Provisional Outturn (2017-2018) and Budget Estimates (2018-19)

Provides details of the provisional cost of Scottish local authority services for 2017 to 2018 and the budgeted cost of those services for 2018 to 2019.

This document is part of a collection


Statistics Publication Notice
Economy (Local Government Finance)
2017-18 Provisional Outturn And 2018-19 Budget Estimates
19 th June 2018

2017-18 – Provisional Outturn

  • Local authority net revenue expenditure is expected to total £12.008 billion in 2017-18 for Scotland. This is an increase of £0.133 billion (+1.1%) on 2016-17.
  • The largest components of local authority net revenue expenditure are Education (41.9% of net revenue expenditure) and Social Work (26.8%).
  • Education spend is expected to be £5.037 billion, an increase of £0.158 billion (+3.2%) on 2016-17.
  • Social Work spend is expected to be £3.216 billion, an increase of £0.077 billion (+2.4%) on 2016-17.
  • 58% of net revenue expenditure was funded from Scottish Government Grants, 22% from non-domestic rates, 19% from council tax and 1% from reserves.
  • In 2017-18, local authorities expect to use £0.126 billion of money held in reserves to pay for services. They will transfer in £0.033 billion of reserves from other accounts, which means that General Fund reserves are expected to fall by 8%, to £1.067 billion at the 31st March 2018.

2018-19 – Budget Estimates

  • Scottish local authorities have set a Net Revenue budget of £12.137 billion in 2018-19; an increase of 2.0% on the 2017-18 budget.
  • In Education the net revenue budget is reported to be £5.159 billion, an increase of £0.189 billion (+3.8%) from that budgeted in 2017-18.
  • Social work sees a budget of £3.260 billion, an increase of £0.086 billion (+2.7%) from that budgeted in 2017-18.
  • 58% of net revenue expenditure will be funded from Scottish Government Grants, 22% from non-domestic rates, 19% from council tax and 1% from reserves.
  • In 2018-19 local authorities plan to use £0.113 billion of the money held in reserves and transfer £0.033 billion in from other accounts. General Fund reserves are budgeted to fall by 7.5% to £0.986 billion at the 31st March 2019.

Introduction

This Statistics Publication provides details of the provisional cost of Scottish local authority services for 2017-18 and the budgeted cost of those services for 2018-19. This data is collected on the Provisional Outturn and Budget Estimates ( POBE) return which collects data on net revenue expenditure for services. Net Revenue Expenditure is funded from Scottish Government Grants, Non-Domestic Rates ( NDR), Council Tax or Reserves and represents the cost to the council of providing local services.

2017-18 – Provisional Outturn

  • Scotland’s local authorities’ provisional outturn total net revenue expenditure is £12.008 billion. This is an increase of £0.133 billion (+1.1%) compared with 2016-17 provisional outturn.
  • Education and Social Work account for over two thirds of net revenue expenditure. Education is 41.9% of total expenditure and Social Work 26.8%.
  • Education spend is expected to be £5.037 billion, an increase of £0.158 billion (+3.2%) on 2016-17. Social Work spend is expected to be £3.216 billion, an increase of £0.077 billion (+2.4%).
  • Environmental Services spend is expected to be £0.704 billion (5.9% of net revenue expenditure), Culture and Related Services £0.548 billion (4.6%), Roads & Transport £0.419 billion (3.5%), Planning & Development £0.234 billion (1.9%). All other service expenditure, including non- HRA (non-Housing Revenue Account) Housing and Central Services totals £0.707 billion (5.9%) ( Table 1).
  • Total non-service expenditure was £1.143 billion (9.5% of net revenue expenditure). This includes revenue resources used for capital expenditure, debt repayment, interest charges (net of investment income) and surplus on trading operations.
  • Scottish local authorities received £6.947 billion (funding 58% of expenditure) from Scottish Government Grants, received £2.669 billion (22%) from non-domestic rates and raised £2.265 billion (19% of funding) from council tax. This funding totalled £11.882 billion, with a further £0.126 billion being funded from local authority reserves ( Table 3).
  • Of the 32 authorities, 24 authorities used their reserves to fund expenditure in 2017-18 and 8 contributed to reserves.
  • At 1 st April 2017, local authorities held General Fund reserves of £1.159 billion. Local authorities used £0.126 billion to fund expenditure in 2017-18 and transferred £0.033 billion from other reserves, leaving a closing General Fund balance of £1.067 billion at the 31 st March 2018. ( Table 3).

