30,932
	Outturn	31,258	28,676	29,715	29,330	29,596	[z]
of which GLA [note 1]	Forecast (adjusted)	4,959	4,878	3,988	3,936	3,200	3,253
	Outturn	4,490	3,866	3,860	3,889	3,406	[z]
Payment of LSVT levy	Forecast (adjusted)	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Outturn	0	0	4	1	0	[z]
Expenditure treated as capital by virtue of a Section 16(2)(b) Direction [note 2]	Forecast (adjusted)	83	71	198	196	400	444
	Outturn	213	217	260	847	541	[z]
Total capital expenditure & other transactions	Forecast (adjusted)	33,340	34,229	35,138	30,188	28,358	31,376
	Outturn	31,471	28,893	29,975	30,176	30,137	[z]

Category	Type	2019-20[r]	2020-21[r]	2021-22[r]	2022-23	2023-24[r]	2024-25
Total capital receipts	Forecast (adjusted)	3,042	4,568	2,735	2,601	2,329	3,529
	Outturn	3,358	3,004	4,044	4,852	3,346	[z]

Table 1 notes:

[note 1] Forecast is unadjusted at the Greater London Authority level.

[note 2] Expenditure which does not fall within the definition of expenditure for capital purposes but is treated as capital expenditure by a direction under section 16(2)(b) of the Local Government Act 2003.

[z] Not applicable. 2024-25 provisional outturn data will be available in June 2025.

[r] This indicates that a figure has been revised since the previous publication.

Provisional outturn 2023-24

Local authorities’ provisional capital expenditure in England in 2023-24 totalled £29.6 billion. This is a £266 million (1%) increase compared to 2022-23. New construction, conversion & renovation remained the largest type of capital expenditure, accounting for £19.3 billion (65%) of all capital expenditure in 2023-24.

Total expenditure on fixed assets totalled £24.2 billion in 2023-24, up £1.8 billion (8%) from 2022-23. This increase was driven primarily by an increase in new construction, conversion and renovation, which increased by £1 billion (6%) compared to 2022-23.

Total financial expenditure totalled £5.4 billion in 2023-24, down £1.6 billion (22%) from 2022-23. The main driver of this decrease was grants, loans or other financial assistance, which was £1.1 billion (18%) lower than in 2022-23.

Provisional outturn capital receipts totalled £3.3 billion in 2023-24, £1.5 billion (31%) lower compared to 2022-23.

Forecast outturn 2024-25

Figure 1 shows the difference between forecast and outturn data for total capital expenditure and total capital receipts since 2019-20. Forecasts are adjusted to factor in consistent over-forecasting by local authorities. Differences between them can be caused by slippage in timings of projects, changes in service priorities or in financial capabilities of an authority throughout the year.

Capital expenditure is forecast to total £30.9 billion during 2024-25. This is £1.3 billion (5%) higher than the 2023-24 provisional outturn of £29.6 billion. New construction, conversion & renovation is forecast to remain the largest type of capital expenditure, accounting for £19.7 billion (64%) of all capital expenditure in 2024-25.

Total expenditure on fixed assets is forecast to total £24.9 billion in 2024-25, an increase of £722 million (3%) from 2023-24. This is forecast to be primarily driven by an increase in expenditure on new construction, conversion & renovation, which is forecast to increase by £382 million (2%) and remain the largest category of expenditure on fixed assets.

Total financial expenditure is forecast to total £6 billion in 2024-25, up £614 million (11%) from 2023-24. The main driver of this increase is forecast to be grants, loans or other financial assistance, which is forecast to be £542 million (10%) higher than in 2023-24.

Provisional outturn capital receipts are forecast to total £3.5 billion in 2024-25, £183 million (5%) higher compared to 2023-24.

Figure 1: A comparison of adjusted forecast and outturn for total capital expenditure and receipts, England 2019-20 to 2024-25 (real terms in 2023-24 prices, £ billions)

A time series line graph showing total capital expenditure and capital receipts, provisional (2023-24), unadjusted and adjusted forecast (2024-25). Unadjusted forecasts are much higher than their respective outturns, whilst the adjusted forecasts are much closer to the outturns.

3. Capital expenditure by service area

Table 2 illustrates the pattern of expenditure for the broad categories of services since 2019-20.

Table 2: Local authority capital expenditure & other transactions and capital receipts by service: forecast, provisional and final outturn, England 2019-20 to 2024-25 (real terms in 2023-24 prices, £ millions)

