Financial year 2022-23

LA and school expenditure

Data guidance

Published 25 January 2024

Description

This document describes the data included in the School Finance in England National Statistics release’s underlying data files. This data is released under the terms of the Open Government License and is intended to meet at least 3 stars for Open Data.

The methodology document should be referenced alongside this data. It provides information on the data sources, their coverage and quality as well as explaining methodology used in producing the data.

Coverage

The Statistical Publication: ‘LA and School Expenditure’ provides the latest information at national, regional and local level on the expenditure on schools, education and children's and young people's services by local authorities. Alongside the local authority spending, the release also provides a detailed breakdown of income and expenditure by schools, with aggregations to the local authority, regional and national level. The publication summarises the information that was collected via the summer 2023 Consistent Financial Reporting (CFR) and S251 Outturn collections. It supersedes the December 2022 data release. 

The CFR data is also available at an individual school level via the Schools Financial Benchmarking website. 

This publication includes information on:

• Local authority spending on schools and other education - time-series giving the detailed breakdown of spending by local authorities split by school-phase and overall spending area (e.g. individual schools budget, expenditure on free school meals, SEN support etc).
• Local authority spending on children's and young people's services - time-series giving the detailed breakdown of spending by local authorities split by provision sector (e.g. own, private, voluntary) and spending area (e.g. sure start centres, family services, youth justice etc).
• Schools' income and expenditure - time-series giving the detailed breakdown of LA maintained schools income and expenditure by school phase and financial area (e.g. staff, estates and buildings, etc)
• Schools' revenue balances - time-series giving the overall financial balance data for LA maintained schools and overall numbers of schools in surplus and deficit.

Rounded data files contain national level data rounded to the nearest £ million. These files are intended to provide national level summaries of financial data. Unrounded data files contain local authority, regional and national unrounded financial data. 

File formats and conventions

The data files are provided in comma-separated values format, which is compatible with standard spreadsheet software such as Excel.

The following symbols are used in the underlying data files as follows:

: Not available = this information has not been collected or there are no estimates available at this level of aggregation.

N/A Not available = this is normally where a statistic cannot be produced. For example where a denominator is not available to produce a percentage. 

z Not applicable = Only to be used when an observation is not applicable (e.g. in tables of employment where people under 16 cannot legally be employed).

Data files

All data files associated with this releases are listed below with guidance on their content. To download any of these files, please visit our data catalogue.

Income of LA maintained schools - national rounded summary

• Filename: cfr_income_national_summary_16jan.csv
• Geographic levels: National
• Time period: 2015-16 to 2022-23
• Content:

  This file contains national level rounded data on income of local authority maintained schools. It was collected via the Consistent Financial reporting data collection.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
income	Income (£ million)
income_description	Category of income
income_per_pupil	Income per pupil
school_phase	Phase of school - Filter by school type

Footnotes

1. Includes schools making a part year return as they converted to academies part way through the financial year.

Expenditure of LA maintained schools - national rounded summary

• Filename: cfr_expenditure_national_summary_16jan.csv
• Geographic levels: National
• Time period: 2015-16 to 2022-23
• Content:

  This file contains national level rounded data on expenditure of local authority maintained schools. It was collected via the Consistent Financial reporting data collection.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
expenditure	Expenditure (£ million)
expenditure_description	Category of expenditure
expenditure_per_pupil	Expenditure per pupil
school_phase	Phase of school - Filter by school type

Revenue reserves of LA maintained schools - national rounded summary

• Filename: cfr_revenue_reserves_national_rounded_data_16jan.csv
• Geographic levels: National
• Time period: 2015-16 to 2022-23
• Content:

  This file contains national level rounded data on revenue reserves of local authority maintained schools. It was collected via the Consistent Financial reporting data collection.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
average_revenue_balance	Average revenue balance per school
committed_revenue_balances	Committed revenue balances (B01) (£million)
community_focussed_school_revenue_balance	Community-focused school revenue balances (B06) (£million)
devolved_formula_capital_balance	Devolved formula capital balance (B03) (£million)
number_schools	Number of schools making a Consistent Financial Reporting (CFR) return
number_schools_with_deficit	Number of schools with a negative revenue balance
number_schools_with_surplus	Number of schools with a surplus revenue balance
number_schools_with_surplus_over_threshold	Number of schools with a surplus over the threshold
opening_capital_balance	Opening capital balance (OB03) (£million)
opening_community_focussed_revenue_balance	Opening community-focused revenue balance (OB02) (£million)
opening_pupil_focussed_revenue_balance	Opening pupil-focused revenue balance (OB01) (£million)
other_capital_balances	Other capital balances (B05) (£million)
outstanding_balance_of_capital_loans_to_school	Outstanding balance of capital loans to schol (B07) (£million)
pc_schools_with_deficit	Percentage of schools with a negative revenue balance (deficit)
pc_schools_with_surplus	Percentage of schools with a surplus revenue balance
pc_schools_with_surplus_over_threshold	Percentage of schools with a surplus over the threshold
revenue_balance_as_pc_total_income	Revenue balance as a percentage of total income
school_over_threshold_av_per_school	Average surplus per school for schools over the threshold
school_phase	Phase of school
school_surplus_over_threshold	Total surplus of schools over the threshold (£million)
total_income	Total income (£million)
total_revenue_balance	Total revenue balance (£million)
total_revenue_reserve_schools_deficit	Total revenue balance of schools with a deficit (£million)
total_revenue_reserve_schools_surplus	Total revenue balance of schools with a surplus (£million)
uncommitted_revenue_balances	Uncommitted revenue balances (B02) (£million)