Chart 1: Provisional Outturn by Service, 2017-18

Chart 1: Provisional Outturn by Service, 2017-18

Chart 2: Provisional Outturn by Service – 2016-17 and 2017-18 (£billions)

Chart 2: Provisional Outturn by Service – 2016-17 and 2017-18 (£billions)

2018-19 – Budget Estimates

  • For 2018-19 Scotland’s local authorities have set a net revenue expenditure budget of £12.137 billion for spending on all services. This is £0.235 billion more (+2.0%) than the budget set for 2017-18.
  • Education and Social Work account for over two thirds of the net revenue budget. Education is 42.5% of total expenditure and Social Work 26.9%.
  • Scottish local authorities have set an Education budget of £5.159 billion, an increase of £0.189 billion (+3.8%) on the budget set for 2017-18. Social Work have a budget of £3.260 billion, an increase of £0.086 billion (+2.7%) on the 2017-18 budget.
  • Environmental Services are budgeted to spend £0.679 billion (5.6% of the net revenue expenditure budget), Culture and Related Services £0.538 billion (4.4%), Roads & Transport £0.388 billion (3.2%), Planning & Development £0.241 billion (2.0%). All other service expenditure, including non- HRA Housing and Central Services totals £0.717 billion (5.9%) ( Table 2 and Chart 4).
  • Authorities have budgeted to spend £1.155 billion on non-service expenditure (9.5% of net revenue expenditure). This includes revenue resources used for capital expenditure, debt repayment, interest charges (net of investment income) and surplus on trading operations.
  • Scottish local authorities have budgeted to receive £7.070 billion (funding 58% of expenditure) from Scottish Government grants, receive £2.636 billion (22%) from non-domestic rates and raise £2.319 billion (19% of total funding) from council tax. This funding totals £12.024 billion, with £0.113 billion being funded from local authority reserves ( Table 4).
  • Of the 32 authorities, 26 authorities plan to use their reserves to fund expenditure in 2018-19, 2 plan to neither use nor add to reserves and 4 plan to increase reserves.
  • At 1 st April 2018, local authorities estimate General Fund reserves of £1.067 billion. Local authorities plan to use £0.113 billion to provide services in 2018-19 and transfer £0.033 billion from other reserves, which would give a closing General Fund balance of £0.986 billion at the 31 st March 2019 ( Table 3).

Chart 3: Budget Estimates by Service, 2018-19

Chart 3: Budget Estimates by Service, 2018-19

Chart 4: Budget Estimates by Service, 2017-18 and 2018-19

Chart 4: Budget Estimates by Service, 2017-18 and 2018-19

Table 1: Net Revenue Expenditure: Provisional Outturn 2017-18 by Local Authority and Service, £thousands