Category	2019-20 Outturn (final)	2020-21 Outturn (final)[r]	2021-22 Outturn (final)[r]	2022-23 Outturn (final)	2023-24 Outturn (provisional)	2024-25 Forecast (adjusted)
Total Education	2,747	2,430	2,472	2,235	2,326	2,323
Total Highways & Transport	8,888	9,040	8,480	7,987	7,933	8,299
of which GLA [note 1]	3,217	2,895	2,438	2,113	1,875	1,581
Total Social Care	442	332	400	409	543	527
Total Public Health	25	27	30	41	24	28
Total Housing	7,198	6,867	8,305	9,556	9,669	9,929
of which London Boroughs [note 2]	2,730	2,689	3,257	4,002	3,676	4,003
of which GLA [note 1]	689	356	753	1,258	818	1,021
Total Culture & Related Services	1,477	1,316	1,467	1,427	1,495	1,646
Total Environmental & Regulatory Services	847	843	1,038	1,375	1,302	1,478
Total Planning & Development Services	2,249	2,000	2,290	2,082	2,471	2,598
Total Digital Infrastructure	165	202	262	191	166	202
Total Police	903	961	839	823	846	913
Total Fire & Rescue Services	194	193	185	213	274	242
Central Services [note 3]	2,237	2,283	2,128	1,600	1,854	1,821
Trading [note 4, 5]	3,888	2,184	1,818	1,390	694	926
Total All Services	31,258	28,676	29,715	29,330	29,596	30,932

Table 2 notes:

[note 1] Forecast is unadjusted at the GLA level.

[note 2] Forecast is adjusted at the London Borough level.

[note 3] Central services include court costs, local tax collection, and other core council services costs (such as IT).

[note 4] Trading services include the maintenance of direct labour and service organisations, such as civic halls, retail markets and industrial estates, and commercial activity.

[note 5] Typically, expenditure on trading services shows more spend at final outturn due to recategorisation. Other categories, notably central services, show lower spend at final outturn because of this.

[z] Not applicable.

[r] This indicates that a figure has been revised since the previous publication.

Provisional outturn 2023-24

Expenditure on housing remains the largest service of capital expenditure in 2023-24, accounting for £9.7 billion (33%) of total capital expenditure.

Expenditure on housing increased in 2023-24 by £113 million (1%) compared to 2022-23, whilst spending on highways & transport decreased in 2023-24 by £54 million (1%) compared to 2022-23.

Forecast outturn 2024-25

Expenditure on housing is forecast to continue to be higher than spending on highways & transport as the largest service of capital expenditure in 2024-25, accounting for £9.9 billion (32%) compared with £8.3 billion (27%) of total capital expenditure, respectively.

Expenditure on housing is forecast to increase by £260 million (3%) compared to 2023-24, whilst spending on highways & transport is forecast to increase in 2024-25 by £366 million (5%) compared to 2023-24.

4. Financing of capital expenditure and other transactions

Authorities finance their capital spending in a number of ways. A breakdown of the main elements of local authority capital funding is given below:

• Capital grants are provided by government departments and other organisations. The majority of governmental grants are not ring-fenced, giving authorities flexibility to choose how to spend this money, provided it is used for capital purposes.

• Prudential borrowing is borrowing freely undertaken by the local authority within the affordability limits stated by their auditors, as specified in the Local Government Act 2003.

• Capital receipts are from the sale of capital assets.

• Revenue resources can be used by local authorities to support capital spend. There is no restriction on revenue funds being used in this way, although accounting convention prevents capital resources being used to cover revenue spend except where special capitalisation directives are made by virtue of a Section 16(2)(b) Direction.

Table 3 shows a breakdown of levels of financing from different sources.

Table 3: Financing of local authority capital expenditure by source: forecast, provisional and final outturn, England 2019-20 to 2024-25 (real terms in 2023-24 prices, £ millions)

Category	2019-20 Outturn (final)[r]	2020-21 Outturn (final)[r]	2021-22 Outturn (final)[r]	2022-23 Outturn (final)	2023-24 Outturn (provisional)	2024-25 Forecast (adjusted)
Total grants used to finance capital expenditure	9,810	10,487	11,609	12,226	12,471	13,449
Grants from central government departments	7,174	7,822	9,191	9,766	10,404	11,157
Grants from European structural & investment funds	56	55	58	97	33	18
Grants from private developers & leaseholders, etc.	1,407	1,243	1,307	1,375	1,451	1,511
Grants from non-departmental public bodies [note 1]	530	590	597	756	459	627
Grants from the National Lottery	66	54	42	46	26	32
Grants from Local Enterprise Partnerships	577	722	413	186	98	103
Total capital receipts used to finance capital expenditure	2,659	2,386	2,699	3,052	2,205	2,649
Total revenue account resources used to finance capital expenditure	5,276	4,553	5,640	5,711	4,662	5,052
Housing Revenue Account	629	477	756	507	554	467
Major Repairs Reserve	2,147	1,962	2,067	1,999	2,003	2,145
General Fund Revenue Account	2,500	2,115	2,817	3,205	2,105	2,439
Total prudential borrowing [note 2]	13,666	11,971	10,311	9,853	9,981	10,112
Loans & other financial assistance from Local Enterprise partnerships	32	13	12	12	23	35
Other borrowing & credit arrangements not supported by central government	13,634	11,958	10,299	9,841	9,957	10,077
Total resources used to finance capital expenditure & other transactions [note 3]	31,411	29,397	30,258	30,842	29,318	31,262

Table 3 notes:

[note 1] Non-Departmental Public Bodies, organisations that are not government departments but which have a role in the processes of national government, such as Sport England, English Heritage and Natural England.

[note 2] The Prudential System, which came into effect on 1 April 2004, allows local authorities to raise finance for capital expenditure - without government consent - where they can afford to service the debt without extra government support.

