{"schemaVersion":"1.0","type":"DataStory","id":"what-councils-choose","title":"What councils choose","description":"Budgets, outturn, reserves and council tax show different moments in local public finance.","introduction":"A budget is an intention, outturn is a later accounting record, reserves are a stock and council tax is one funding stream. This story keeps the accounting categories separate while showing the choices boroughs publish.","category":"Money and business","canonical":"https://londongraph.com/story/what-councils-choose","markdown":"https://londongraph.com/story/what-councils-choose/index.html.md","updatedAt":"2026-08-02T23:02:02.832Z","caveat":"Accounting structures, service responsibilities and financing arrangements differ between authorities and years. Large totals do not by themselves indicate service quality.","evidence":[{"dataset":"what-londons-councils-spend","graphSlug":"what-londons-councils-spend","label":"Service spending","text":"Published local-authority service expenditure across comparable categories.","shape":"categories","graph":"https://londongraph.com/g/what-londons-councils-spend","claim":{"dataset":"what-londons-councils-spend","graphSlug":"what-londons-councils-spend","label":"Service spending","text":"Published local-authority service expenditure across comparable categories.","headlineLabel":"2024–25","value":8448879,"unit":"£ thousand","period":"2024–25","comparisonLabel":"2023–24","comparisonValue":7813761,"caveat":null,"release":{"updatedAt":"2026-08-02T23:02:01.123Z","resourceUrl":"https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6937fe05e447374889cd8f4b/Revenue_Outturn_time_series_data_v3.1.csv","methodologyUrl":"https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing-england-revenue-outturn-multi-year-data-set","releaseLabel":"Revenue and capital outturn 2024–25","sourcePublishedAt":null,"resourceChecksum":"984e59597acea38781ad163fa49d40166d9b4a6ebf0381090a1d6221a3f1aea5"}}},{"dataset":"budget-versus-outturn","graphSlug":"budget-versus-outturn","label":"Budget and outturn","text":"Planned expenditure compared with the later recorded outturn.","shape":"latest","graph":"https://londongraph.com/g/budget-versus-outturn","claim":{"dataset":"budget-versus-outturn","graphSlug":"budget-versus-outturn","label":"Budget and outturn","text":"Planned expenditure compared with the later recorded outturn.","headlineLabel":"Outturn","value":561812,"unit":"£ thousand","period":"Westminster","comparisonLabel":"Budget","comparisonValue":477645,"caveat":null,"release":{"updatedAt":"2026-08-02T23:02:01.696Z","resourceUrl":"https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6937fe05e447374889cd8f4b/Revenue_Outturn_time_series_data_v3.1.csv","methodologyUrl":"https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing-england-revenue-outturn-multi-year-data-set","releaseLabel":"Revenue and capital outturn 2024–25","sourcePublishedAt":null,"resourceChecksum":"984e59597acea38781ad163fa49d40166d9b4a6ebf0381090a1d6221a3f1aea5"}}},{"dataset":"council-reserves-and-borrowing","graphSlug":"council-reserves-and-borrowing","label":"Reserves and borrowing","text":"Published reserve and borrowing measures kept as separate stocks.","shape":"latest","graph":"https://londongraph.com/g/council-reserves-and-borrowing","claim":{"dataset":"council-reserves-and-borrowing","graphSlug":"council-reserves-and-borrowing","label":"Reserves and borrowing","text":"Published reserve and borrowing measures kept as separate stocks.","headlineLabel":"Gross borrowing","value":572688,"unit":"£ thousand","period":"Westminster","comparisonLabel":"Revenue reserves","comparisonValue":353963,"caveat":null,"release":{"updatedAt":"2026-08-02T23:02:02.267Z","resourceUrl":"https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69c2a55b13f1436476e4436c/Capital_time_series_data_wide_24_03_26.csv","methodologyUrl":"https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-authority-capital-expenditure-and-receipts-in-england-final-outturn-time-series","releaseLabel":"Revenue and capital outturn 2024–25","sourcePublishedAt":null,"resourceChecksum":"984e59597acea38781ad163fa49d40166d9b4a6ebf0381090a1d6221a3f1aea5"}}},{"dataset":"where-council-tax-goes","graphSlug":"where-council-tax-goes","label":"Council-tax allocation","text":"Service shares in the published council-tax presentation.","shape":"categories","graph":"https://londongraph.com/g/where-council-tax-goes","claim":{"dataset":"where-council-tax-goes","graphSlug":"where-council-tax-goes","label":"Council-tax allocation","text":"Service shares in the published council-tax presentation.","headlineLabel":"Education","value":8027372,"unit":"£ thousand budgeted service spending","period":"Education","comparisonLabel":"Adult social care","comparisonValue":3469009,"caveat":null,"release":{"updatedAt":"2026-08-02T23:02:02.832Z","resourceUrl":"https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6762a0a83229e84d9bbde757/RA_2024-25_data_Part_1.ods","methodologyUrl":"https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing-england-2024-to-2025-budget-individual-local-authority-data","releaseLabel":"Revenue and capital outturn 2024–25","sourcePublishedAt":null,"resourceChecksum":"984e59597acea38781ad163fa49d40166d9b4a6ebf0381090a1d6221a3f1aea5"}}}],"sources":[{"name":"Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government","url":"https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing-england-revenue-outturn-multi-year-data-set","graphSlug":"what-londons-councils-spend"},{"name":"Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government","url":"https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-authority-capital-expenditure-and-receipts-in-england-final-outturn-time-series","graphSlug":"council-reserves-and-borrowing"},{"name":"Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government","url":"https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing-england-2024-to-2025-budget-individual-local-authority-data","graphSlug":"where-council-tax-goes"}]}