Education Social Work Roads and Transport Environmental Services Planning and Development Services Culture and Related Services Other Services [1] Non-Service [1] Expenditure Total Net Revenue Expenditure
Scotland 5,037,061 3,216,121 419,487 703,971 233,669 547,925 706,750 1,142,550 12,007,533
Aberdeen City 183,504 137,791 11,746 27,962 8,988 26,960 5,818 33,096 435,865
Aberdeenshire 266,769 137,572 19,996 31,845 7,887 22,327 27,372 41,300 555,068
Angus 104,634 56,318 11,398 14,045 2,246 9,849 21,321 26,362 246,173
Argyll & Bute 96,983 61,478 12,687 17,030 4,224 7,887 17,663 27,982 245,934
Clackmannanshire 48,238 32,305 3,051 6,167 1,189 4,477 6,004 17,314 118,744
Dumfries & Galloway 141,665 88,350 13,687 19,706 5,485 13,991 25,573 35,338 343,795
Dundee City 132,795 119,332 5,769 18,973 10,612 16,455 1,485 32,743 338,164
East Ayrshire 122,187 75,831 11,158 12,180 4,630 7,342 16,519 25,816 275,663
East Dunbartonshire 115,357 59,024 8,079 13,074 3,697 9,962 11,563 25,166 245,922
East Lothian 89,140 62,848 5,321 10,455 5,428 16,051 12,068 23,256 224,567
East Renfrewshire 113,162 46,574 11,874 9,762 3,523 9,413 9,934 21,924 226,166
Edinburgh, City of 332,130 309,708 5,675 72,693 14,639 31,563 63,733 127,138 957,279
Eilean Siar 42,123 23,718 8,002 6,088 2,832 3,697 7,070 15,916 109,446
Falkirk 148,569 93,445 9,534 16,796 4,079 14,569 15,412 33,998 336,402
Fife 336,863 242,148 28,089 35,438 12,136 40,553 42,401 58,222 795,850
Glasgow City 501,586 386,288 24,381 101,679 52,277 92,128 107,268 179,873 1,445,480
Highland 246,388 140,319 27,138 34,203 4,482 19,576 26,792 62,179 561,077
Inverclyde 81,995 46,924 4,810 11,075 5,976 7,218 15,025 19,578 192,601
Midlothian 97,415 52,533 5,810 9,339 3,300 7,794 14,845 13,574 204,610
Moray 85,775 57,267 5,798 11,040 2,044 7,261 14,002 17,747 200,934
North Ayrshire 135,055 95,113 11,706 15,901 9,540 15,414 21,946 23,601 328,276
North Lanarkshire 350,763 182,463 26,231 42,801 11,263 33,276 38,186 53,171 738,155
Orkney Islands 30,641 17,908 13,836 3,231 3,349 4,155 7,494 2,793 83,407
Perth & Kinross 140,803 77,400 14,460 22,069 5,096 17,678 18,155 28,577 324,238
Renfrewshire 152,068 97,041 13,907 20,996 6,439 19,435 44,499 23,871 378,256
Scottish Borders 110,972 71,493 13,895 14,686 1,512 11,858 10,736 22,050 257,202
Shetland Islands 41,241 29,922 20,261 3,062 2,954 4,442 6,837 1,290 110,009
South Ayrshire 103,113 74,496 10,873 14,773 4,302 11,571 16,171 20,879 256,178
South Lanarkshire 306,914 149,218 32,764 40,436 15,753 26,577 36,630 66,649 674,941
Stirling 97,440 44,844 7,639 14,499 2,585 9,413 11,978 21,003 209,401
West Dunbartonshire 99,353 60,194 5,818 10,186 3,322 11,530 11,514 11,432 213,349
West Lothian 181,420 86,256 14,095 21,780 7,880 13,503 20,736 28,712 374,382

1) Other Services includes non- HRA housing and Central Services. Non-Service includes Debt and Interest Net Expenditure and Revenue Contributions to Capital.

Table 2: Net Revenue Expenditure: Budget Estimates 2018-19 by Local Authority and Service, £thousands

Education Social Work Roads and Transport Environmental Services Planning and Development Services Culture and Related Services Other Services[1] 1 Non-Service[1] 1 Expenditure Total Net Revenue Expenditure
Scotland 5,159,034 3,260,020 388,469 678,978 241,288 537,534 716,759 1,155,168 12,137,252
Aberdeen City 185,820 137,621 10,272 30,590 10,372 27,463 5,718 32,084 439,940
Aberdeenshire 260,875 137,065 19,457 32,529 6,766 20,426 25,462 41,068 543,648
Angus 107,346 59,606 10,446 16,440 2,317 9,687 23,830 28,263 257,935
Argyll & Bute 100,201 61,066 12,211 18,018 3,605 6,982 16,278 24,373 242,734
Clackmannanshire 47,126 32,617 2,934 5,739 1,173 4,329 6,729 17,927 118,573
Dumfries & Galloway 145,927 89,939 12,824 20,319 4,229 13,252 26,060 36,121 348,671
Dundee City 134,891 118,704 4,031 19,501 7,924 16,583 10,626 35,263 347,523
East Ayrshire 124,196 76,032 11,904 11,906 4,731 7,577 15,757 25,044 277,147
East Dunbartonshire 118,896 57,536 8,202 13,570 4,411 9,514 8,138 24,964 245,232
East Lothian 92,942 63,950 5,203 10,520 5,755 16,375 12,597 23,684 231,026
East Renfrewshire 115,034 49,087 9,641 10,515 2,762 9,814 10,577 22,822 230,252
Edinburgh, City of 347,058 315,523 4,208 59,544 15,845 31,934 88,926 123,351 986,389
Eilean Siar 42,986 24,275 7,374 6,278 2,836 3,812 7,159 15,135 109,855
Falkirk 157,504 91,940 10,261 16,031 4,151 13,719 16,869 33,486 343,961
Fife 337,949 236,891 27,064 34,175 9,080 38,291 40,132 68,012 791,594
Glasgow City 521,020 392,570 22,762 100,896 65,522 92,289 99,296 171,975 1,466,330
Highland 250,614 145,588 23,624 32,354 4,223 19,741 24,958 64,201 565,303
Inverclyde 83,080 46,619 4,521 10,451 5,606 6,780 19,835 18,623 195,515
Midlothian 98,518 51,381 5,454 9,259 2,596 7,298 13,175 13,299 200,980
Moray 88,101 58,072 4,645 10,682 1,475 7,017 13,884 18,345 202,221
North Ayrshire 140,055 98,129 11,635 16,522 6,611 14,483 20,006 25,934 333,375
North Lanarkshire 362,552 182,928 21,859 31,059 7,962 29,772 34,812 55,610 726,553
Orkney Islands 30,692 18,093 9,432 3,305 2,990 4,035 8,931 3,935 81,413
Perth & Kinross 147,087 78,602 13,623 20,740 5,465 16,487 17,667 30,416 330,087
Renfrewshire 155,229 102,398 12,437 19,958 10,424 23,682 31,625 21,812 377,565
Scottish Borders 113,081 70,906 14,481 15,294 1,054 11,431 9,873 23,953 260,073
Shetland Islands 41,938 29,427 20,594 2,967 3,267 4,448 7,446 2,261 112,348
South Ayrshire 106,793 75,135 9,901 15,049 5,419 11,015 17,537 22,109 262,958
South Lanarkshire 317,875 159,830 29,331 39,442 16,535 26,436 34,258 70,654 694,361
Stirling 101,249 46,527 7,592 14,844 2,398 9,327 11,580 21,163 214,680
West Dunbartonshire 100,156 63,111 5,729 10,045 3,391 10,563 11,644 10,114 214,753
West Lothian 182,243 88,853 14,817 20,437 10,393 12,972 25,373 29,168 384,256

