Introduction
The Department for Communities and Local Government (the Department) has responsibility in government for the local government finance system. Accountability for capital is more devolved than for revenue, but the Department still has responsibility for ensuring that local authorities are financially sustainable. The Department recognises that this includes both revenue and capital. The Department also maintains the accountability system for local government to enable assurance to Parliament about local authority use of resources. In 2014–15, local authorities spent £38.1 billion on revenue to deliver services and £12.3 billion on capital (excluding education). Capital spending pays for local assets like leisure centres, libraries and roads. Revenue spending on services has fallen since 2010–11, while capital spend has increased in real terms for local authorities as a whole. However this overall increase masks changes in the purpose of capital spending as authorities now focus increasingly on using their capital programmes to generate revenue returns rather than solely to provide services.
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16 November 2016