Financial year 2024-25

Planned LA and school expenditure

Data guidance

Published 26 September 2024

Description

This document describes the underlying data files included in the Planned LA and School Expenditure in England. 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: ‘Planned LA and school expenditure’ provides the latest information at national, regional and local level on the planned expenditure on schools, education and children's and young people's services by local authorities. The publication summarises the information that was collected via S251 Budget returns.

This publication includes information on:

Local authority planned spending on schools and other education. This includes a time-series giving the detailed breakdown of spending split by school-phase and overall spending area (e.g. individual schools budget, expenditure on free school meals, SEN support etc).
Local authority planned spending on children's and young people's services. This includes a time-series giving the detailed breakdown of spending category including sure start centres, children looked after, family services and youth justice.
Local authority planned spend on early years education. This includes the planned spend on early years education for 2, 3 and 4 years olds, by category of spend plus the number of hours of early year education .
High needs places. This includes the number of high needs places to be provided by provider. It includes places in mainstream schools with resourced provision or SEN units, special schools, pupil referral units and hospital schools. The total planned expenditure on these places is also included.

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.
z = not applicable. The 'z' symbol is only to be used when an observation is not applicable (e.g. in tables of employment where people under 16 cannot legally be employed)
<£5,000 - in the summary tables the figures presented are rounded to the nearest £million, and rounded to 2 decimal places. In these tables <£5,000 represents a figure of £4,999 or under.

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.

Planned expenditure on schools budget plus other education and community budget (unrounded data)

Filename: schools_othereducation_la_unrounded_data.csv
Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
Time period: 2015-16 to 2024-25
Content: This file contains the actual figures for planned expenditure for the schools budget and for the other education and community budget. Data is shown for individual local authorities and also includes unrounded regional and national totals.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
category_of_planned_expenditure	Category of expenditure - Filter by expenditure category
early_years_establishments	Early years establishments
gross_planned_expenditure	Total gross planned expenditure
income	Total planned income
net_per_capita_planned_expenditure	Total per capita net planned expenditure
net_planned_expenditure	Total net planned expenditure
post_16	Post 16 establishments
primary_schools	Primary schools
pupil_referral_units_and_alt_provision	Pupil referral units and alternative provision
secondary_schools	Secondary schools
sen_and_special_schools	SEN and Special schools

Footnotes

High needs place funding within the individual schools budget was collected separately for the first time for the financial year 2018-19.
To reduce burdens on local authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic, data for 2020-21 was not collected.
LLDD stands for learner with learning difficulties or disabilities.

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Planned expenditure on schools budget plus other education and community budget (National rounded data - £ millions)

Filename: schoolsothereducation_national_rounded_data.csv
Geographic levels: National
Time period: 2015-16 to 2024-25
Content: This file contains the national figures for planned expenditure on the schools budget and for the other education and community budget. Data is shown rounded to the nearest million.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
category_of_planned_expenditure	Category of expenditure - Filter by expenditure category
early_years_establishments	Early years establishments (£ million)
gross_planned_expenditure	Total gross planned expenditure (£ million)
income	Total planned income (£ million)
net_per_capita_planned_expenditure	Total per capita net planned expenditure
net_planned_expenditure	Total net planned expenditure (£ million)
post_16	Post 16 establishments (£ million)
primary_schools	Primary schools (£ million)
pupil_referral_units_and_alt_provision	Pupil referral units and alternative provision (£ million)
secondary_schools	Secondary schools (£ million)
sen_and_special_schools	SEN and Special schools (£ million)

Footnotes

Figures are presented to the nearest £ million and are taken from rounded national tables. For local authority or regional data, see unrounded local authority tables in "Explore data".
High needs place funding within the individual schools budget was collected separately for the first time for the financial year 2018-19.
To reduce burdens on local authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic, data for 2020-21 was not collected.
LLDD stands for learner with learning difficulties or disabilities.