1) Other Services includes non- HRA housing and Central Services. Non-Service includes Debt and Interest Net Expenditure and Revenue Contributions to Capital.

Table 3: Provisional Outturn 2017-18 – Summary of General Fund Expenditure, Funding and Balances, £thousands

General Fund Opening Balance at 1 April 2017 Total Expenditure Total Funding (Surplus) / Deficit Transfers to or (from) other reserves and the General Fund General Fund Closing Balance at 31 March 2018 % Change in General Fund Reserves
Scotland (1,159,338) 12,007,533 (11,881,735) 125,798 (33,164) (1,066,704) -8.0%
Aberdeen City (50,476) 435,865 (435,359) 506 0 (49,970) -1.0%
Aberdeenshire (36,913) 555,068 (539,892) 15,176 6,867 (14,870) -59.7%
Angus (26,265) 246,173 (246,578) (405) 0 (26,670) +1.5%
Argyll & Bute (53,489) 245,934 (243,941) 1,993 0 (51,496) -3.7%
Clackmannanshire (10,126) 118,744 (115,630) 3,114 0 (7,012) -30.8%
Dumfries & Galloway (49,783) 343,795 (343,124) 671 0 (49,112) -1.3%
Dundee City (8,200) 338,164 (341,063) (2,899) 0 (11,099) +35.4%
East Ayrshire (36,968) 275,663 (271,533) 4,130 30 (32,808) -11.3%
East Dunbartonshire (17,551) 245,922 (244,193) 1,729 (1,453) (17,275) -1.6%
East Lothian (20,534) 224,567 (222,037) 2,530 (995) (18,999) -7.5%
East Renfrewshire (21,358) 226,166 (226,598) (432) (2,469) (24,259) +13.6%
Edinburgh, City of (141,827) 957,279 (953,808) 3,471 0 (138,356) -2.4%
Eilean Siar (23,164) 109,446 (105,994) 3,452 0 (19,712) -14.9%
Falkirk (11,529) 336,402 (337,228) (826) 0 (12,355) +7.2%
Fife (53,096) 795,850 (780,948) 14,902 0 (38,194) -28.1%
Glasgow City (59,232) 1,445,480 (1,441,925) 3,555 3,761 (51,916) -12.4%
Highland (25,811) 561,077 (557,664) 3,413 0 (22,398) -13.2%
Inverclyde (50,493) 192,601 (193,636) (1,035) (1,410) (52,938) +4.8%
Midlothian (17,651) 204,610 (195,505) 9,105 0 (8,546) -51.6%
Moray (21,710) 200,934 (194,221) 6,713 0 (14,997) -30.9%
North Ayrshire (32,049) 328,276 (323,671) 4,605 0 (27,444) -14.4%
North Lanarkshire (56,723) 738,155 (724,642) 13,513 0 (43,210) -23.8%
Orkney Islands (15,713) 83,407 (75,970) 7,437 (8,647) (16,923) +7.7%
Perth & Kinross (51,402) 324,238 (322,263) 1,975 2,324 (47,103) -8.4%
Renfrewshire (48,726) 378,256 (373,389) 4,867 0 (43,859) -10.0%
Scottish Borders (18,294) 257,202 (255,443) 1,759 0 (16,535) -9.6%
Shetland Islands (54,417) 110,009 (90,064) 19,945 (18,805) (53,277) -2.1%
South Ayrshire (28,967) 256,178 (253,200) 2,978 0 (25,989) -10.3%
South Lanarkshire (56,941) 674,941 (675,475) (534) (12,367) (69,842) +22.7%
Stirling (21,550) 209,401 (209,981) (580) 0 (22,130) +2.7%
West Dunbartonshire (13,118) 213,349 (210,678) 2,671 0 (10,447) -20.4%
West Lothian (25,262) 374,382 (376,082) (1,700) 0 (26,962) +6.7%

