The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government collects data returns from local authorities including their borrowing and investment information. These returns are collated and published on the GOV.UK website.

UK local authority borrowing and investment is published on a quarterly basis here.

Further detail on capital expenditure and financing for authorities in England is published on annual basis here.

The Office for National Statistics publishes local authority population estimates can be found here.

The Government publishes data on loans issued by the Public Works Loan Board lending facility here Historical Data and here Current Data, which includes loans taken out under the Housing Revenue Account discounted interest rate in place since 15 June 2023. Total debt attributable to the Housing Revenue Account is submitted to Government by local authorities as part of capital data returns and published here Local authority capital expenditure, receipts and financing - GOV.UK. Local authorities also provide the Government with data on their borrowing, including source of borrowing. The data can be found on gov.uk Live tables on local government finance - GOV.UK.

The Government has published a technical consultation, targeted at local authorities and debt advice organisations, on proposed statutory steps for councils to take before formal council tax enforcement action, alongside accompanying guidance on other actions councils should consider before enforcement.

This follows the Government’s response to its public consultation on modernising council tax administration, which announced wider reforms to council tax collection and enforcement. The technical consultation seeks views from local authorities and key stakeholders on how councils should support vulnerable taxpayers before moving to formal enforcement. The consultation closes on 29 July and can be found here.

This Government is committed to introducing several reforms to support taxpayers in managing their council tax bills. These include giving them more time to resolve any debts ahead of enforcement and agree sustainable payment plans with their councils. It is ultimately for councils to assess which actions are necessary and appropriate to recover debt. The Government will publish guidance on how councils can support households in managing council tax debt.

The Government has published a technical consultation, targeted at local authorities and debt advice organisations, on proposed statutory steps for councils to take before formal council tax enforcement action, alongside accompanying guidance on other actions councils should consider before enforcement.

This follows the Government’s response to its public consultation on modernising council tax administration, which announced wider reforms to council tax collection and enforcement. The technical consultation seeks views from local authorities and key stakeholders on how councils should support vulnerable taxpayers before moving to formal enforcement. The consultation closes on 29 July and can be found here.

The Government has published a technical consultation, targeted at local authorities and debt advice organisations, on proposed statutory steps for councils to take before formal council tax enforcement action, alongside accompanying guidance on other actions councils should consider before enforcement.

This follows the Government’s response to its public consultation on modernising council tax administration, which announced wider reforms to council tax collection and enforcement. The technical consultation seeks views from local authorities and key stakeholders on how councils should support vulnerable taxpayers before moving to formal enforcement. The consultation closes on 29 July and can be found here.

The Government has published a technical consultation, targeted at local authorities and debt advice organisations, on proposed statutory steps for councils to take before formal council tax enforcement action, alongside accompanying guidance on other actions councils should consider before enforcement.

This follows the Government’s response to its public consultation on modernising council tax administration, which announced wider reforms to council tax collection and enforcement. The technical consultation seeks views from local authorities and key stakeholders on how councils should support vulnerable taxpayers before moving to formal enforcement. The consultation closes on 29 July and can be found here.

The government does not collect data on the number of households which have missed council tax payments or data on the actions councils take to recover these debts. The government expects councils to proportionate in the actions they take to recover debts and sympathetic to those in hardship.

All proposals for local government reorganisation were considered carefully, on a case‑by‑case basis, against the criteria set out in the statutory guidance, alongside responses to the consultation, representations made, and all other relevant information. This included evidence on the estimated costs and benefits of each proposal. The five unitary model met the criteria on being the right size to achieve efficiencies, improve capacity and withstand financial shocks.

The Government has committed to repay in-principle £200m of debt repayment support to Thurrock Council in 2026-27. This is a significant and unprecedented commitment given the historic capital practices at the Council and is a decision that has not been taken lightly, reflecting the value for money case for protecting taxpayers from the spiralling costs of ever-increasing debt. This is a first tranche of debt repayment support, and we will continue to explore what further debt support is required at a later point.

All proposals for local government reorganisation were considered carefully, on a case‑by‑case basis, against the criteria set out in the statutory guidance, alongside responses to the consultation, representations made, and all other relevant information. This included evidence on the estimated costs and benefits of each proposal. The five unitary model met the criteria on being the right size to achieve efficiencies, improve capacity and withstand financial shocks.

The Government has committed to repay in-principle £200m of debt repayment support to Thurrock Council in 2026-27. This is a significant and unprecedented commitment given the historic capital practices at the Council and is a decision that has not been taken lightly, reflecting the value for money case for protecting taxpayers from the spiralling costs of ever-increasing debt. This is a first tranche of debt repayment support, and we will continue to explore what further debt support is required at a later point.

All proposals for local government reorganisation were considered carefully, on a case‑by‑case basis, against the criteria set out in the statutory guidance, alongside responses to the consultation, representations made, and all other relevant information. This included evidence on the estimated costs and benefits of each proposal. The five unitary model met the criteria on being the right size to achieve efficiencies, improve capacity and withstand financial shocks.

