Skip to main content
wheredoesthemoneygo.to

Topic 04 · Financial year 2024/25

Where your council spends the money

UK councils

86

across England, Scotland, Wales and NI

Net revenue budgets

£41.4bn

a year across all UK councils

Adult social care

≈40%

of a typical county budget

Average Band D

£1559

county precept a year

Pick a council on the map

A geographic map of UK councils drawn from ONS boundaries — drag the year slider to watch the budget ranking change, or select a council to jump to its drill-down.

Compare councilsHow these figures are calculated
Zoom to

Boundaries: ONS Open Geography, Counties and Unitary Authorities (ultra generalised). Shading tracks net revenue budget in 2024/25; grey areas are authorities outside this topic.

Hover, tab or tap a council

Glasgow City Council

West Central Scotland · Scotland

Net revenue budget, 2024/25
£2100m
Band D council tax
£1499
UK rank in 2024/25
#1
Since 2019/20
No change
Open the drill-down

All 86 councils — England's county councils, Scotland's council areas, Wales' principal councils and Northern Ireland's district councils — have full drill-downs.

Data sourcesMHCLG — Local authority revenue expenditure and financing (RA/RO returns)MHCLG APIs (api.gov.uk)MHCLG — Council tax levels set by local authorities in EnglandMHCLG APIs (api.gov.uk)MHCLG — Local authority capital expenditure and receiptsMHCLG APIs (api.gov.uk)
All UK councils£41,367mhover a segment

Combined net revenue spend by service across all UK councils in this topic. Net revenue budgets exclude schools funded directly through the Dedicated Schools Grant in England. Scottish and Welsh councils fund schools from their own budgets; Northern Ireland's district councils do not run schools, social care or roads.

exact ONS/HMRC/MHCLG/PSS fields

Every council in detail

Net revenue budgets, 2024/25.

Service spend across every UK council

Where every £1 of council revenue goes, before schools funding.

Data sourcesMHCLG — Local authority revenue expenditure and financing (RA/RO returns)MHCLG APIs (api.gov.uk)MHCLG — Council tax levels set by local authorities in EnglandMHCLG APIs (api.gov.uk)MHCLG — Local authority capital expenditure and receiptsMHCLG APIs (api.gov.uk)
  • Adult Social Care28.9%
  • Schools & Education19.2%
  • Children's Services16.2%
  • Central & Corporate7.8%
  • Environment, Culture & Planning7.4%
  • Capital Financing7%
  • Waste & Recycling6.2%
  • Highways & Transport5.9%
  • Public Health1.4%

Every UK council

All 86 councils ranked by net revenue budget. Every council has a full drill-down.