[note 3] From 2017-18 onwards, intra-local government transfers are subtracted from both expenditure and financing. However, as grants and loans made to other local authorities as part of expenditure may not equal the use of grants and loans from other authorities to finance expenditure within a financial year, financing and expenditure may not match. The amount of intra-local authority payments in forecast data can be notably different in the financing table compared to expenditure data resulting in the financing total (adjusted, excluding double counting) being different to the corresponding total in the expenditure tables.

[r] This indicates that a figure has been revised since the previous publication.

Provisional outturn 2023-24

As shown in Figure 2, capital grants continue to grow as the largest source of financing of capital expenditure in 2023-24, increasing by £245 million (2%) to £12.5 billion compared to 2022-23. Capital grants make up 43% of all resources used to finance capital expenditure.

Prudential borrowing has increased as a source of capital expenditure financing in 2023-24, increasing by £128 million (1%) compared to 2022-23. Prudential borrowing makes up 34% of all resources used to finance capital expenditure.

Forecast outturn 2024-25

Capital grants are forecast to continue increasing as the largest source of financing of capital expenditure in 2024-25, increasing by £978 million (8%) to £13.4 billion compared to 2023-24. Capital grants are forecast to make up 43% of all resources used to finance capital expenditure.

Prudential borrowing is forecast to continue as the second largest contributor to capital financing at £9.9 billion. Alongside capital grants, this accounts for 75% of all capital financing. Prudential borrowing is forecast to make up 32% of all resources used to finance capital expenditure.

Figure 2: Adjusted forecast and actual financing of local authority capital expenditure, England 2019-20 to 2024-25 (real terms in 2023-24 prices, £ billions)

A time series line graph showing provisional (2023-24) and adjusted forecast (2024-25) financing of local authority capital expenditure and other transactions. Total grants continue the trend of increasing and remaining the largest source of financing.

5. Additional information

Accompanying tables

Accompanying tables are available to download alongside this release. These are:

• Table 1a: Local authority capital expenditure & other transactions and capital receipts by category: forecast, provisional and final outturn, England 2019-20 to 2024-25 (real terms in 2023-24 prices, £ millions)

• Table 1b: Local authority capital expenditure & other transactions and capital receipts by category: forecast, provisional and final outturn, England 2019-20 to 2024-25 (cash terms, £ millions)

• Table 2a: Local authority capital expenditure by service: forecast, provisional and final outturn, England 2019-20 to 2024-25 (real terms in 2023-24 prices, £ millions)

• Table 2b: Local authority capital expenditure by services: forecast, provisional and final outturn, England 2019-20 to 2024-25 (cash terms, £ millions)

• Table 3a: Financing of local authority capital expenditure & other transactions by source: forecast, provisional and final outturn, England 2019-20 to 2024-25 (real terms in 2023-24 prices, £ millions)

• Table 3b: Financing of local authority capital expenditure by source: forecast, provisional and final outturn, England 2019-20 to 2024-25 (cash terms, £ millions)

• Table 4a: Local authority total capital expenditure and total capital receipts by service and category: provisional outturn, England 2023-24 (real terms in 2023-24 prices, £ millions)

• Table 4b: Local authority total capital expenditure and total capital receipts by service and category: forecasted outturn, England 2024-25 (cash terms, £ millions)

• Table 5a: Local authority prudential system information by category: provisional outturn, England 2023-24 (real terms in 2023-24 prices, £ millions)

• Table 5b: Local authority prudential system information by category: forecasted outturn, England 2024-25 (cash terms, £ millions)

All forecast data in this release are available at local authority level for:

• Capital estimates return, Section A, Part 1 (CER A1), England, 2024-25 Forecasted Outturn: Expenditure, Other Transactions & Receipts

• Capital estimates return, Section A, Part 2 (CER A2), England, 2024-25 Forecasted Outturn: Further Details on Expenditure on Grants & Loans and Roads

• Capital estimates return, Section B (CER B), England, 2024-25 Forecasted Outturn: Financing Total Capital Expenditure & Other Transactions

• Capital estimates return, Section C (CER C), England, 2024-25 Forecasted Outturn: Prudential System Information

All tables and workbooks, as well as related statistical releases, can be accessed at: Local authority capital expenditure, receipts and financing

Local authority level provisional outturn data are available to download alongside this release. This is:

• CPR4 Live Table: Capital payments and receipts 4 (CPR4), 2023-24, England

This table can be accessed at: Live tables on local government finance - Capital payments and receipts

Technical notes

Please see the accompanying technical notes document for further details. This can be found at: Local authority capital expenditure and receipts in England: 2023 to 2024 provisional outturn and 2024 to 2025 forecast

These statistics are Accredited Official Statistics. This status means that these statistics comply with the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality and public value as set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘Accredited Official Statistics’.

Accredited Official Statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. These Accredited Official Statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in April 2012.

They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘Accredited Official Statistics’. Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics to which all producers of official statistics should adhere. Further information on Accredited Official Statistics can be found at: Accredited Official Statistics

Information about statistics at DLUHC is available via the Department’s website: Statistics at DLUHC