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Planned expenditure on the children's and young people's services budget (unrounded data)

Filename: children_youngpeople_services_la_unrounded_data.csv
Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
Time period: 2015-16 to 2024-25
Content: This file contains the actual figures for planned expenditure on children's and young peoples services. Data is shown for individual local authorities and also includes unrounded regional and national totals.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
category_of_planned_expenditure	Category of expenditure - Filter by expenditure category
early_years_establishments	Early years establishments
gross_expenditure	Total gross planned expenditure
income	Planned income
net_expenditure	Total net planned expenditure
per_capita_net_spend	Total per capita net planned expenditure
post_16	Post 16 establishments
primary_schools	Primary schools
pupil_referral_units_and_alt_provision	Pupil referral units and alternative provision
secondary_schools	Secondary schools
sen_and_special_schools	SEN and Special schools

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Planned expenditure on the children's and young people's services budget (National rounded data - £ millions)

Filename: children_youngpeople_services_national_rounded_data.csv
Geographic levels: National
Time period: 2015-16 to 2024-25
Content: This file contains the national figures for planned expenditure on children's and young people's services. Data is shown rounded to the nearest million.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
category_of_planned_expenditure	Category of expenditure - Filter by expenditure category
gross_expenditure	Total gross planned expenditure (£ millions)
income	Planned income (£ millions)
net_expenditure	Total net planned expenditure (£ millions)
per_capita_net_spend	Total per capita net planned expenditure (£)

Footnotes

Figures are presented to the nearest £ million and are taken from rounded national tables. For local authority or regional data, see unrounded local authority tables in "Explore data".
To reduce burdens on local authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic, data for 2020-21 was not collected.

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Headline totals and per capita headline figures

Filename: national_headline_figures.csv
Geographic levels: National
Time period: 2015-16 to 2024-25
Content: This file contains the headline totals rounded the nearest billion. Figures are shown at national level only.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
description	Category of planned expenditure - Filter by total category
gross_expenditure	Total gross planned expenditure (£ billion)
income	Total planned income (£ billion)
net_expenditure	Total net planned expenditure (£ billion)
per_capita	Net planned expenditure per capita

Footnotes

Figures are presented to the nearest £ million and are taken from rounded national tables. For local authority or regional data, see unrounded local authority tables in "Explore data".
High needs place funding within the individual schools budget was collected separately for the first time for the financial year 2018-19.
To reduce burdens on local authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic, data for 2020-21 was not collected.

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Planned expenditure on the early years budget (unrounded data)

Filename: early_years_la_unrounded_data.csv
Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
Time period: 2017-18 to 2024-25
Content: This file contains the actual figures for planned expenditure on early years, including information on the planned number of hours of early years education. Data is shown for individual local authorities and also includes unrounded regional and national totals.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
average_base_rate_2_years	Average base rate for entitlement hours for 2 year olds (spend per hour)
average_base_rate_3and4_years	Average base rate for entitlement hours for 3 and 4 year olds (spend per hour)
average_base_rate_under_2_years	Average base rate for entitlement hours for children aged 9 months to 2 years old (spend per hour)
average_funding_rate_2_years	Average funding rate for 2 year olds (spend per hour)
average_funding_rate_3and4_years	Average funding rate for 3 and 4 year olds (spend per hour)
average_funding_rate_under_2_years	Average funding rate for children aged 9 months to 2 years old (spend per hour)
budget_extra_local_hours_3and4_years	Other spend on early education, budget for extra local hours for 3 and 4 year olds
centrally_retained_budget_2_years	Other spend on early education, centrally retained budget for 2 year olds
centrally_retained_budget_3and4_years	Other spend on early education, centrally retained budget for 3 and 4 year olds
centrally_retained_budget_under_2_years	Other spend on early education, centrally retained budget for children aged 9 months to 2 years old
contingency_budget__3and4_years	Other spend on early education, contingency budget for 3 and 4 year olds
contingency_budget_2_years	Other spend on early education, contingency budget for 2 year olds
contingency_budget_under_2_years	Other spend on early education, contingency budget for children aged 9 months to 2 years old
disability_access_fund_2_years	Other spend on early education, disability access fund for 2 year olds
disability_access_fund_3and4_years	Other spend on early education, disability access fund for 3 and 4 year olds
disability_access_fund_under_2_years	Other spend on early education, disability access fund for children aged 9 months to 2 years old
early_years_pupil_premium_2_years	Other spend on early education, early years pupil premium for 2 year olds
early_years_pupil_premium_3and4_years	Other spend on early education, early years pupil premium for 3 and 4 year olds
early_years_pupil_premium_under_2_years	Other spend on early education, early years pupil premium for children aged 9 months to 2 years old
number_hours_2_years	Number of hours funded for 2 year olds
number_hours_3and4_years	Number of hours funded for 3 and 4 year olds
number_hours_under_2_years	Number of hours funded for children aged 9 months to 2 years old
sen_inclusion_fund_ey_block_2_years	SEN inclusion fund from early years block funding for 2 year olds
sen_inclusion_fund_ey_block_3and4_years	SEN inclusion fund from early years block funding for 3 and 4 year olds
sen_inclusion_fund_ey_block_under_2_years	SEN inclusion fund from early years block funding for children aged 9 months to 2 years old
sen_inclusion_fund_hn_block_2_year	SEN inclusion fund from high needs block funding for 2 year olds
sen_inclusion_fund_hn_block_3and4_years	SEN inclusion fund from high needs block funding for 3 and 4 year olds
sen_inclusion_fund_hn_block_under_2_years	SEN inclusion fund from high needs block funding for children aged 9 months to 2 years old
sen_inclusion_fund_total_2_years	Total SEN inclusion fund for 2 year olds
sen_inclusion_fund_total_3and4_years	Total SEN inclusion fund for 3 and 4 year olds
sen_inclusion_fund_total_under_2_years	Total SEN inclusion fund for children aged 9 months to 2 years old
total_budget_2_years	Total planned spend for children aged 2 years old
total_budget_3and4_years	Total planned spend for children aged 3 and 4 year olds
total_budget_under_2_years	Total planned spend for children aged 9 months to 2 years old