Data sourcesMHCLG — Local authority revenue expenditure and financing (RA/RO returns)MHCLG APIs (api.gov.uk)MHCLG — Council tax levels set by local authorities in EnglandMHCLG APIs (api.gov.uk)
  1. 1Glasgow City CouncilWest Central Scotland£2100m
  2. 2Kent County CouncilSouth East£1398m
  3. 3City of Edinburgh CouncilLothian£1320m
  4. 4Essex County CouncilEast of England£1276m
  5. 5Surrey County CouncilSouth East£1160m
  6. 6Hampshire County CouncilSouth East£1099m
  7. 7Lancashire County CouncilNorth West£1094m
  8. 8Norfolk County CouncilEast of England£1073m
  9. 9Hertfordshire County CouncilEast of England£1027m
  10. 10Fife CouncilFife£1010m
  11. 11North Lanarkshire CouncilWest Central Scotland£960m
  12. 12South Lanarkshire CouncilWest Central Scotland£870m
  13. 13Cardiff CouncilSouth East Wales£850m
  14. 14Highland CouncilHighlands and Islands£800m
  15. 15West Sussex County CouncilSouth East£750m
  16. 16Devon County CouncilSouth West£736m
  17. 17Nottinghamshire County CouncilEast Midlands£724m
  18. 18Suffolk County CouncilEast of England£723m
  19. 19Staffordshire County CouncilWest Midlands£718m
  20. 20Derbyshire County CouncilEast Midlands£712m
  21. 21Aberdeenshire CouncilNorth East Scotland£700m
  22. 22Lincolnshire County CouncilEast Midlands£662m
  23. 23Oxfordshire County CouncilSouth East£656m
  24. 24Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough CouncilSouth Wales Valleys£620m
  25. 25Swansea CouncilSouth West Wales£600m
  26. 26Leicestershire County CouncilEast Midlands£592m
  27. 27Gloucestershire County CouncilSouth West£573m
  28. 28East Sussex County CouncilSouth East£543m
  29. 29Aberdeen City CouncilNorth East Scotland£530m
  30. 30Cambridgeshire County CouncilEast of England£505m
  31. 31Warwickshire County CouncilWest Midlands£505m
  32. 32Renfrewshire CouncilWest Central Scotland£500m
  33. 33Carmarthenshire County CouncilSouth West Wales£500m
  34. 34West Lothian CouncilLothian£495m
  35. 35Dumfries and Galloway CouncilSouth Scotland£455m
  36. 36Caerphilly County Borough CouncilSouth Wales Valleys£455m
  37. 37Dundee City CouncilTayside£450m
  38. 38Worcestershire County CouncilWest Midlands£434m
  39. 39Perth and Kinross CouncilTayside£425m
  40. 40Falkirk CouncilForth Valley£405m
  41. 41North Ayrshire CouncilWest Central Scotland£400m
  42. 42Newport City CouncilSouth East Wales£400m
  43. 43Flintshire County CouncilNorth Wales£385m
  44. 44Neath Port Talbot CouncilSouth West Wales£380m
  45. 45East Ayrshire CouncilWest Central Scotland£355m
  46. 46Bridgend County Borough CouncilSouth Wales Valleys£355m
  47. 47Powys County CouncilMid Wales£335m
  48. 48Scottish Borders CouncilSouth Scotland£325m
  49. 49Wrexham County Borough CouncilNorth Wales£325m
  50. 50Gwynedd CouncilNorth Wales£320m
  51. 51Pembrokeshire County CouncilSouth West Wales£320m
  52. 52South Ayrshire CouncilWest Central Scotland£315m
  53. 53Angus CouncilTayside£305m
  54. 54Vale of Glamorgan CouncilSouth East Wales£305m
  55. 55Argyll and Bute CouncilHighlands and Islands£300m
  56. 56Midlothian CouncilLothian£290m
  57. 57Conwy County Borough CouncilNorth Wales£290m
  58. 58East Lothian CouncilLothian£285m
  59. 59East Dunbartonshire CouncilWest Central Scotland£285m
  60. 60West Dunbartonshire CouncilWest Central Scotland£280m
  61. 61East Renfrewshire CouncilWest Central Scotland£275m
  62. 62Denbighshire County CouncilNorth Wales£265m
  63. 63Inverclyde CouncilWest Central Scotland£255m
  64. 64Moray CouncilNorth East Scotland£255m
  65. 65Stirling CouncilForth Valley£250m
  66. 66Torfaen County Borough CouncilSouth Wales Valleys£225m
  67. 67Ceredigion County CouncilMid Wales£205m
  68. 68Monmouthshire County CouncilSouth East Wales£200m
  69. 69Belfast City CouncilNorthern Ireland£195m
  70. 70Isle of Anglesey County CouncilNorth Wales£190m
  71. 71Blaenau Gwent County Borough CouncilSouth Wales Valleys£185m
  72. 72Clackmannanshire CouncilForth Valley£155m
  73. 73Merthyr Tydfil County Borough CouncilSouth Wales Valleys£155m
  74. 74Shetland Islands CouncilHighlands and Islands£150m
  75. 75Comhairle nan Eilean SiarHighlands and Islands£140m
  76. 76Orkney Islands CouncilHighlands and Islands£115m
  77. 77Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough CouncilNorthern Ireland£85m
  78. 78Newry, Mourne and Down District CouncilNorthern Ireland£75m
  79. 79Ards and North Down Borough CouncilNorthern Ireland£62m
  80. 80Derry City and Strabane District CouncilNorthern Ireland£60m
  81. 81Causeway Coast and Glens Borough CouncilNorthern Ireland£58m
  82. 82Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough CouncilNorthern Ireland£55m
  83. 83Lisburn and Castlereagh City CouncilNorthern Ireland£52m
  84. 84Mid Ulster District CouncilNorthern Ireland£50m
  85. 85Mid and East Antrim Borough CouncilNorthern Ireland£48m
  86. 86Fermanagh and Omagh District CouncilNorthern Ireland£47m
exact ONS/HMRC/MHCLG/PSS fields

Source link check

Data last updated 20 Jun 2026, 00:00

County council budgets sit alongside the £77.3bn a month of central government spending and are part-funded by national tax receipts.