Footnotes

1. Includes schools making a part year return as they converted to academies part way through the financial year.

LA expenditure on schools, other education and community - national rounded summary

• Filename: s251_alleducation_national_rounded.csv
• Geographic levels: National
• Time period: 2015-16 to 2022-23
• Content:

  This file contains information on expenditure on education made by local authorities. Data is at national level and rounded to the nearest £ million. Data was collected via the S251 Outturn return made to the department in autumn 2023.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
category_of_expenditure	Category of expenditure - Filter by expenditure category
early_years_establishments	Spend on early years establishments (£ million)
gross_expenditure	Total gross expenditure (£ million)
income	Income (£ million)
net_expenditure	Total net expenditure (£ million)
net_per_capita_expenditure	Per pupil net expenditure (£)
post_16	Spend on post 16 establishments (£ million)
primary_schools	Spend on primary schools (£ million)
pupil_referral_units_and_alt_provision	Spend on pupil referal units and AP (£ million)
secondary_schools	Spend on secondary schools (£ million)
sen_and_special_schools	Spend on special schools (£ million)

LA expenditure on children's services - national rounded summary

• Filename: s251_childrens_young_peoples_services_national.csv
• Geographic levels: National
• Time period: 2015-16 to 2022-23
• Content:

  This file contains information on expenditure on children's services made by local authorities. Data is at national level and rounded to the nearest £ million. Data was collected via the S251 Outturn return made to the department in autumn 2023.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
description_of_expenditure	Category of expenditure - Filter by expenditure category
grants_inside_AEF	Grants inside of aggregate external finance (£ million)
grants_outside_AEF	Grants outside of aggregate external finance (£ million)
income	Income (£ million)
net_current_expenditure	Total net current expenditure (£ million)
net_revenue_expenditure	Net revenue expenditure (£ million)
other_public_sector_provision	Spend on other public sector provision (£ million)
own_provision	Spend on LAs own provision (£ million)
per_capita_net_current_spend	Per capita net current expenditure (£)
private_provision	Spend on private provision (£ million)
total_expenditure	Total gross expenditure (£ million)
voluntary_provision	Spend on voluntary provision (£ million)

Income of LA maintained schools - unrounded data

• Filename: cfr_income_la_regional_national_16jan.csv
• Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
• Time period: 2015-16 to 2022-23
• Content:

  This file contains unrounded data on income of local authority maintained schools. It includes local authority, regional and national data. It was collected via the Consistent Financial reporting data collection.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
income	Income
income_description	Category of Income
income_per_pupil	Income per pupil
school_phase	Phase of school - Filter by school type

Footnotes

1. Includes schools making a part year return as they converted to academies part way through the financial year.
2. There are a small number of local authorities with no LA maintained secondary schools, all are academies. There are also authorities returning no nursery schools, pupil referral units or special schools. Full details are in the methodology document. These local authorities will be uncoloured in the maps above.

Expenditure of LA maintained schools - unrounded data

• Filename: cfr_expenditure_la_regional_national_16jan.csv
• Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
• Time period: 2015-16 to 2022-23
• Content:

  This file contains unrounded data on expenditure of local authority maintained schools. It includes local authority, regional and national data. It was collected via the Consistent Financial reporting data collection.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
expenditure	Expenditure
expenditure_description	Category of expenditure
expenditure_per_pupil	Expenditure per pupil
school_phase	Phase of school - Filter by school type

Footnotes

1. There are a small number of local authorities with no LA maintained secondary schools, all are academies. There are also authorities returning no nursery schools, pupil referral units or special schools. Full details are in the methodology document. These local authorities will be uncoloured in the maps above.
2. Expenditure per pupil is based on the number of pupils on roll as at the January 2023 School Census. PRUs see more variation in pupil numbers through the course of the year than other school types. Funding for PRUs is based on number of available places.