The Government has committed to repay in-principle £200m of debt repayment support to Thurrock Council in 2026-27. This is a significant and unprecedented commitment given the historic capital practices at the Council and is a decision that has not been taken lightly, reflecting the value for money case for protecting taxpayers from the spiralling costs of ever-increasing debt. This is a first tranche of debt repayment support, and we will continue to explore what further debt support is required at a later point.

Putting Surrey’s local authorities on a more sustainable footing is vital to safeguarding the services residents rely on, as well as investing in their futures. As set out in the invitation letter, and consistent with previous restructures, there is no proposal for council debt to be addressed centrally or written off as part of reorganisation.

The Government has committed to repay in‑principle £500 million of Woking Borough Council’s debt in 2026–27 as a first tranche of support. This is a significant and unprecedented commitment given historic capital practices at the Council. It reflects our acknowledgement that, even after the rationalisation of Woking’s historic assets, there remains significant unsupported debt that cannot be managed locally.

When issuing the statutory invitation for Reorganisation proposals, the Government was clear in criterion (2f) that: “For areas where there are exceptional circumstances where there has been failure linked to capital practices, proposals should reflect the extent to which the implications of this can be managed locally, including as part of efficiencies possible through reorganisation.”

The Government is committed to achieving the best value for money for the taxpayer in the rationalisation of Woking’s historic assets, which will contribute locally to the reduction of debt in Woking, and this process may continue past vesting day into the new unitary authority. It is crucial that any debt support must consider broader value for money considerations for both local and national taxpayers.

Local authorities provide the Government with data on their borrowing, including source of borrowing. The data can be found at Live tables on local government finance - GOV.UK.

The Government recognises that Woking Council cannot manage the entirety of its debt locally and has made an unprecedented commitment to repay in-principle £500m of the Council’s debt in 2026-27. This is a first tranche of support, and we will continue to explore what further debt support is required at a later point. Further, we remain committed to providing interim financial support to the new unitary council until a final decision is made on further support. It is crucial that any debt support must take into account value for money for local and national taxpayers, and the Council’s continued commitment to reduce debt as far as possible within their local capacity including via an ongoing asset disposal programme.

The Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) Statutory Override will remain in place until the end of 2027-28. While it remains in effect, all DSG deficits including any proportion of the historic deficit up to 2025-26 not covered by grant (“the residual deficit”) will remain in the associated statutory reserve (“the unusable reserve”) and will not affect local authorities’ wider financial positions. The DSG Statutory Override will end on 31 March 2028. Therefore, local authorities will need to plan to be able to meet the cost of the residual deficit from their own resources in 2028-29, including setting aside appropriate reserves in the preceding years.

The Government recognises that some local authorities will continue to have concerns about the pressures of their DSG deficits and the sufficiency of a 90% grant. The Government committed as part of the publication of the Final Local Government Finance Settlement that it would work with local authorities with these challenges, as part of supporting the development of Local SEND Reform Plans.

The government has set out details of a reformed SEND system which meets needs earlier, before challenges escalate. All local authorities with a SEND deficit are eligible for a grant to resolve 90% of their historic deficits up to 2025‑26— projected to be worth over £5 billion nationally—protecting their ability to support children and young people with SEND in local schools while sustaining wider services and tackling deprivation. Addressing deficits accrued to 2025‑26 could reduce financing costs by an estimated £300 million by 2027‑28.

Each local authority’s grant allocation will be determined by reviewing all available sources on local authority expenditure to establish the eligible SEND deficit. This will include comparing Section 251 data, draft and published Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) notes, DSG s151 assurance, Revenue Outturn data and published accounts.

Grant eligibility is conditional on securing Department for Education approval of a Local SEND Reform Plan, which will also be used to assess ongoing performance and delivery to target support and challenge throughout the reform period.

Local authorities will continue to operate under existing prudential financial management frameworks.

The government does not collect data specifically on debt incurred to finance commercial property. However, authorities are required to submit data on borrowing, capital spend and asset holdings to government as part of quarterly and annual returns.

• Borrowing and investment data for each authority is shown by quarter on gov.uk here. This includes detail on the value of outstanding borrowing from the Public Works Loan Board.
• Capital expenditure, receipts and financing data is published on gov.uk here.
• Data on assets held by authorities is published on gov.uk here.
• Core Spending Power for each authority is published on gov.uk here

The government is taking forward work to implement the capital powers introduced into the Local Government Act 2003 in 2023, which provide powers for government to take action where an authority is exposed to excessive risk from borrowing and investment practices. The government will consult on use of these powers later this year.

The government’s objective is to safeguard the existing framework so that it continues to support essential investment—such as for housing and regeneration—while preventing practices such as taking on excessive debt for novel and risky investments. We will work closely with the sector to ensure that the powers are effective and avoid unintended consequences.