Table 4: Budget Estimates 2018-19– Summary of General Fund Expenditure, Funding and Balances, £thousands

General Fund Opening Balance at 1 April 2018 Total Expenditure Total Funding (Surplus) / Deficit Transfers to or (from) other reserves and the General Fund General Fund Closing Balance at 31 March 2019 % Change in General Fund Reserves
Scotland (1,066,704) 12,137,252 (12,024,013) 113,239 (32,828) (986,293) -7.5%
Aberdeen City (49,970) 439,940 (412,141) 27,799 0 (22,171) -55.6%
Aberdeenshire (14,870) 543,648 (550,631) (6,983) (5,176) (27,030) +81.8%
Angus (26,670) 257,935 (252,377) 5,558 0 (21,112) -20.8%
Argyll & Bute (51,496) 242,734 (245,142) (2,408) 0 (53,904) +4.7%
Clackmannanshire (7,012) 118,573 (117,168) 1,405 0 (5,607) -20.0%
Dumfries & Galloway (49,112) 348,671 (347,006) 1,665 0 (47,447) -3.4%
Dundee City (11,099) 347,523 (347,523) 0 0 (11,099) -0.0%
East Ayrshire (32,808) 277,147 (274,939) 2,208 1,059 (29,541) -10.0%
East Dunbartonshire (17,275) 245,232 (243,591) 1,641 0 (15,635) -9.5%
East Lothian (18,999) 231,026 (228,886) 2,140 0 (16,859) -11.3%
East Renfrewshire (24,259) 230,252 (227,618) 2,634 (1,134) (22,759) -6.2%
Edinburgh, City of (138,356) 986,389 (980,237) 6,152 0 (132,204) -4.4%
Eilean Siar (19,712) 109,855 (106,251) 3,604 0 (16,108) -18.3%
Falkirk (12,355) 343,961 (341,661) 2,300 0 (10,055) -18.6%
Fife (38,194) 791,594 (791,614) (20) 0 (38,214) +0.1%
Glasgow City (51,916) 1,466,330 (1,455,408) 10,922 (7,105) (48,099) -7.4%
Highland (22,398) 565,303 (563,458) 1,845 0 (20,553) -8.2%
Inverclyde (52,938) 195,515 (194,752) 763 (763) (52,938) +0.0%
Midlothian (8,546) 200,980 (201,180) (200) 0 (8,746) +2.3%
Moray (14,997) 202,221 (197,495) 4,726 0 (10,271) -31.5%
North Ayrshire (27,444) 333,375 (329,875) 3,500 0 (23,944) -12.8%
North Lanarkshire (43,210) 726,553 (726,553) 0 0 (43,210) -0.0%
Orkney Islands (16,923) 81,413 (77,283) 4,130 (4,738) (17,531) +3.6%
Perth & Kinross (47,103) 330,087 (325,748) 4,339 2,926 (39,838) -15.4%
Renfrewshire (43,859) 377,565 (376,433) 1,132 0 (42,727) -2.6%
Scottish Borders (16,535) 260,073 (257,968) 2,105 0 (14,430) -12.7%
Shetland Islands (53,277) 112,348 (95,759) 16,589 (17,897) (54,585) +2.5%
South Ayrshire (25,989) 262,958 (257,428) 5,530 0 (20,459) -21.3%
South Lanarkshire (69,842) 694,361 (685,372) 8,989 0 (60,853) -12.9%
Stirling (22,130) 214,680 (214,680) 0 0 (22,130) +0.0%
West Dunbartonshire (10,447) 214,753 (213,580) 1,173 0 (9,274) -11.2%
West Lothian (26,962) 384,256 (384,256) 0 0 (26,962) +0.0%

Background Notes

1. Data Sources

1.1 The Scottish Government’s Provisional Outturn and Budget Estimates ( POBE) has been collected with the help of the 32 local authorities. The continued co-operation of these bodies in completing these returns is gratefully acknowledged.

