MHCLG · 13 December 2019 – 5 July 2024
Council spending on services during the Conservative 2019–2024 government
↑ 35.4%+£32.3bn
Council spending on services rose by 35.4% over the period, from £91.4bn (Year ending March 2019, the level when the government took office) to £123.8bn (Year ending March 2024, the last complete period before it left office). That is an average of +6.2% a year over the term.
- Inherited level Year ending March 2019: £91.4bn
- Level when it left Year ending March 2024: £123.8bn
- method: latest complete period before start / before end
In real terms (Year ending March 2024 prices, ONS CPI all-items index) the change is a rise of 8.9%: £113.6bn to £123.8bn. The figures above are cash terms as published. HM Treasury deflates public spending with the GDP deflator, not CPI, so official real-terms spending figures can differ.
Changes during this period do not by themselves show what the government caused. Statistics reflect many influences, including earlier decisions, the economy and how the data is collected.
The chart as a table
| Period | Council spending on services |
|---|---|
| Year ending March 2018 | £89.8bn |
| Year ending March 2019 | £91.4bn |
| Year ending March 2020 | £94.6bn |
| Year ending March 2021 | £106.3bn |
| Year ending March 2022 | £107.1bn |
| Year ending March 2023 | £113.5bn |
| Year ending March 2024 | £123.8bn |
| Year ending March 2025 | £134.2bn |
Definition and caveats
Net current expenditure on services by each English local authority in the financial year — what running education, social care, housing, transport, bins, planning and the rest actually cost after the income each service earned is taken off — from the revenue outturn returns councils file with MHCLG.
Doesn’t measure: Capital spending, debt interest, housing benefit payments or the HRA landlord account; nor like-for-like comparability between authorities of different classes — in two-tier areas the county and its districts run different services and report separately.