Footnotes

In 2024-25 there were changes to early years funding. Funding categories for 2024-25 have been mapped to previous years where applicable. Further information is available in Early years entitlements: local authority funding operational guide 2024 to 2025 (opens in a new tab).
To reduce burdens on local authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic, data for 2020-21 was not collected.

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Planned expenditure on the early years budget (National rounded data - £ millions)

Filename: early_years_national_rounded_data.csv
Geographic levels: National
Time period: 2017-18 to 2024-25
Content: This file contains the national figures for planned expenditure early years including information on the planned number of hours of early years education. Data is shown rounded to the nearest million.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
average_base_rate_2_years	Average base rate for entitlement hours for 2 year olds (spend per hour)
average_base_rate_3and4_years	Average base rate for entitlement hours for 3 and 4 year olds (spend per hour)
average_base_rate_under_2_years	Average base rate for entitlement hours for children aged 9 months to 2 years old (spend per hour)
average_funding_rate_2_years	Average funding rate for 2 year olds (spend per hour)
average_funding_rate_3and4_years	Average funding rate for 3 and 4 year olds (spend per hour)
average_funding_rate_under_2_years	Average funding rate for children aged 9 months to 2 years old (spend per hour)
budget_extra_local_hours_3and4_years	Other spend on early education, budget for extra local hours for 3 and 4 year olds
centrally_retained_budget_2_years	Other spend on early education, centrally retained budget for 2 year olds
centrally_retained_budget_3and4_years	Other spend on early education, centrally retained budget for 3 and 4 year olds
centrally_retained_budget_under_2_years	Other spend on early education, centrally retained budget for children aged 9 months to 2 years old
contingency_budget__3and4_years	Other spend on early education, contingency budget for 3 and 4 year olds
contingency_budget_2_years	Other spend on early education, contingency budget for 2 year olds
contingency_budget_under_2_years	Other spend on early education, contingency budget for children aged 9 months to 2 years old
disability_access_fund_2_years	Other spend on early education, disability access fund for 2 year olds
disability_access_fund_3and4_years	Other spend on early education, disability access fund for 3 and 4 year olds
disability_access_fund_under_2_years	Other spend on early education, disability access fund for children aged 9 months to 2 years old
early_years_pupil_premium_2_years	Other spend on early education, early years pupil premium for 2 year olds
early_years_pupil_premium_3and4_years	Other spend on early education, early years pupil premium for 3 and 4 year olds
early_years_pupil_premium_under_2_years	Other spend on early education, early years pupil premium for children aged 9 months to 2 years old
number_hours_2_years	Number of hours funded for 2 year olds
number_hours_3and4_years	Number of hours funded for 3 and 4 year olds
number_hours_under_2_years	Number of hours funded for children aged 9 months to 2 years old
sen_inclusion_fund_ey_block_2_years	SEN inclusion fund from early years block funding for 2 year olds
sen_inclusion_fund_ey_block_3and4_years	SEN inclusion fund from early years block funding for 3 and 4 year olds
sen_inclusion_fund_ey_block_under_2_years	SEN inclusion fund from early years block funding for children aged 9 months to 2 years old
sen_inclusion_fund_hn_block_2_year	SEN inclusion fund from high needs block funding for 2 year olds
sen_inclusion_fund_hn_block_3and4_years	SEN inclusion fund from high needs block funding for 3 and 4 year olds
sen_inclusion_fund_hn_block_under_2_years	SEN inclusion fund from high needs block funding for children aged 9 months to 2 years old
sen_inclusion_fund_total_2_years	Total SEN inclusion fund for 2 year olds
sen_inclusion_fund_total_3and4_years	Total SEN inclusion fund for 3 and 4 year olds
sen_inclusion_fund_total_under_2_years	Total SEN inclusion fund for children aged 9 months to 2 years old
total_budget_2_years	Total planned spend for children aged 2 years old
total_budget_3and4_years	Total planned spend for children aged 3 and 4 year olds
total_budget_under_2_years	Total planned spend for children aged 9 months to 2 years old