Revenue reserves of LA maintained schools - unrounded data

• Filename: cfr_revenue_reserve_la_regional_national_data_16jan.csv
• Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
• Time period: 2015-16 to 2022-23
• Content:

  This file contains unrounded data on revenue reserves of local authority maintained schools. It includes local authority, regional and national data. It was collected via the Consistent Financial reporting data collection.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
average_revenue_balance	Average revenue balance per school
committed_revenue_balances	Committed revenue balances (B01)
community_focussed_school_revenue_balance	Community-focused school revenue balances (B06)
devolved_formula_capital_balance	Devolved formula capital balance (B03)
number_schools	Number of schools making a Consistent Financial Reporting (CFR) return
number_schools_with_deficit	Number of schools with a negative revenue balance
number_schools_with_surplus	Number of schools with a surplus revenue balance
number_schools_with_surplus_over_threshold	Number of schools with a surplus over the threshold
opening_capital_balance	Opening capital balance (OB03)
opening_community_focussed_revenue_balance	Opening community-focused revenue balance (OB02)
opening_pupil_focussed_revenue_balance	Opening pupil-focused revenue balance (OB01)
other_capital_balances	Other capital balances (B05)
outstanding_balance_of_capital_loans_to_school	Outstanding balance of capital loans to schol (B07)
pc_schools_with_deficit	Percentage of schools with a negative revenue balance (deficit)
pc_schools_with_surplus	Percentage of schools with a surplus revenue balance
pc_schools_with_surplus_over_threshold	Percentage of schools with a surplus over the threshold
revenue_balance_as_pc_total_income	Revenue balance as a percentage of total income
school_over_threshold_av_per_school	Average surplus per school for schools over the threshold
school_phase	Phase of school
school_surplus_over_threshold	Total surplus of schools over the threshold
total_income	Total income
total_revenue_balance	Total revenue balance
total_revenue_reserve_schools_deficit	Total revenue balance of schools with a deficit
total_revenue_reserve_schools_surplus	Total revenue balance of schools with a surplus
uncommitted_revenue_balances	Uncommitted revenue balances (B02)

Footnotes

1. Includes schools making a part year return as they converted to academies part way through the financial year.
2. There are a small number of local authorities with no LA maintained secondary schools, all are academies. There are also authorities returning no nursery schools, pupil referral units or special schools. Full details are in the methodology document. These local authorities will be uncoloured in the maps above.

LA expenditure on schools, other education and community - unrounded data

• Filename: s251_alleducation_la_regional_national.csv
• Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
• Time period: 2015-16 to 2022-23
• Content:

  This file contains information on expenditure on education made by local authorities. Data is at local authority, regional and national level and is unrounded. Data was collected via the S251 Outturn return made to the department in autumn 2023.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
category_of_expenditure	Category of expenditure - Filter by expenditure category
early_years_establishments	Spend on early years establishments
gross_expenditure	Total gross expenditure
income	Income
net_expenditure	Total net expenditure
net_per_capita_expenditure	Per pupil net expenditure
post_16	Spend on post 16 establishments
primary_schools	Spend on primary schools
pupil_referral_units_and_alt_provision	Spend on pupil referal units and AP
secondary_schools	Spend on secondary schools
sen_and_special_schools	Spend on special schools

LA expenditure on children's services - unrounded data

• Filename: s251_childrens_young_peoples_services_la_regional_national.csv
• Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
• Time period: 2015-16 to 2022-23
• Content:

  This file contains information on expenditure on education made by local authorities. Data is at local authority, regional and national level and is unrounded. Data was collected via the S251 Outturn return made to the department in autumn 2023.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
description_of_expenditure	Category of expenditure - Filter by expenditure category
grants_inside_AEF	Grants inside of aggregate external finance
grants_outside_AEF	Grants outside of aggregate external finance
income	Income
net_current_expenditure	Total net current expenditure
net_revenue_expenditure	Net revenue expenditure
other_public_sector_provision	Spend on other public sector provision
own_provision	Spend on LAs own provision
per_capita_net_current_spend	Per capita net current expenditure
private_provision	Spend on private provision
total_expenditure	Total gross expenditure
voluntary_provision	Spend on voluntary provision

ANNEX - Headline figures

• Filename: headline_key_figures_16jan.csv
• Geographic levels: National
• Time period: 2015-16 to 2022-23
• Content:

  These are the national headline figures, rounded to the nearest billion and include both financial data for LA maintained schools and financial data for local authorities.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
number_school_surplus	Number of LA maintained schools with surplus revenue reserve
number_schools_deficit	Number of LA maintained schools in deficit
pc_schools_deficit	Percentage of LA maintained schools in deficit
pc_schools_surplus	Percentage of LA maintained schools with surplus revenue reserve
total_childrens_services_gross_expenditre_by_la	Expenditure by local authorities on children's services (£ billion)
total_childrens_services_income_by_la	Income of local authorities for children's services (£ billion)
total_childrens_services_net_expenditure_by_la	Net expenditure by local authorities on children's services (£ billion)
total_expenditure_billion	Total expenditure of LA maintained schools (£ billion)
total_expenditure_pp	Total expenditure per pupil for LA maintained schools
total_income_billion	Total income of LA maintained schools (£ billion)
total_income_pp	Total income per pupil for LA maintained schools
total_other_education_gross_expenditre_by_la	Expenditure by local authorities on other education (£ billion)
total_other_education_income_by_la	Income of local authorities for other education (£ billion)
total_other_education_net_expenditure_by_la	Net expenditure by local authorities on other education (£ billion)
total_schools_gross_expenditre_by_la	Expenditure by local authorities on schools (£ billion)
total_schools_income_by_la	Income of local authorities for schools (£ billion)
total_schools_net_expenditure_by_la	Net expenditure by local authorities on schools (£ billion)