1.2 The POBE form and additional information sheets are sent to all local authorities annually to complete a breakdown by service and sub-service of their provisional outturn expenditure for the current year and their budget estimates for the forthcoming year. All amounts returned are net revenue expenditure.

1.3 The provisional outturn for 2017-18 is unaudited and subject to revision. The final, audited 2017-18 net revenue expenditure figures will be published in the Scottish Local Government Financial Statistics ( SLGFS) 2017-18, scheduled for publication in February 2019. Previous SLGFS publications can be found here: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Local-Government-Finance/PubScottishLGFStats

1.4 NDR income figures in this publication are the provisional NDR income figures reported by Councils in the POBE return or estimates used by the councils when setting their budget. Actual distributable amounts received by councils are given in The Local Government Finance (Scotland) Amendment Order 2017 and The Local Government Finance (Scotland) Amendment Order 2018.

2. Data Definitions

2.1 All expenditure figures are net revenue expenditure figures.

2.2 Local Government expenditure is split between revenue and capital expenditure. This publication covers revenue expenditure only. Capital Provisional Outturn and Budget Estimates are published through the Capital Expenditure and Financing publication: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Local-Government-Finance/Publications/CPOBE Revenue expenditure is largely made up of employee and operating costs. Gross revenue expenditure is the total expenditure on local authority services within a financial year and net revenue expenditure is the gross revenue expenditure less any specific income for individual services. Net revenue expenditure is therefore expenditure to be financed from Scottish Government Grants, Non-Domestic Rates income, Council Tax income and local authority reserves.

2.3 Net revenue expenditure is influenced by the value of any income attributable to an individual service. For example, a local authority will provide planning and building control services for which they will charge fees. The net revenue expenditure will be the residual cost of providing those services after deducting any income from fees charged.

2.4 Integration of Health and Social Care will affect the social work figures. Integration Joint Boards ( IJBs) will pool funding from both local authorities and the health boards. The IJB uses that pooled funding to commission services from the local authority and the NHS. This income from the IJB is treated as service income by the local authority and, as such, is excluded from the net revenue expenditure measure in this publication. Therefore, the net revenue expenditure figure here represents the amount of expenditure on services commissioned by the local authority outwith integration plus the amount the local authority has contributed to the IJB for the Integration of Health and Social Care.

2.5 Other Service Expenditure includes Non- HRA Housing, Central Services and budgeted contingencies.

2.6 Non-service expenditure includes revenue resources used for capital expenditure, debt repayment, interest charges (net of investment income) and surplus on trading operations.

2.7 When looking at trends over time, comparisons should always be made on a like for like basis. The Provisional Outturn should not be compared with the Budget Estimates. For comparisons over time, the Provisional Outturn should be compared with the Provisional Outturn from previous publications, and the Budget Estimates should be compared with the Budget Estimates from previous publications.

2.8 When interpreting the data collected through POBE, please be aware of the following:-

  • Across years, changes in accounting standards may impact on the categorisation of expenditure, which can lead to discontinuity in the data collected between financial years.
  • Budgets are financial plans for the year, and will reflect both the anticipated demand for services in any year, and the resources available to deliver those services. Any year on year comparisons need to take these factors into account.
  • Following the Local Government Elections in May 2017, the administration which set the budget may not be the administration responsible for spending the budget.
  • Net revenue expenditure can be affected by large one-off payments in any year e.g. Equal Pay back pay settlement expenditure.

Enquiries

For public enquiries (non-media) about the information contained in this Statistics Publication Notice contact Local Government Finance Statistics on 0131 244 7033 or e-mail lgfstats@gov.scot .

Media enquiries about the information in this Statistics Publication Notice should be addressed to 0131 244 5193.

Internet: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Local-Government-Finance

Local Government Finance Statistics website: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Local-Government-Finance

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