Footnotes

Figures are presented to the nearest £ million and are taken from rounded national tables. For local authority or regional data, see unrounded local authority tables in "Explore data".
In 2024-25 there were changes to early years funding. Funding categories for 2024-25 have been mapped to previous years where applicable. Further information is available in Early years entitlements: local authority funding operational guide 2024 to 2025 (opens in a new tab).
To reduce burdens on local authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic, data for 2020-21 was not collected.

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Planned expenditure on high needs places (unrounded data)

Filename: highneeds_la_unrounded_data.csv
Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
Time period: 2015-16 to 2024-25
Content: This file contains the actual figures for planned expenditure on and number of places for high needs. Data is shown for individual local authorities and also includes unrounded regional and national totals.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
hospital_funding	Total funding for hospital education places
number_hospital_places_apr_aug	Number of hospital education places between April and August
number_hospital_places_sept_mar	Number of hospital education places between September and March
number_pru_places_apr_aug	Number of PRU places between April and August
number_pru_places_sept_mar	Number of PRU places between September and March
number_sen_places_apr_aug	Number of SEN places between April and August
number_sen_places_sept_mar	Number of SEN places between September and March
pru_funding	Total funding for PRU places
sen_funding	Total funding for SEN places

Footnotes

To reduce burdens on local authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic, data for 2020-21 was not collected.

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Planned expenditure on high needs places (National rounded data - £ millions)

Filename: highneeds_la_national_rounded_data.csv
Geographic levels: National
Time period: 2015-16 to 2024-25
Content: This file contains the national figures for planned expenditure on and number of places for high needs. Data is shown rounded to the nearest million.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
hospital_funding	Total funding for hospital education places
number_hospital_places_apr_aug	Number of hospital education places between April and August
number_hospital_places_sept_mar	Number of hospital education places between September and March
number_pru_places_apr_aug	Number of PRU places between April and August
number_pru_places_sept_mar	Number of PRU places between September and March
number_sen_places_apr_aug	Number of SEN places between April and August
number_sen_places_sept_mar	Number of SEN places between September and March
pru_funding	Total funding for PRU places
sen_funding	Total funding for SEN places

Footnotes

Figures are presented to the nearest £ million and are taken from rounded national tables. For local authority or regional data, see unrounded local authority tables in "Explore data".
To reduce burdens on local authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic, data for 2020-21 was not collected.

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High needs places and funding by school

Filename: high_needs_schoolsdata.csv
Geographic levels: School
Time period: 2024-25
Content: This file contains school level information on the number of planned places and the planned expenditure for high needs places.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
hospital_funding	Total funding for hospital education places
number_hospital_places_apr_aug	Number of hospital education places between April and August
number_hospital_places_sept_mar	Number of hospital education places between September and March
number_pru_places_apr3_aug	Number of PRU places between April and August
number_pru_places_sept_mar	Number of PRU places between September and March
number_sen_places_apr_aug	Number of SEN places between April and August
number_sen_places_sept_mar	Number of SEN places between September and March
pru_funding	Total funding for PRU places
school_phase	School type
sen_funding	Total funding for SEN places
total_funding	Total funding for high needs

Footnotes

To reduce burdens on local authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic, data for 2020-21 was not collected.

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